Polish Cinema: Disturbing Histories, Absurd Humor

Course Description

 

This course examines the various ways in which key Polish filmmakers depict the everyday person affected by the turbulence of 20th-century Polish history. Through watching the films of Andrzej Wajda, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Agnieszka Holland, Wojtek Smarzowski, and others, we will critically address a number of topics which remain at the core of popular discourse in Poland up to the present day. These include: the role of ordinary citizens turned soldiers in the Second World War, the pressure of becoming “a war hero”, the maltreatment of women during and after armed conflicts, and the subsequent hardships of living in a communist state. 

The viewing of films will be informed by historical and biographical secondary source reading materials. All texts will be assigned in English, and all films screened with subtitles.