Polish animation films

First in a series of three

I discovered Polish animation films years ago, longed to see them again and eventually acquired the Anthology of Polish Animated Films from Amazon.com.  (I see that the title now includes the word experimental.)  This collection is two discs of 28 short films from the 1950s to the years 2000.

In Western Europe, America and, of course, South Africa we have been overwhelmed with American animation films (via Japan), with the work of Walt Disney in the lead.  For this reason many people believe that animated films are made for children.  Polish animation films divest them of that opinion smartly.  I believe that many adults will not only be fascinated by these films, but intellectually challenged.

If you regard the Polish people, their culture and their art, they have lived under the yoke of ruthless, inhumane ideologies.  Often you sense the political metaphors in the work, but themes are also philosophical and psychological.  I think of The Road [Kijowski, 1971] where a little figure walking along a road eventually arrives at a fork.  His indecision makes him divide himself in two, though these two halves would love to be reunited as they walk along.  When they meet again, however, the two halves don’t fit.  In a way, they latch onto each other and continue the journey in an awkward way.

© Will

www.willwilltravel.wordpress.com

Les Semboules, Antibes

August, 2020

 

Images

The cover of the anthology