Remembering Polish Animation
Nov 18, 2009
I was supposed to head to Poland today but the flight was canceled, so chilling in my cosy flat in da Ukraine watching classics of Polish animation on YouTube. They’re pretty amazing, and surreal, and a reminder that even during the dark days of Communism, whose downfall made headlines again these past few weeks, Poland boasted a vibrant artistic & theatrical culture that was far more sophisticated than the tinbox cars and shoddy consumer products that the Commies churned out.
Animation in the Communist 50s, like childrens stories or the circus, was far removed from the censor’s gaze, and so there was far more freedom for experimentation there than in the classical arts, like painting or theater. Building on a tradition that dates back to the 20s and 30s, Polish auters like Jan Lenica, Piotr Dumala and Ladislaw Starewicz fashioned a distinctive angst-ridden, paranoid & surreal style that has in the decades since won critical acclaim. When museums want to appear serious and intellectually stimulating—rather than pandering to mass culture, as they do more often than not—Polish animation is given the adulation and respect it deserves. In the last few years, high-profile museums, from New York’s MoMa to Paris’ Pompidiu Arts Center have shown collections of Polish animation. In fact, Polish animation has been so praised by the West that it has become an adjective, with Director Terry Gilliam favorably describing a film has having a “Polish animation feeling” in a recent Guardian interview.
The dark master of this surreal, Kafkaesque genre whose classics include iconic shorts like Rhinoceros, Labryinth and New Janko the musician was Jan Lenica, famously named by Roman Polanski as one of his two favorite filmmakers. He is in fact, best kown in the UK for his poster art for Polanski’s early films, Repulsion & Cul-de-Sac. Their childlike design and gauche absurdism echo the strange, surreal feel of his animated works.
Without further ado then, check out some of the classics of Lenica’s Polish animation below.
Tags: Dom, Jan Lenica, Janko the Musician, Labyrinth, Polish Animation, Rhinoceros, Roman Polanski
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