This title is being released by Olive Films (www.olivefilms.com – www.facebook.com/olivefilms) on April 24th, 2017.
This week, we have a couple of Blu-rays that fall squarely into the category of art film… and some the oddest arthouse fare you’re likely to witness. Most won’t be familiar with controversial, Polish-born filmmaker Walerian Borowczyk. Heck, I wasn’t either before receiving this release. While countrymen like Roman Polanski, Andrzej Wajda and Krzysztof Kieslowski are more well-known, this director still managed to earn critical accolades of his own, working in a variety of media and styles. Oddly enough, by the end of his career he began making adult films, and many members of the press began referring to him as the “arty pornographer.”
Olive Films are releasing some of his titles this week, including a Blu-ray called Walerian Borowczyk: Short Films that contains several films made between 1959 and 1984. This release contains an interesting and enlightening documentary on Borowczyk that helps to shed some light and interesting facts about the moviemaker. Simply put, he began his career as an artist working on movie posters in his homeland. He later emigrated to France and starting making shorts, using techniques that were new and unusual for the time period. This disc contains 15 shorts, varying greatly in content.
Some of the highlights include The Astronauts (1959), which almost feels like an updated take on Melies’ A Voyage to the Moon (1902). It mixes photographs and a cut-out animation style to depict a man building a spaceship in his garage and traveling off the planet. There’s some strikingly absurd imagery and the short benefits from it’s eccentric look. The Concert (1962), a simply drawn animated piece about a bickering married couple named The Kabals (Borowczyk would later complete a feature-length animated film with the characters). Using a cut-out animation style on old drawings, Grandma’s Encyclopedia (1963) is also amusing, detailing three modes of transport (early automobiles, air-balloons, and locomotives) with humorous mishaps along the way. It’s short and sweet.
Still, the somber and serious shorts resonate the strongest. Angels’ Games (1964) is an eerie, chilling animated effort that stays with the viewer long after it ends. It begins with the sound of a train, cold metallic colors and the blur of movement. The visuals become even more austere when, empty rooms are displayed, organ pipes sound and saws cut in metallic angels, separating them into pieces. There are camera pans, but it’s fairly static on the rooms, adding a lingering emptiness to the proceedings. The ultimate meaning is clear and it’s one of the most haunting and unsettling shorts ever created.
Animated using real photographs, Renaissance (1964) depicts a room full of destroyed paintings, dolls, furniture and other objects repairing themselves, only to reveal that they were destroyed by a bomb drop. On a different tact, Rosalie (1966) is a live-action film featuring an actress speaking directly to camera against a stark white background. She’s a servant on trial, giving an account the death of her infants and what caused her actions. It’s a well-acted and tragic film sympathetic to the character that details the horrific mistreatment women faced in the past.
As mentioned, Walerian eventually took a turn into explicit and adult territory and there are couple of shorts from the 70s and 80s that display his burgeoning interest. The last is A Private Collection (1972), narrated by an unseen figure, describing and showing off a collection of pornographic items (including toys, pictures and films) from history. Some of it is silly and amusing, but it becomes quite graphic and the longer, more explicit version has been censored. To be frank, the short loses its playful side in the extended cut and I’m glad I didn’t have to see the details of what was implied. It’s very extreme and sensitive viewers should skip that one.
Overall, this is an interesting overview of an odd and unusual filmmaker. It features a good documentary and his production house co-conspirators really help to give some perspective on the man, as well as provide background for his unique and expressionistic works. Terry Gilliam (Brazil, Twelve Monkeys, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) even appears to give a brief introduction to the shorts and it’s clear that some of the films had a significant impact on the director’s animated work for Monty Python’s Flying Circus. There are some excellent little clips along with a few more extreme ones. Those familiar with the works contained will find Walerian Borowczyk: Short Films an interesting compendium.