choose a film
1.The Cinema of Roman Polanski. Polish Beginnings.Screening of Knife in the Water (1962),
2. The Cinema of Moral Anxiety. Ryszard Bugajski. Screening of The Interrogation (1982, 1989),
3. The Cinema of Juliusz Machulski. Screening of Sexmission (1984),
4. The Cinema of Krzysztof Kieslowski. Screening of The Decalogue, Parts I and 5 (1989),
5. Cinema in the diaspora. The Cinema of Jerzy Skolimowski. Screening of Moonlighting (1982) ,
film review is considered an objectively written six-page analysis of any film viewed during the semester, and one which in the main treats the chosen film on the basis of its content and form. There is no precise formula to guarantee a good review, but students should above all strive for originality of thought, persuasiveness of opinion, depth of observation and coherence of expression,. A review should also consider the relevance of the film within the particular cultural/historical/political confines of Polish Post-war Cinema (New Wave, Cinema of Moral Anxiety, post-1989).
Content, for example, comprises many elements. Generally, it is the ‘what’ of the film, in other words, what the film is about. In a larger sense, the content of a film implies its themes, plot(s), levels of meaning, interpretation(s), even authorial intent or audience reception. Themes may entail a variety of intentions, for example, satirical, ideological, historical, social or political. Plot consists of not only the events of the film, but more importantly of their inter-relationship, in other words, how the events interact and advance the action of the film. With respect to meaning, directors/screenwriters may attempt to interweave various ideas and points of significance, some at times even contradictory, within their films. Ideally, your reviews should try to identify and evaluate various notions of the ‘meaning(s)’ of the film, at least as much as can be done in the space of a six-page double-spaced typewritten text.
Form, though very different from content, is normally indivisible from it in the creation of a successful film. Whereas content may be called the ‘what?’ with respect to the questions or issues that the director wishes to explore in the film, form is the cinematographic means that are employed with respect to the exterior structure, design or plan of the film, in other words, the spatial/temporal/visual/aural ‘how?’ of the film. Form, like content, implies many things. It may refer to the generic form or ‘type’ of the film, as for example, comedy, satire, farce, drama, tragedy, or the manner in which those types of film are expressed, be it in a subjective or lyrical mode or by more traditional narrative means. Form in film also takes in a vast gamut of artistic tools that the director may employ: screenwriting (the text, verbal and dramatic, that inspires the film), editing, camerawork, lighting, color, sets, setting, sound, casting, acting, characterization, movement, time, pace, etc. The manner in which a director chooses to assemble or arrange these numerous formal devices will ultimately determine the particular image that he or she implants on the film as a creative artist. Moreover, the manner in which that arbitrary form is then wedded to content, will determine the individual stamp of a director, something, for example, that can be used to distinguish such highly acclaimed, though very different artists, such as Wajda, Polanski, Kie?lowski or Machulski, to name a few.
Finally, a good review should not only stress the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ of a film, it should also – and this is usually a good thing to place in a conclusion of a review – try to make some case for the ‘where’ and the ‘why’ of the film. That is to say, the review should indicate the relevance of the work in the historical context of the Polish cinematographic tradition which, in a unique way and for a variety of reasons, emerged and evolved in the post-war period. In that sense, the review should embrace what is one of the prime objectives of the course that the student has just completed.
