ROMAN POLAŃSKI:
EARLY WORKS
26 october . 9.30 pm
Cinema Charlot – Auditório Municipal
Roman Polański
Poland, 1957–1961, 51 min., M/12
It is difficult to get a handle on Roman Polanski. His eclectic body of work ranges from pinnacle achievements in European art cinema to camp goofiness; from blockbuster Hollywood thrillers to literary period pieces; from historical prestige pictures to modern-day stage adaptations.
At the same time, his tumultuous personal life is marked by wartime atrocities, horrendous mass murder, a criminal conviction, global fame, great loves, and exile.
Through it all – and however much the personal and the professional may overlap and influence one another – Polanski’s cinema remains remarkably consistent in style, themes, narrative preferences, and, more often, the end results.
BREAK UP THE DANCE
1957, 8'
With Break Up The Dance, Polanski tried his hand at cinema verite, capturing life as it happens, but only after setting up the conflict and arranging for outside aggression to violate a walled-in, complacent sense of security.
TWO MEN AND A WARDROBE
1958, 15'
In Two Men and a Wardrobe, Polanski’s breakthrough and winner of 5 awards at international festivals, again features an external force disturbing a generally sedate populace, as two men lug around a large cabinet causing much distress to those around them.
Polanski’s visual compositions, particularly in his focal fluctuation above and below the horizon line and in his use of the wardrobe’s mirror, create a deceiving visual humour.
Like all his student films, the picture contains little to no dialogue, something Polanski felt had no place in a short.
LAMP
1959, 8'
Lamp is a surreal work about a doll maker who toils in his cramped, grimy workshop, which soon burns down, perhaps because of the malevolent dolls.
WHEN ANGELS FALL
1959, 20'
“Angels” is his most elaborate and intimate early portrait of a solitary individual. An elderly lavatory attendant recalls her war-ravaged past, as black and white shots of her gritty surroundings are juxtaposed with her memories in luxuriant colour. The work was accepted as Polanski’s diploma film, but he neglected to compose the mandatory written assignment and subsequently never earned his graduation certificate.
Studio Filmowe Indeks
THE LUDWIK SARSKI ORCHESTRA
An artistic collective from Poland founded by two multi-instrumentalists and composers: Szymczak and Piotr Tomala. The artists combine such styles as early jazz, ragtime, tango, swing, or klezmer. The ensemble successfully performs in Poland and abroad. The activities of the Ludwik Sarski Orchestra include chamber concerts and live performances of their original music to silent films by Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Roman Polański, Aleksander Hertz and others.