Leoš Janáček: Intimate Excursions

In 1983 the Quay Brothers produced a documentary of sorts, creating animations to accompany musical excerpts from compositions by the notable Czech composer Leoš Janáček. The film, Intimate Excursions, has yet to be officially released due to a conflict of rights concerning the accompanying music.

Zdzisław Beksiński (1929-2005) - True Inspiration

http://www.beksinski.pl/

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I stumbled upon the work of this graphic master just the other night, and find it (as most would, I expect) extraordinarily compelling.

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Polish Masters of Animation Pt. 4: Julian Józef Antonisz

Very much like the case with Ryszard Czekala, I have not been able to dredge up much information on this guy or his work. There is, however, a page for him on Wikipedia in Polish. Without going through the trouble of choppy, nonsensical online translation, it is at least obvious that he was born in 1941 and died in 1987. So far I’ve seen three of his animations - ‘How a Sausage Dog Works’, 1971, ‘Ostry Film Zaangazowany’ (A Highly Committed Movie), 1979, and 'Non-Camerowa' from 1983. They are fairly similar in method and structure, except for the fact that the action of A Highly Committed Movie is based solely on a musical score, versus the narration which apparently (even though I can’t understand it) drives How a Sausage Dog Works and Non-Camerowa. The technical aspect to the films is quite enigmatic in itself. At times in A Highly Committed Movie and certainly entirely throughout Non-Camerowa, the method seems to be akin to that of Norman Mclaren, among others - i.e. the images are drawn / painted or ‘scratched’ directly onto unexposed film. Occasionally, though, certain objects which appear onscreen alongside the images seem to contradict that method.

Perhaps a rough Google translation of the Polish Wikipedia page will clear things up...

Here’s ‘How a Sausage Dog Works' and 'Non-Camerowa.' ‘A Highly Committed Movie’ is available on PWA’s Anthology of Polish Animated Film - http://pwa.gov.pl/en/show/60/index.html

How a Sausage Dog Works, 1971.

Non-Camerowa, 1983

Various Pathological Curiosities

Grant Museum of the University of Toronto Medical School

Museo delle Cere Anatomiche, Bologna, Italy

Anatomia, by Joseph Maclise (c. 1850)

Manuel d'Anatomie Descriptive du Corps Humain (1825)

Anatomical Tables, by John Banister (c. 1580)

Polish Masters of Animation Pt. 3: Walerian Borowczyk

A sculptor, a painter, an illustrator, a still photographer, a giant in the history of cinema; no matter the medium, Walerian Borowczyk (1923-2006) was always, above all else, an artist with an amazing vision.

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Although most known for his live-action films of eroticism and fetishistic symbolism, Borowczyk started off in film making short-subject cut-out animations assisted by Jan Lenica (see previous post) in the mid-50s. After a falling out with the fellow artist-turned-animator, Borowczyk continued with his work in animation throughout the 1960s, before turning to live-action feature films.

The School

Les Astronautes, 1959 (part 1)

Les Astronautes, 1959 (part 2)

Polish Masters of Animation Pt. 2: Jan Lenica

Wow, it’s been a while. Hopefully I’ll be updating regularly again after this. Here’s a couple links to start this one off -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Lenica

http://www.kinoeye.org/01/06/bird06.php

I’d read about him. I’d seen his stark, violently striking posters. Some of my major influences cited him as their influence. But, it wasn’t until recently that I finally experienced some of the most mind-numbingly brilliant animation I’ve ever seen, created by him in a period between the 1950s and the present. Jan Lenica is, without a doubt, one of THE masters of not only animation, but cinema as a whole.

The bootlegged DVD I got a hold of features four of his films, along with a mini-documentary (in Polish) of Lenica at work. The films are:

Dom, 1956 / 1958 (?)
Nowy Janko Muzykat, 1960
Labirynt, 1962
WYSPA R.O., 2001

There aren’t any clips available, or even very few stills, so I am going to direct this not specifically at each film, but Lenica’s style overall.

The earlier work is much cruder technically, but the films seem to hold much more artistic quality, working on editing nuances and interesting graphic amalgams. Lenica’s origins in poster work are very apparent in Nowy Janko Muzykat, which follows the ‘exploits’ of a cut-out figure man, who appears to have been drawn by an eight year old. The films, with the exception of the most recent - WYSPA R.O., employ collage cut-out animation, sometimes woven together by live-action shots. The entire system lends itself to a Svankmajerian feel. One comes away from Dom, which was made while Lenica was still working collaboratively with Walerian Borowczyk, looking at Jan Svankmajer’s work with new eyes, much like discovering Svankmajer AFTER the work of the Brothers Quay. It’s all a disillusioning process, down to the very core inspirations.

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The masterpiece here is Labirynt, an excruciatingly complex piece of cut-out animation employing various images which seem to have been taken from the pages of an archaic encyclopedia. The entire work reminds one of the surreal, ambiguous events which take place in the 1968 film Yellow Submarine (a feature film transporting the Beatles through an animated world of monsters, various pop-culture references, and modern popular songs).

All in all, this is some of the most inspiring work I have seen in a long time. Simple at times, but always brilliant. If anyone has a chance to ever get any of his films on video (I had a heck of a time!) make sure you do! Review score: 5/5.

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EDIT: Holy moly - someone using the username TheMotionBrigades (http://youtube.com/profile_videos?user=TheMotionBrigades) has posted alot of very cool stuff on YouTube, including some of Lenica's films! Here you all go - enjoy!

Labirynt, Part 1

Labirynt, Part 2

Dom

Nowy Janko Muzykat

Ryszard Czekala

Quite honestly, all I have been able to dig up regarding this amazing Polish animator is that he was born in 1941, and these three films. This is brilliant work, unlike any cut-out animation I have seen before, especially due to the acute use of focus in the last two. But I'll let the films speak for themselves. Enjoy.

Ptak (Bird), 1968

Apel (Roll-Call), 1971

Czlowiek i Chleb, 1997