Polish Cinema on Disc

[MichaelB]

All the films K.K. took part in should be made available on DVD with (at least) English subtitles.

By all accounts (not least Kieslowski's), the unavailability of the 1972 masterpiece Principles of Safety and Hygiene in a Copper Mine is no great loss to world cinema studies.

[GHal]

Kieslowski on DVD (English Subtitles?)

I have purchased all of the selections directed by Kieslowski issued by Criterion as well as the two-DVD set "Krzysztof Kieslowski: Polska Szkola Dokumenta" issued, I believe, by "Polskie Wydawnictwo Audiowizualne". If my research is correct, the following films, all directed by Kieslowski, have not appeared on commercial DVDs with English subtitles (irrespective of Zone or format):

The Photograph (Zdjecie) 1968 32:00
Before the Rally (Przed rajdem) 1971 16:00
Between Wroclaw and Zielona Gora (Miedzy Wroclawiem a Zielona Gora) 1972 10:00
Principles of Safety and Hygiene in a Copper Mine (Podstawy BHP w kopaini miedzi) 1972 21:00
Workers 1971: Nothing About Us Without Us (Robotnicy '71: nic o nas bez nas) 1972 47:00
The Underground Passage (Przejscie podziemne) 1973 28:00
Personnel (Personel) 1975 72:00
The Calm (Spokoj) 1976 70:00
I Don't Know (Nie wiem) 1977 47:00
A Short Work Day (Krotki dzien pracy) 1981 73:00
Seven Days a Week: Warsaw (Siedem dni w tygodniu) 1988 18:00

I show the dates of the films and their timings as well. Recognizing the cost and risk of producing DVDs for a very limited market, I wonder if any of the "higher-ups" in a position to do so have considered the possibility of offering the above films such as the above for download on the Internet - of course for a fee paid by the downloader.


Thoughts or suggestions appreciated.

Any help appreciated.

[MichaelB]

I've just had a quick trawl through Merlin and have turned up the following intriguing-looking releases:

Marcel Łoziński's Jak to się robi (How To Do It, 2006) - a feature-length documentary about a man who claims to be able to turn anyone into a convincing politician. I know very little about it aside from that, but on the strength of the PWA compilation of Łoziński's work and his latest, Poste Restante (website here) this is almost certainly worth a look. Merlin doesn't confirm English subtitles, but I found a scan of the back cover on eBay that certainly hinted at the word 'angielskie' (albeit fuzzed by low resolution).

Three special editions of Marek Piwowski's Rejs (The Cruise, 1970), Stanisław Baręja's Miś (Teddy Bear, 1981) and Juliusz Machulski's Seksmisja (Sex Mission, 1984) - all three well-known Polish cult comedies, previously available on ultra-cheap but unsubtitled DVDs, now reissued with English subtitles (Best Film Co).

I also bought Jerzy Skolimowski's Ferdydurke, which I've never seen - at 15 złotys (or under £3.50), it's hardly going to bankrupt me!

[der_Artur]

I've just had a quick trawl through Merlin and have turned up the following intriguing-looking releases:

...Juliusz Machulski's Seksmisja (Sex Mission, 1984)

Thanks for the hint, now my friends can watch that one, too.

A recommendation from me: Piotr Szulkins "O-Bi O-Ba". A great dystopian movie from 1984 starring Krystyna Janda and Jerzy Stuhr.
Szulkins other great science fiction film "ga,ga" seems to be out of print.

[MichaelB]

A recommendation from me: Piotr Szulkins "O-Bi O-Ba". A great dystopian movie from 1984 starring Krystyna Janda and Jerzy Stuhr. Szulkins other great science fiction film "ga,ga" seems to be out of print.

I have four of Szulkin's dystopian sci-fi films on DVD (the others being War of the Worlds: Next Century/Wojna światów - Następne stulecie and King Ubu/Ubu Król) - and wrote short blog reviews here.

[menthymenthy]

Three special editions of Marek Piwowski's Rejs (The Cruise, 1970), Stanisław Baręja's Miś (Teddy Bear, 1981) and Juliusz Machulski's Seksmisja (Sex Mission, 1984) - all three well-known Polish cult comedies, previously available on ultra-cheap but unsubtitled DVDs, now reissued with English subtitles (Best Film Co).

I also bought Jerzy Skolimowski's Ferdydurke, which I've never seen - at 15 złotys (or under £3.50), it's hardly going to bankrupt me!

I bought Sexmission from Facets, and the subtitles/transfer were shocking. I'm glad it's finally out in PAL format, with subtitles. Also, I've heard really great things about the other two. When I do my next order (When Four Nights with Anna gets released) I'll def. add them on.

Ferdydurke is my least favourite Skolimowski (out of the 8 I've seen), but its an interesting failure.

[MichaelB]

Marcel Łoziński's Jak to się robi (How To Do It, 2006) - a feature-length documentary about a man who claims to be able to turn anyone into a convincing politician. I know very little about it aside from that, but on the strength of the PWA compilation of Łoziński's work and his latest, Poste Restante (website here) this is almost certainly worth a look. Merlin doesn't confirm English subtitles, but I found a scan of the back cover on eBay that certainly hinted at the word 'angielskie' (albeit fuzzed by low resolution).

I'm delighted to confirm that not only does it have English subtitles, but they're mostly excellent - even adding parenthetical asides such as the political slant of named parties. Despite this, I'm sure loads of political, linguistic and cultural subtleties went way over my head, and I had to break off watching to look up real-life politician Andrzej Lepper on Wikipedia once it became clear that he played a significant supporting role - but I also found lots to appreciate from a British perspective, not least the whole notion of entirely artificial politicians being created as media constructs. For Piotr Tymochowicz read Alastair Campbell and Peter Mandelson, and I dare say there are plenty of equivalents in other countries. The film also makes a lot of sense as a sequel to Łoziński's 1977 feature-length How to Live, though while that film dealt with the subject of people being subtly (and unsubtly) coerced into following a particular political line, the subjects of How To Do It are being groomed to avoid committing themselves to anything too specific.

Incidentally, there is a mistake in the specs on the box, but in a good way - instead of 4:3, it's in anamorphic 16:9, and looks terrific.

Three special editions of Marek Piwowski's Rejs (The Cruise, 1970), Stanisław Bareja's Miś (Teddy Bear, 1981) and Juliusz Machulski's Seksmisja (Sex Mission, 1984) - all three well-known Polish cult comedies, previously available on ultra-cheap but unsubtitled DVDs, now reissued with English subtitles (Best Film Co).

All three editions have matching packaging (a foldout Digipak in a cardboard slipcase), and they look great - cartoonist Marek Raczkowski is responsible for both the packaging and the animated menu designs, and the look is very consistent throughout.

I dipped into the three discs, and here are the specs:

Rejs (The Cruise, d. Marek Piwowski, 1970)

Picture: 1.66:1 picture letterboxed within a 4:3 frame. Aside from being non-anamorphic, it's a nice sharp picture from what looks like a very clean print - certainly a cut above the average back catalogue Polish release.
Sound: Mono (original), Dolby Digital 5.1, both in Polish
Subtitles: English, Polish, None
Extras: the 72-minute documentary looks very impressive, but it's in unsubtitled Polish, poster image
Booklet: 20 pages, well-produced, well-illustrated, but in Polish

Mís (Teddy Bear, d. Stanisław Bareja, 1981)

Picture: Very slightly windowboxed 4:3 (presumably OAR), very clean transfer, very clean print
Sound: Mono (original), Dolby Digital 5.1, both in Polish
Subtitles: English, Polish, None
Extras: 57-minute documentary in unsubtitled Polish, two poster images
Booklet: 20 pages, well-produced, well-illustrated, but in Polish

Seksmisja (Sex Mission, d. Juliusz Machulski, 1984)

Picture: 4:3 (probably OAR: compositions look fine), very clean transfer, very clean print - I'm guessing this is infinitely superior to the Facets!
Sound: Polish mono
Subtitles: English, Polish, None
Extras: several short documentaries (ranging from 1:46 to 31:38), all in unsubtitled Polish, poster image
Booklet: none, for some reason

I'll report back when I've actually watched one of them in full, but I'm very impressed so far.

[MichaelB]

I had an unexpected treat in the post this morning when a Polish correspondent of mine sent me a copy of the literally-just-released DVD of Marcel Łoziński's new film Poste Restante. I'd already seen it, courtesy of the Polish Cultural Institute in London, but I certainly wasn't about to complain about having my own copy.

Especially as I might have hesitated before spending 30 zlotys (approx £7/$10) on it myself, given that a PWA compilation comes in at not much more, and the disc only contains a non-anamorphic transfer of a single (albeit outstanding) 14-minute film, with optional English subtitles - though there's so little to translate that you can probably switch them off after one viewing.

The 38-page booklet is beautifully produced, but in Polish only - as far as I can make out, it contains a short interview with Łoziński, and a rather larger section in which various prominent Poles (I assume) imagine what they'd say if they had the opportunity to write to God (a theme of the film).

Anyway, here's the film's official website - which also has a trailer.

[rohmerin]

when a thread about HUNGARIAN films on DVD ???

[MichaelB]

when a thread about HUNGARIAN films on DVD ???

What's wrong with this one - to which you yourself contributed a few months ago?

[rohmerin]

Oops. Sorry. My Xmas brain is with amnesia because too much wine. #-o
Both Polish and Hungarian¡s films thread are excellent.

[bergelson]

Merry Christmas everyone,

Here is a strange one.

Since Mother Joan of the Angels is a favorite of mine and since the Second One release is an abomination (Most of my VHS's are of better quality), I decided to get the allegedly superior French release and then paste the subtitles of the Second Run onto the French Disk.

The good news is that the French disk is indeed infinitely superior, making the announcement of Second Run about the availability of materials quite ridiculous. But, and it's a big but the order of scenes is different. In the Second Run, the scence of the nuns in the monastary, when we see the Dybbuk for the first time, comes about 40 minutes into the film, while in the Frence release, the scence comes 1 hour into the film, after the dialogue between the nun and the priest, which in the Second Run comes afterward.

It's not a case of a shorter and longer version. The difference between the disks is just minute, it's if someone decided to re-edited the order of this scene.

If anyone know something about this curiousity, please let me know. I know that there is a Facets release as well and I wonder if it's like the Second Run or like the French one. I don't excpect much from Facets but how is the picture quality?

Thanks.

[MichaelB]

The good news is that the French disk is indeed infinitely superior, making the announcement of Second Run about the availability of materials quite ridiculous.

To defend Second Run, they actually said "Mother Joan of the Angels has been digitally re-mastered and newly-subtitled from the best existing source available to us". So I don't see anything ridiculous about that at all.

Unfortunately, there are loads of situations where the rightsholder is unable to supply superior materials, either because it doesn't itself know where there are any (usually - and this is very common with central and eastern European titles - because the current rightsholder took over the catalogue in the last few years and simply doesn't have adequate records) or because it's really not that bothered.

A case in point: Jan Svankmajer's J.S.Bach Fantasy in G minor. All releases of this title aside from the BFI one are an abomination, with a non-anamorphic picture and badly distorted sound. All these distributors can legitimately claim that they mastered "from the best existing source available to us", and when the BFI was sent that same master they were given the same explanation - even though they were quite happy to pay for a new anamorphic remastering.

But it just so happened that BFI Distribution was still sitting on a couple of 35mm prints acquired in the 1980s, one of which was in practically perfect condition, so a brand new anamorphic transfer could be made from that. But it's not surprising that the current rightsholder wouldn't have known about this, and there's also no obvious way the other distributors could have found this out either - small labels just don't have the resources to do this kind of detective work. More cynically, it would have cost them a lot more too even if they'd turned up a superior print, as they'd have to get a new transfer done.

[bergelson]

Hi,

Thanks for the information Michael but do you have any info regarding the different placing of such an important scene?

Continuing with Jerzy Kawalerowicz, does anyone know what is the picture quality of Facets releases of: Cellulose, Death of the President (I think this one one is full frame while originally Widescreen), Shadow and Under the Phrygian Star.

Thanks.

[MichaelB]

Any reviews yet on the Agnieszka Holland set?

Well, I watched the whole thing over the weekend, and it's a pretty good package for the price. Three out of the four films are outstanding (I thought the first, Screen Tests was a fair bit weaker, probably because it was a portmanteau effort involving three directors), and they've filled in very significant gaps in my knowledge of the late 1970s/early 1980s "moral anxiety" movement, in which Holland was a major player. (In addition to her films as director, over roughly the same period she also wrote Wajda's Rough Treatment, Danton and A Love In Germany and acted in Ryszard Bugajski's incendiary Interrogation).

Very quick précis of the films:

Screen Tests: a three-part portmanteau film whose first two parts focus on each of two aspiring actors (female and male) before bringing them together in (initially) an intimate hotel-room encounter and (eventually) replaying the same thing for the cameras, much to his discomfiture. Lots of well-observed incidents (the scene in which Anya loses her virginity and is almost immediately betrayed by her supposed lover is particularly effective), but it felt more like an exercise (or screen test?) than a fully achieved feature.

Provincial Actors: a Polish viewer well versed in the country's late 1970s history will doubtless pick up far more nuances, but I suspect I'm right in interpreting this as an impassioned attack on the way culture becomes a political tool, to be interfered with by bureaucrats from the director of a provincial theatre right up to the Ministry of Culture. It's also a study of an estranged couple on the verge of a permanent split - he's worrying more about his career than about his wife, who in turn is actively contemplating killing at least one of them. Very strong performances (especially from Halina Labonarska and Tadeusz Huk, both previously unknown to me), and a deliciously slimy cameo from the great Jerzy Stuhr as a theatre critic on whose verdict everything hangs.

Fever: the set's only period drama, a study of political passion and futility set in 1905, when Poland didn't officially exist and a handful of socialist-cum-anarchists devise various means of making an impact, only to find the authorities running rings round them (again, I'm sure there are plenty of allegorical parallels to be drawn, since the film came out in a year that saw the rise of Solidarity and the imposition of martial law - Holland couldn't have predicted the second, but would certainly know all about the first). The central "protagonist" is in fact a bomb, passed from hand to hand and used in various failed assassination schemes. Some swotting-up on the period would probably help the non-Polish viewer - I got lost in the political machinations very early on, though individual set-pieces were very effective.

A Woman Alone: well, Agnieszka Holland has the dubious distinction of being heavily involved in what are easily the two most wrist-slittingly depressing Polish films of the early 1980s, the other being Interrogation (in which she acted). Both were banned, and few can have been surprised: A Woman Alone is one of the sourest, most cynical and despairing studies of the life of ordinary people (a middle-aged single mother, a disabled ex-miner) in a Communist society that I've ever seen. Presumably emboldened by the rise of Solidarity (namechecked at least once), Holland doesn't pull any punches: she graphically shows how a system of collective responsibility ends up utterly marginalising those perceived as "outsiders", leaving them with literally nowhere to go. Maria Chwalibóg is astonishingly good as Irina, the downtrodden protagonist - she's not an especially sympathetic character, and much of what happens to her is her own fault, but it's hard to blame her under the circumstances, and it does at least mean that Holland avoids the trap so many other filmmakers fall into of presenting a saintly individual trampled by fate.

Transfers are basic but acceptable - sourced from reasonably well preserved (but clearly unrestored) theatrical prints, they're presented in 4:3 (which I think is the OAR) and aside from a few visual blemishes (nothing serious) they're very watchable, and there's no great distinction between any of them in terms of overall quality. Definitely a huge improvement on the Skolimowski transfers, though the fact that the films are a fair bit younger probably helped.

One slight niggle is that the print of Fever has burned-in Polish subtitles whenever the dialogue shifts to Russian, so to get round this the subtitles on just this DVD are yellow, and cover up the Polish subtitles (albeit not very well, as the latter are significantly larger). Another slightly bigger niggle is that the subtitles are pretty basic - quite a few typos and also, more annoyingly, a lot of incidental stuff is left untranslated, and I don't know whether it matters. (Given the "write between the lines" nature of Polish cinema at the time, I'm guessing it probably does). That said, I should be grateful for any English subtitles at all (how many UK labels reciprocate by offering Polish ones?), so I can't complain too much.

I'm sure the booklet's terrific - with 24 packed pages not including the cover it certainly looks very substantial - but it's in Polish only.

[fiddlesticks]

Provincial Actors: a Polish viewer well versed in the country's late 1970s history will doubtless pick up far more nuances, but I suspect I'm right in interpreting this as an impassioned attack on the way culture becomes a political tool, to be interfered with by bureaucrats from the director of a provincial theatre right up to the Ministry of Culture. It's also a study of an estranged couple on the verge of a permanent split - he's worrying more about his career than about his wife, who in turn is actively contemplating [...]

[...] having an affair with a Polish Air Force flyer, played by Robert Stack, when by turn of chance all three end up involved in a scheme to expose an undercover Nazi agent in Warsaw...
Hey, wait a sec, that's not an Agnieszka Holland film!

[foggy eyes]

Thanks for the report, Michael - it looks like this set is definitely worth a punt. Unexpectedly, I saw my first Holland film the other night: an episode of The Wire (3.8)!

[MichaelB]

Thanks for the report, Michael - it looks like this set is definitely worth a punt. Unexpectedly, I saw my first Holland film the other night: an episode of The Wire (3.8)!

In all seriousness, I think there are plenty of strong parallels to be drawn between Poland's "moral anxiety" movement (in which Holland cut her creative teeth) and The Wire!

[menthymenthy]

Nice summary of the set, Michael. I agree about A Woman Alone - very depressing, but the totally off-beat ending was not only a surprise, but just so well done. I think it was my favourite of the set. Unlike you, I really enjoyed Screen Tests. It wasn't perfect, but it was very likeable. I really liked the whole set up.

I didn't think too much of Fever or Provincial Actors, but it was good watching them along with Holland's other work.

[MichaelB]

I didn't think too much of Fever or Provincial Actors, but it was good watching them along with Holland's other work.

I thought they were both superb - certainly on a par with the better-known "moral anxiety" films like Camera Buff. Fever in particular is a fascinating choice of subject given what was happening in Poland at the time - it's almost a cautionary parable about the dangers of leaping headlong into revolutionary fervour with too much enthusiasm and too little strategic thought, and the crackdown by the authorities is unnervingly prescient given what happened in Poland only a few months after the film was made.

[Skritek]

Since many Polish DVDs seem to have bad English subtitles, I wonder how the subs are on Majewski's Angelus?
I'm also somewhat interested in Janusz Majewski's films Lokis, which has a remastered edition seemingly without subs, even if subs are listed for the other released film by the director Zaklete rewiry, is this true? And has actually someone seen the film, is it recommended or only something for Polish nostalgics?

[menthymenthy]

Since many Polish DVDs seem to have bad English subtitles, I wonder how the subs are on Majewski's Angelus?

I'm also somewhat interested in Janusz Majewski's films Lokis, which has a remastered edition seemingly without subs, even if subs are listed for the other released film by the director Zaklete rewiry, is this true? And has actually someone seen the film, is it recommended or only something for Polish nostalgics?

I've only seen Angelus, and I didn't like it. It looked quite great, but I found that it all just seemed stitched together. I recall the subtitles being very good though.

Most English subtitles on Polish DVDs have been quite good - some very good. The only releases that had bad subtitles were the Skolimowski boxset and the Holland box set. Dekalog, the Wajda DVDs, etc had almost flawless subtitles.

That's what I've found at least.

[MichaelB]

Heads up - Telewisja Kinopolska have announced the third director-based box set after their Agnieszka Holland and Jerzy Skolimowski boxes. This time it's a three-disc set devoted to Tadeusz Konwicki, about whom I'm almost totally ignorant - but this overview says:

A DVD box edition of films directed by the renowned Polish filmmaker and writer Tadeusz Konwicki is out on January 29, as part of the Kino Polska TV channel’s “Masterpieces of the Polish Cinema Series”. The movies shot between 1971 and 1989 include works such as “The Issa Valley”, based on a novel by the 1980 Nobel Prize winner Czesław Miłosz, about the life of the Polish community in Lithuania in the early 20th century. Another movie is “Lava”, the screen version of a literary classic by the 19th century Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz, which chronicles one of abortive national uprisings against Russian rule. The box edition is complete with a documentary by Andrzej Titkow devoted to Konwicki. The films, as well as the documentary, feature English-language subtitles. According to film critics the films included in the collection are a blend of realism and fantasy. They focus on the artist’s reminiscences from the past, his attempts to reach out to his roots in Lithuania and his efforts to fit into the modern reality. In his works Konwicki sends his characters on an odyssey on the borderline between the world of the living and the world of the dead, in search of the lost truth, love and home. Tadeusz Konwicki is one of the most influential personalities in post-war Polish culture: an outstanding writer, screen writer and film director who has received a host of prizes at home and abroad. A forerunner of the legendary Polish film school, between 1956 and 1968 he was the literary director of the acclaimed Kadr film unit.

However, this is the only source that confirms English subtitles - all the retailers I've checked imply that it's Polish only. But since it's not out till later this week, this might simply be because they're not sure.

[Skritek]

Since many Polish DVDs seem to have bad English subtitles, I wonder how the subs are on Majewski's Angelus?
I'm also somewhat interested in Janusz Majewski's films Lokis, which has a remastered edition seemingly without subs, even if subs are listed for the other released film by the director Zaklete rewiry, is this true? And has actually someone seen the film, is it recommended or only something for Polish nostalgics?

Thanks. My problem is that I don't want to double-dip on the 50s Wajda's as I didn't like them too much. And Dekalog I could not find anymore (merlin, rockserwis). The others I was interested in (Holland/Skolimowski/Zanussi) have bad subs. I had set my mind on period-piece films from Poland, since I enjoyed Diabel and Brzezina very much. Now I can't really decide what to get...

[MichaelB]

The others I was interested in (Holland/Skolimowski/Zanussi) have bad subs.

I'd say the Agnieszka Holland subtitles were adequate rather than bad - to give them credit, they're generally well-written, properly synchronised and optional. My only serious beef with them is that they don't translate everything - but compared with a typical Facets release (i.e. visually ugly, burned in, inadequate translation and out of sync), they're absolutely fine.

And, realistically, what are the chances of these films getting a reissue with improved subtitles any time soon? (If they do come out in an English-speaking territory, the price will be vastly higher).