Avatars, Spacemen & Mad Scientists: Poland's Vintage Sci-Fi Treasures
Andrzej Wajda on organ transplants, Janusz Majewski on soul swapping, Stanisław Kokesz on a mad scientist, and Marek T. Nowakowski on time travel. Polish science fiction movies of the 1960s and ’70s have been aired by TVP Kultura as part of its ‘Lost in Space’ series.
This is Polish cinema as you've never seen it before. Dug out from the abyss of the Polish Television’s archives, these short- and mid-length feature sci-fi films are proof that the world of cinematic fantasy also had a place around the River Wisła. Tomasz Kolankiewicz, a member of the editing team of the Feature and Documentary section at TVP Kultura, comments:
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The titles shown as part of the ‘Zagubione w Przestrzeni’ [Lost in Space] series constitute a fantastic example of the creativity and inventive nature of Polish cinema artists, who had to make do with small budgets and significant design limitations. What is most apparent, however, is the latent humour of these films, a factor so often lacking in contemporary Polish productions.
Here are 11 forgotten classics of Polish science fiction:
‘Professor Zazul’, dir. Marek Nowicki, Jerzy Stawicki (1965)
Ijon Tichy falls asleep behind the wheel as he's driving his Opel. In his dream, he finds himself in the deserted house of a Professor Zazul – and instead of the owner, he encounters the professor’s double. The real professor is conserved in a jar in a laboratory.
The film is one of two screen adaptions of Stanisław Lem’s novels from the director-cinematographer duo Marek Nowicki and Jerzy Stawicki.
‘Roly Poly’, dir. Andrzej Wajda (1968)
When Andrzej Wajda began working on adapting Lem’s Do You Exist, Mr. Jones? he invited the author himself to collaborate on the production. It must be one of the reasons why Roly Poly is the only film adaptation of his novels of which Lem later spoke with sympathy.
Wajda’s grotesque garnered a special mention at the fantasy film festival in Sitges in Spain, and it was later presented by European television channels. Much of the credit for its success must go to the excellent acting by Bogusław Kobiela, who impersonated the race driver Richard Fox. Together with his brother Thomas, he suffers a tragic accident. When the two men encounter a genius surgeon (Jerzy Zelnik), Richard has organ transplants from the dead Thomas. But this is only the beginning of the macabre medicine which awaits the unfortunate driver...
‘Friend’, dir. Marek Nowicki & Jerzy Stawicki (1965)
Much to his own surprise, Professor Tichy discovers that a powerful electron brain has begun forging the results of his research. Will he discover the plot set up by a lonely and naive mechanic in time? This 20-minute black-and-white film from Marek Nowicki and Jerzy Stawicki is based on Lem’s short story published under the same title.
‘Avatar, or the Swapping of Souls’, dir. Janusz Majewski (1964)
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Still from ‘Avatar, or the Swapping of Souls’, 1964, directed by Janusz Majewski, photo: Gdynia Film Festival
James Cameron was a 10-year-old admiring a black-and-white Mickey Mouse on TV when a film bearing the same title as his future production from 2009 was already being made in Poland.
The adaptation of Theophile Gautier’s story directed by Janusz Majewski is the best of Opowieści Niesamowite (Uncanny Stories), a series realised by Polish television in the 1960s. Awatar Czyli Zamiana Dusz (Avatar, or the Swapping of Souls) is the story of an unfulfilled lover who, in order to seize the woman of his dreams, is ready to ‘swap souls’ and enter the body of her husband.
For this costume-comedy production, Janusz Majewski was presented with the FIPRESCI award at the International Festival of Television Films in Monte Carlo (1966) as well as the Golden Asteroid of the International Fantasy Film Festival in Trieste (1967).
‘Where Are You, Louise?’ dir. Janusz Kubik (1965)
A radio message informs us that visitors from another planet have landed on a Polish road. Mysterious creatures convince the people they encounter on their way to undergo experimental examinations in exchange for gaining youth and immortality. The television film by Janusz Kubik is an adaptation of Czesław Chruszczewski’s short story Fotel na Autostradzie (Armchair on the Highway). Realised by the Se-ma-for Studio in Łódź, it audaciously employed trick photographs to significantly reduce the costs of scenery and set design.
‘Governor’, dir. Stanisław Kokesz (1965)
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Still from ‘Governor’, directed by Stanisław Kokesz, 1965, photo: Gydnia Film Festival
The mad Professor Fogg invites a friend to his villa. He tells him of his plans to gain power over Planet Earth, aided by beings from another planet, with whom he communicates through special devices. Unfortunately, he himself does not live to see the moment of the invasion – he dies of electric shock, and the voices that reached him from outer space turn out to have been his own thoughts.
Stanisław Kokesza’s fantastic film impresses us with technological novelties: a soundproof magnetic barrier, a photocell with a recording of barking dogs, and… a system for opening gates by remote control.
‘Biohazard’, dir. Janusz Kubik (1977)
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Still from ‘Biohazard’, directed by Janusz Kubik, 1977, photo: Gydnia Film Festival
The former boss of the Scientific Institute, Professor Molnar, returns to his former workplace in order to undergo treatment for heart disease. His previous assistant and now the new head of the Institute, Egberg, is conducting research. This is the same research that Molnar had decided to pull out from because of the possible risk of overstepping what he considered the limits of interfering with the human structure. Molnar becomes incapacitated and when he awakes after surgery he discovers the terrible truth – his brain has been transplanted into the body of the resentful Egberg.
Ten years after Wajda’s Roly Poly, the notion of morality in science and medicine returned once again to TV screens, dressed in the guise of science-fiction cinema.
‘Professor H.’, dir. Janusz Majewski (1964)
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Still from ‘Professor H.’, directed by Janusz Majewski, 1964, photo: Gydnia Film Festival
The eccentric assistant Traumera enters the lab of Professor Foss. We soon learn that the mad Professor Hammler is the one behind Traumera’s appearancem as he seeks to transplant Foss’s brain into the body of his assistant.
The film is based on a screenplay from J. G. Sandbarmay. The duo hiding under this alias is in fact Janusz Majewski and Jerzy Mierzejewski. The real pearl of this short-length feature is a jazz motif composed by Andrzej Kurylewicz, evocative of Bach’s fugue.
‘The First Pavilion’, dir. Janusz Majewski (1965)
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Still from ‘The First Pavillion’, directed by Janusz Majewski, 1965, photo: Gdynia Film Festival
The young scientist Professor Foss is kidnapped by strange personas and finds himself in a mysterious little hut. Here, his former teacher, Professor Franton, experiments with shrinking people. Yet this fantastical film from Janusz Majewski did not follow in the success of Avatar, which he'd made one year earlier. This is spite of the fact that Majewski managed to gather a team of excellent actors, such as Jan Machulski, Leon Niemczyk and Roman Sykała.
‘Through the Fifth Dimension’, dir. Marek T. Nowakowski (1973)
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Still from ‘Through the Fifth Dimension’, directed by Marek T. Nowakowski, 1973, photo: Gdynia Film Festival
Through some strange experiment, Siwiec, a journalist, gets moved back in time. In this new dimension, he encounters unforeseeable adventures, including a meeting with himself.
Marek T. Nowakowski’s film was one of the best performed Polish science-fiction films, with such stars among the cast as Gustaw Holoubek, Jan Nowak, Karol Strasburger and Leon Niemczyk.
‘Insomnia Station’, dir. Piotr Wojciechowski (1973)
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Still from ‘Insomnia Station’, directed by Piotr Wojciechowski, 1973, photo: Gdynia Film Festival
A former school colleague tries to free Dr. Weronika from the claws of a dream-thief hypnotist. When the mission ends with success, the unfortunate girl becomes his torpid tool. Although Stacja Bezsenność (Insomnia Station) is a fantasy film, its authors cast the action in contemporary reality and thus entirely gave up sci-fi decor. The effect is that of a fantastical and scientific film in the guise of psychological cinema.
All of the above films were made available to viewers of TVP Kultura and the audience of the 38th Gdynia Film Festival.
Edited by BS, 4 Sep 2015, translated by Paulina Schlosser, 23 Oct 2015
Sources: TVP Kultura, Filmpolski.pl, Gdynia Film Festival, Filmweb