Agnieszka TaborskaCritiques

'A Story of Sin' is an attempt at a reconstruction of Surrealist traditions in Polish cinema. The book reveals the repressed, obscure and alternative aspects of Polish cinematography by providing an invaluable guide to the Surrealistic 'terra incognita' whose outline authors recognise in films by Wojciech Jerzy Has, Walerian Borowczyk, Andrzej Zulawski, Roman Polanski, Jan Lenica, Piotr Szulkin, Grzegorz Krolikiewicz, Tadeusz Konwicki and others. Can Surrealist tradition provide an inspiring alternative to realism in Polish cinematography? What are the features specific to Polish Surrealism; how should it be placed in a cultural and socio-political context, bearing in mind strong Romantic traditions, Catholicism, and the experiences from the Communist era? // Contents: The Daydreams of Wojciech J. Has / The 'Red Wall of Surealism' in Experimental and Animated Film After the Thaw / Motion Without Escape: The Bleak Surrealism of Czech and Polish Animation / A Cruel Imagination: Roman Polanski's Short Films / Devil's Games: Surrealism in Polish Émigré Cinema / Mad Love Between Obsession and Myth: Foreplay on Images of Women and Men, Ways of Depicting Erotica and Its (un)Exploited Potential in Polish Cinema / Walerian Borowczyk's 'Blanche': Courtly Love, Lacan and Surrealism / Surreality: An Unfinished Project / Utopia, Dystopia, Escape: Surrealism and Polish Science Fiction/Fantasy Cinema / Two Worlds, Two Poetics: Magical Realism and Surrealism in Polish Film / 'The Case Against the Real World': Surrealism in Polish Cinema After 1989