Magic Realist Cinema in East Central Europe

209 Pages·2.788 MB·English

by  Skrodzka, Aga

Traditions in World Cinema
General Editors:Linda Badley and R.Barton Palmer
Founding Editor:Steven Jay Schneider A
G
This series introduces diverse and fascinating movements in world cinema. Each volume
concentrates on a set of films from a different national, regional or, in some cases, cross- A
cultural cinema which constitute a particular tradition. S
K
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MAGIC REALIST CINEMA Z
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IN EAST CENTRAL EUROPE
AGA SKRODZKA
MAGIC REALIST CINEMA
Magic Realist Cinema in East Central Europe explores the interlocking complexities of two
liminal concepts: magic realism and East Central Europe. Each is a fascinating hybrid that IN EAST CENTRAL EUROPE
resonates with dominant currents in contemporary thought on transnationalism,globalisation I
N
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and regionalism.
EA AGA SKRODZKA
In this critical and comprehensive survey,Aga Skrodzka moves the current debate over magic AG
realism’s political impact from literary studies to film studies. Her close textual analysis of SI
films by directors such as Jan Svankmajer, Jan Jakub Kolski, Martin Sulík, Ivo Trajkov, Dorota TC
K dzierzawska,Ildikó Enyedi,Béla Tarr and Emir Kusturica is accompanied by an investigation of
CR
the socio-economic and political context in order to both study and popularise an important
EE
and unique tradition in world cinema. The directors’ artistic achievements illuminate the NA
connections between a particular aesthetics and the social structure of East Central Europe at TL
aprecise moment of contemporary history. RIS
AT
This fascinating introduction to a unique regional trend in cinema will be welcomed by
L
undergraduate and postgraduate students in Film Studies,as well as scholars researching magic C
realism and world cinema. EI
UN
Aga Skrodzkais Assistant Professor in Film Studies at Clemson University. RE
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PA
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ISBN 978-0-7486-3916-8
Cover design:riverdesign.co.uk
Cover image:Záhrada,1995,Martin Sulik
©Rudolf Biermann.
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www.euppublishing.com u
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MAGIC REALIST CINEMA IN
EAST CENTRAL EUROPE
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MAGIC REALIST CINEMA IN EAST
CENTRAL EUROPE
Aga Skrodzka
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© Aga Skrodzka, 2012
Edinburgh University Press Ltd
22 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9LF
www.euppublishing.com
Typeset in 10/12.5pt Sabon
by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire, and
printed and bound in Great Britain by
CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon CR0 4YY
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 0 7486 3916 8 (hardback)
ISBN 978 0 7486 6934 9 (webready PDF)
ISBN 978 0 7486 6936 3 (epub)
ISBN 978 0 7486 6935 6 (Amazon ebook)
The right of Aga Skrodzka
to be identifi ed as author of this work
has been asserted in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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CONTENTS
Illustrations vi
Acknowledgements ix
Preface xi
1. Vernacular Magic Realism in Globalising Europe 1
2. They Live on Mars: The Magic of the Periphery 47
3. Wooden Monsters, Dead Bodies and Things: Embodying the Other 89
4. Between Fantasy and Mimesis: Carnival, Children and Cinema 123
Epilogue: Three Encounters 167
Select Filmography 173
Bibliography 176
Index 182
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ILLUSTRATIONS
1 Imriško on a potty in his parents’ orchard in Landscape (2000). 5
2 Ivan contemplates premodern and postmodern tools in Letter to
America (2001). 10
3 The local women who keep the secret of the healing song in Letter
to America. 12
4 Lem and Isaak witnessing the starry spectacle of night in The Great
Water (2004). 18
5 Martin Šulík’s literal vision of groundedness in Orbis Pictus (1997). 22
6 The Slovak countryside with its premodern rituals in Landscape. 25
7 Postmodern shamanism in Year of the Devil (2002). 26
8 Two thieves fl ying over St Petersburg in Letgohang Vaska (1996). 39
9 Pagan funeral procession in the heart of the city in Letgohang Vaska. 40
10 Bulgarian village as the sleepy and stagnant East Central European
periphery in Letter to America. 42
11 Villagers transport marijuana in pillowcases in Mila from Mars
(2004). 49
12 Entrepreneurial elders welcome Mila into their midst. 49
13 and 14 Mila makes a new start on ‘Mars’. 51
15 Emir Kusturica’s Underground (1995) concludes with an image of
fl oating ground. 57
16 and 17 Director Jan Jakub Kolski working with animals on the set
of his fi lms. 76
18 Jakub being woken up by a sheep in The Garden (1995). 80
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ILLUSTRATIONS
19 H elena embodies the ancient of Baba Yaga. 83
20 H elena as the Eucharist in The Garden. 84
21 W omen performing magic in Jasminum (2006). 85
22 T he old man as the fl esh of the world in Werckmeister Harmonies
(2000). 98
23 T he matriarch’s helping hand guides Hötöle back to life in The
Porcelain Doll (2005). 100
24 T he protagonists of Trzaskalski’s Eddie (2002), Edi and Jureczek,
push their cart of valuable junk. 107
25 E di’s childhood memory of playing at the lake. 110
26 A fonia with her hand-cranked camera in Kolski’s Afonia and the
Bees (2009). 117
27 S muggling Russian washing machines down the Danube in Black
Cat, White Cat (1998). 118
28 K usturica contemplates technology’s re-absorption into nature via
one hungry pig. 119
29 T he talking chimpanzee narrates his life story to Dóra and ‘Z’ in
Enyedi’s My Twentieth Century (1989). 135
30 A ndryszek the First consults a saint on his cinematographic
invention in History of Cinema in Popielawy (1998). 140
31 A ndryszek constructs a wooden frame for his ‘kino-
machine’. 140
32 S taszek and Szustek on their way to see a movie in History of
Cinema in Popielawy. 142
33 C row spends long hours alone, while her mother is working shifts
in Crows (1994). 147
34 K e˛dzierzawska’s child protagonists take good care of each other in
the absence of the parents in Crows. 148
35 G ienia’s kitchen conversations with the nurturing Brother Sanitas
in Kolski’s Jasminum (2006). 150
36 P atriarchy is at Gienia’s service when monks break their
contemplation of God to plait her hair. 152
37 G host of a saint in conversation with ducks in Jasminum. 153
38 L eft to his own devices, Stefek watches trains and awaits his
father’s return in Jakimowski’s Tricks (2007). 155
39 A s substitute parents, Elka and Jerzy take Stefek on rides about
town in Tricks. 157
40 I n Squint Your Eyes (2002), Jakimowski celebrates life in the
periphery. Jasiek and Mała enjoy each other’s company, while
playing a game of cards. 158
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MAGIC REALIST CINEMA IN EAST CENTRAL EUROPE
Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following sources for permission
to reproduce material previously published elsewhere. Every effort has been
made to trace the copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently
overlooked, the publisher will be pleased to make the necessary arrangements
at the fi rst opportunity. I would like to thank Piotr Piotrowski from Figaro
Film for granting his copyright permission to publish Figures 30, 31, and
32; Rossitsa Valkanova from KLAS Film for allowing me to publish the
images photographed by Júlia Kiss as Figures 2, 3, and 10; Zornitsa Sophia
for her permission to publish Figures 11, 12, 13, and 14; Film Studio OKO
for granting me permission to publish the photographs by Arthur Reinhart
as Figures 33 and 34; Rudolf Biermann from IN FILM Praha and Martin
Šulík for granting permission to publish Figures 1, 5, 6, 18, 19, and 20; Piotr
Bujnowicz for allowing me to publish his photographs, including the portraits
of Jan Jakub Kolski, as Figures 16, 17, 21, 35, 36, and 37; and Paul C. Miller
for providing Figure 8 and issuing his permission to publish it in this book.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book would not have been possible without the many summers of leisure
and labour I spent in the company of Aleksander and Nadzieja Zin´czuk.
I should like to thank a number of people for their diverse contributions to
the production of this book. My deepest gratitude goes to Jeff French, who
lived with and supported this project for what seems like too many years.
His belief in the book made me envision its completion against all odds. I am
indebted to Justine Pekalak for providing me with peace of mind, without
which writing would be a taxing process. Sandy Petrey’s lessons on making
scholarship personal have fostered my stance as an academic writer. I also
thank him for teaching me about the importance of expressing oneself clearly
and plainly. The series editors, Linda Badley and Barton Palmer, offered con-
tinuous, always enthusiastic, words of encouragement and careful editorial
advice. Barton’s mentorship extends well beyond this project and is a source
of continued inspiration. I appreciate the thoughtful suggestions for improv-
ing this volume that were delivered to me by the anonymous readers. During
the long and laborious process of composing the manuscript, my friends
Joanna Borchert, Kette Thomas, Kristin Pape and Lilla Toke sustained my
intellectual work with food, conversation and practical advice. The scholar-
ship of Wendy Faris, Katarzyna Marciniak, Anikó Imre, Dina Iordanova, Ewa
Mazierska, Peter Hames, Vivian Sobchack and Rosalind Galt has challenged
and stimulated my thinking on the issues explored in this volume. Indirectly,
the work of Zygmunt Bauman offers a philosophical framework for much of
my narrative. Daniel Skrodzki worked hard on providing me with many texts
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