National Cinema (351-0-21)

Topic

Polish Cinema

Instructors

Michal Janusz Wilczewski
1880 Campus Drive

Meeting Info

University Hall 121: Wed 3:30PM - 6:20PM

Overview of class

This course will survey Polish film (all subtitled) from its earliest beginnings at the turn of the 20th century to the present day. We will begin by watching Poland's earliest talkies and Polish- and Yiddish-language films of the interwar period before discussing the effects of Stalinism and its "thaw" on film during the communist era. From there, we will discuss the Polish Film School and the Cinema of Morality Anxiety. Further, we will analyze themes of absurdism and the subversive, and later examine the changing forms, subjects, and elements of films in post-1989 Poland. We will watch films by such directors as Juliusz Gardan, Stanisław Bareja, Andrzej Wajda, Wanda Jakubowska, Aleksander Ford, Krzysztof Kieślowski, and Paweł Pawlikowski.