You searched for: Poland

My New Partner / B1 / Poland

07.03.16

Poster Poster
Title
My New Partner
AKA
Les ripoux (France - original title) | Skorumpowani (Poland) | Le Cop (UK)
Year of Film
1984
Director
Claude Zidi
Starring
Philippe Noiret, Thierry Lhermitte, Régine, Grace De Capitani, Claude Brosset, Albert Simono, Julien Guiomar, Henri Attal
Origin of Film
France
Genre(s) of Film
Philippe Noiret, Thierry Lhermitte, Régine, Grace De Capitani, Claude Brosset, Albert Simono, Julien Guiomar, Henri Attal,
Type of Poster
B1
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
Poland
Year of Poster
1986
Designer
Wieslaw Walkuski
Artist
Wieslaw Walkuski
Size (inches)
26 3/16" x 37 14/16"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
--

Striking and colourful artwork on this Polish B1 poster for the release of the 1984 French comedy film My New Partner that was originally released as Les Ripoux, which translates as ‘the corrupt ones’. The film stars two of France’s most popular and prolific actors, the late Philippe Noiret (best known for his role as the projectionist in Cinema Paradiso) and Thierry Lhermitte who starred in a number of popular comedies during the 1970s and 1980s. 

Noiret plays René, a corrupt Parisian beat cop who regularly dispenses street justice and happily takes bribes from minor criminals to let them carry on, instead of arresting them. When his long-term partner retires he is put together with Francois (Lhermitte), an idealistic young rookie who’s just graduated from training. René must work hard to convince Francois that his way of doing things is the right way, including using a sultry prostitute friend to seduce the innocent cop. The film was enough of a success to spawn two sequels (of lesser quality) over the following years.

The artwork on the poster is by Wieslaw Walkuski who was born in 1956 and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. Since 1981 Walkuski has worked as a graphic designer and artist for publishing houses and theaters, as well as for the Polish film organisations Polfilm and Film Polski. He’s worked freelance since 1987 and has painted over 200 film posters. He continues to live and work in Warsaw. Walkuski’s official website features galleries of many of his designs and images of his other work.

He’s responsible for some incredible designs and two of my favourites include those he painted for Lars Von Trier’s Breaking the Waves and the Dustin Hoffman comedy Tootsie.

Porno / B1 / Poland

31.05.17

Poster Poster

A striking illustration features on this Polish B1 poster for the release of the Polish comedy-romance Porno. Directed by Marek Koterski and starring Zbigniew Rola, I believe the film was not released outside its native country. The plot is described on IMDb:

[A] Middle aged man lies sleeplessly in bed, recalling his numerous sexual encounters. The various couplings are haphazard, loveless affairs in which most of the women are as anxious to release sexual tension as he is. He fails to find fulfilment and is left with feelings of despair and hopelessness.

According to IMDb it was the top grossing Polish film of 1990.

This Polish poster was designed and illustrated by Andrzej Pagowski, a prolific film poster artist who was born in Warsaw in 1953 and studied at the celebrated University of Fine Arts in Poznań, graduating in 1978 under the tutorship of the noted artist Waldemar Świerzy. In 1990 he started his own graphic design studio called Studio P, which he developed into an advertising agency by 1993. According to the biography on his official site, Pagowski has illustrated over 1000 posters during his career and has also done work for books, magazines and music covers. In addition, he is also a TV and theatre stage designer and a screenwriter. Undoubtedly a man of many talents!

Pagowski’s official site features an extensive gallery of his work, including several of the posters. Polishposter.com also features multiple pages worth of his movie posters and this culture.pl article is well worth a read too.

To see the other Pagowski-designed posters I’ve collected click here.

The Fly / B1 / Poland

19.10.11

Poster Poster
Title
The Fly
AKA
--
Year of Film
1986
Director
David Cronenberg
Starring
Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz
Origin of Film
USA
Genre(s) of Film
Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz,
Type of Poster
B1
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
Poland
Year of Poster
1987
Designer
Eugeniusz Skorwider
Artist
Eugeniusz Skorwider
Size (inches)
26 6/16" x 37 4/16"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
--

Unique artwork for the Polish release (in 1987) of David Cronenberg‘s body horror classic. The design is by an artist called Eugeniusz Skorwider. Here are some details about him (found on this site):

Eugeniusz Skorwider obtained his diploma in 1981 in the studio of professor Waldemar Swierzy. From 1983 to 1997 he was Swierzy’s assistant. Currently he is a professor at the Academy of Fine Art in Poznan, where he leads the poster studio. During that time he had a series of lectures and presentations at Dutch academies (Breda, Utrecht, Groningen, Den Bosch 1990, 1991) as well as outdoor classes with polish students in Paderborn (1997 Germany). He also conducted classes at the Summer University in Paderborn (1998, 2002). He deals with design graphics, mostly posters. Skorwider takes part in competitions and poster presentations worldwide.

A list of the other film posters he worked on is on this site.

Here’s the original trailer.

Gremlins / B1 / Poland

08.03.13

Poster Poster

Gremlins, director Joe Dante‘s classic horror comedy, was one of the biggest box-office hits of the 1980s and this tale of small, malevolent creatures attacking the residents of a small town spawned countless imitations, including Critters, Ghoulies and Troll, none of which were able to match the quality of the film they were attempting to emulate. The film was produced by Steven Spielberg through his Amblin Entertainment company and it definitely features some unmistakable Spielbergian qualities.

Thanks to several violent scenes, the film is credited, along with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, for the introduction of the PG-13 rating in America, which was intended to be applied to films that fell into the gap between the PG (Parental Guidance, but safe for children) and R-rated (intended for over 17-year olds). The equivalent in the UK is the 12A rating, which was introduced in 2002 and replaced the 12 rating that had been instigated at the end of the 1980s (for Tim Burtons’s Batman).

The artwork on this Polish poster is by Jan Mlodozeniec who was born in Warsaw in 1929 and worked on a whole range of illustration jobs including posters, book covers and editorial artwork. He won multiple awards for his poster designs, including two Gold medals at the Polish Poster Biennale. Polishposter.com features a large gallery of his many film posters, including Blue Velvet and a great design for Spielberg’s Duel. The artist sadly passed away, aged 71, in December 2000.

Critters / B1 / Poland

03.12.14

Poster Poster
Title
Critters
AKA
--
Year of Film
1986
Director
Stephen Herek
Starring
Scott Grimes, Dee Wallace-Stone, M. Emmet Walsh, Don Keith Opper, Billy Green Bush, Terrence Mann, Ethan Phillips, Billy Zane
Origin of Film
USA
Genre(s) of Film
Scott Grimes, Dee Wallace-Stone, M. Emmet Walsh, Don Keith Opper, Billy Green Bush, Terrence Mann, Ethan Phillips, Billy Zane,
Type of Poster
B1
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
Poland
Year of Poster
1987
Designer
Mieczysław Wasilewski
Artist
Mieczysław Wasilewski
Size (inches)
26 6/16" x 37 6/16"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
--

A striking design for this Polish B1 poster for the release of the cult sci-fi horror Critters (1986) in which a sleepy farming town is attacked by a group of small, furry aliens with oversized teeth. Often thought to have been made as a response to the runaway success of Joe Dante’s Gremlins, the director Stephen Herek has since argued that the script for Critters existed before Dante’s film was released and that effort was made to differentiate Critters’ script as much as possible. The film begins on a prison located on an asteroid from which the malevolent ‘Krites’ manage to escape by killing some guards and commandeering a space craft.

Two shape-shifting bounty hunters are sent after the ship which ends up crash-landing near the farm of the Brown family in rural Kansas. As the Krites begin to attack livestock and then people, the son of the family Brad (Scott Grimes) sets out to try and stop them with the help of the town drunk Charlie (Don Keith Opper) and the two bounty hunters. The film is never less than entertaining and was enough of a hit to see the release of three sequels of decreasing quality.

The person responsible for the design of this poster is Mieczysław Wasilewski who was born in 1942 in Warsaw and went on to study at the city’s Academy of Fine Arts from 1960 to 1966. Whilst working on book covers and film posters he would also take a up a position at the Academy in 1971, eventually being appointed as a professor in 1990. Wasilewski worked on posters for both Polish and international productions, including Back to the Future, Big Trouble in Little China and The Bridge on the River Kwai.

Three pages of his posters can be seen on Polishposter.com. The short entry about the artist on Wikipedia notes that he has won four awards for poster design at different stages in his career. More of his posters can be viewed on Poster.pl.

Księżniczka / B1 / Poland

21.08.15

Poster Poster
Title
Księżniczka
AKA
Adj Király Katonát [Give the King Troops] (Hungary - original title) | The Princess (English translation of Polish title)
Year of Film
1983
Director
Pál Erdöss
Starring
Erika Ozsda, Andrea Szendrei, Denes Diczhazi, Árpád Tóth, Júlia Nyakó, Lajos Soltis
Origin of Film
Hungary
Genre(s) of Film
Erika Ozsda, Andrea Szendrei, Denes Diczhazi, Árpád Tóth, Júlia Nyakó, Lajos Soltis,
Type of Poster
B1
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
Poland
Year of Poster
1984
Designer
Maciej Woltman
Artist
Maciej Woltman
Size (inches)
26.5" x 38.5"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
--

A striking image features on this Polish poster for the release of the obscure Hungarian drama Adj Király Katonát (literally ‘Give the King Troops’), which was titled as Księżniczka (Princess) for its Polish release. I’ve struggled to find out much about the film other than it was the directorial debut of Budapest-born Pál Erdöss who worked on 17 films right up to his death in 2007. The film is available to view in full on YouTube should you so wish.

The poster was designed by Maciej Woltman, a Polish artist who was born in 1952 and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań under the professor (and artist in his own right) Waldemar Świerzy for posters and illustration and under John Świtki for painting. After graduating in 1982 he began to work with the film poster outfit Polfilm and worked on plenty of film posters as well as other illustrations for editorial content and commercial projects. The Polish encyclopaedia site Pomeranica lists a large number of exhibitions that he has held over the years. He also practices as a fine artist and some of his paintings can be seen on this page on Galeria Kapitanska and on this site.

Other film posters Woltman has worked on include those for Gandhi and Star 80.

Aliens / B1 / creature style / Poland

14.09.15

Poster Poster
Title
Aliens
AKA
Aliens - Scontro finale [Final encounter] (Italy), Aliens - Le retour [The return] (France)
Year of Film
1986
Director
James Cameron
Starring
Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, William Hope, Paul Reiser
Origin of Film
USA
Genre(s) of Film
Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, William Hope, Paul Reiser,
Type of Poster
B1
Style of Poster
Creature
Origin of Poster
Poland
Year of Poster
1987
Designer
Andrzej Pagowski
Artist
Andrzej Pagowski
Size (inches)
26 9/16" x 37"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
--

Very wild artwork features on this Polish poster for the release (in 1987) of James Cameron‘s sci-fi masterpiece Aliens. I find it hard to choose between this and Ridley Scott’s original Alien (1979) that saw a small crew on the salvage ship Nostromo get hunted down by a single Xenomorph, which burst from the chest of one of their colleagues following a planetary expedition. The original film is much more of a claustrophobic horror whereas Cameron decided to up the ante and make the sequel an action-packed thrill-ride. Sigourney Weaver reprised her role as Ripley, the only surviving crew member from the Nostromo and the film opens with her escape pod being discovered after 57 years floating through space. After waking her from cryo-sleep, a representative from Weyland Yutani (the company she was working for her) brief her that the planet on which her crew encountered the alien eggs is being terraformed and contact has been lost from the outpost there. After much cajoling they manage to persuade her to return to the planet with a bunch of hardened marines, but she agrees to go only if the purpose of the trip is “Not to study. Not to bring back. But to wipe them out.” Unfortunately for Ripley and the Marines, Weyland Yutani has nefarious plans for the aliens and things soon go awry, but the company didn’t count on Ripley’s tenacity and will to survive.

This poster was designed and illustrated by Andrzej Pagowski, a prolific film poster artist who was born in Warsaw in 1953 and studied at the celebrated University of Fine Arts in Poznań, graduating in 1978 under the tutorship of the noted artist Waldemar Świerzy. In 1990 he started his own graphic design studio called Studio P, which he developed into an advertising agency by 1993. According to the biography on his official site, Pagowski has illustrated over 1000 posters during his career and has also done work for books, magazines and music covers. In addition, he is also a TV and theatre stage designer and a screen writer. Undoubtedly a man of many talents! His official site features an extensive gallery of his work, including several of the posters. Polishposter.com also features multiple pages worth of his movie posters and this culture.pl article is well worth a read too.

There is another poster for the Polish release of the film, which I have nicknamed the ‘bubbles’ style and this will be added to the site at a later date.

Innerspace / B1 / Poland

07.10.15

Poster Poster

This is the Polish B1 poster for the release (in 1989) of Joe Dante’s 1987 sci-fi comedy Innerspace, in which Dennis Quaid plays the brilliantly named Tuck Pendleton, a loudmouth test pilot who is shrunken to miniature size as part of an experiment and then accidentally injected into the body of hypochondriac Jack Putter (Martin Short) during a robbery at a science lab. Madcap high-jinks ensue and the films nods heavily in the direction of the classic sci-fi film Fantastic Voyage. The film is definitely one of the high points in the myriad of high-concept films of the 1980s and I rate it as one of Joe Dante’s best films.

This poster was designed and illustrated by Andrzej Pagowski, a prolific film poster artist who was born in Warsaw in 1953 and studied at the celebrated University of Fine Arts in Poznań, graduating in 1978 under the tutorship of the noted artist Waldemar Świerzy. In 1990 he started his own graphic design studio called Studio P, which he developed into an advertising agency by 1993. According to the biography on his official site, Pagowski has illustrated over 1000 posters during his career and has also done work for books, magazines and music covers. In addition, he is also a TV and theatre stage designer and a screen writer. Undoubtedly a man of many talents! His official site features an extensive gallery of his work, including several of the posters. Polishposter.com also features multiple pages worth of his movie posters and this culture.pl article is well worth a read too.

Escape From New York / B1 / Poland

16.11.15

Poster Poster
Title
Escape From New York
AKA
New York 1997 ( France / Japan - English title) | John Carpenter's Die Klapper-Schlange [Rattlesnake] (Germany)
Year of Film
1981
Director
John Carpenter
Starring
Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence, Isaac Hayes, Harry Dean Stanton, Adrienne Barbeau, Season Hubley, Tom Atkins
Origin of Film
USA
Genre(s) of Film
Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence, Isaac Hayes, Harry Dean Stanton, Adrienne Barbeau, Season Hubley, Tom Atkins,
Type of Poster
B1
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
Poland
Year of Poster
1983
Designer
Wieslaw Walkuski
Artist
Wieslaw Walkuski
Size (inches)
26 10/16" x 38 7/16"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
--

This is the original poster for the Polish release (in 1983) of John Carpenter’s sci-fi classic Escape From New York. I’d have a hard time choosing my favourite of the three (fictional) characters Carpenter and Kurt Russell created together; R.J. MacReady (The Thing), Jack Burton (Big Trouble in Little China) and Snake Plissken (EFNY). The latter is the gruff former war hero and convicted bank robber who is sent onto the island of Manhattan of an alternative 1997, which has been sealed-off as a lawless prison, in search of the American President whose plane crashed there after a terrorist attack. He’s arguably the coolest of the three and is a character much imitated in other lesser films featuring a reluctant hero.

The artwork on the poster is by Wieslaw Walkuski who was born in 1956 and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. Since 1981 Walkuski has worked as a graphic designer and artist for publishing houses and theaters, as well as for the Polish film organisations Polfilm and Film Polski. He’s worked freelance since 1987 and has painted over 200 film posters. He continues to live and work in Warsaw. Walkuski’s official website features galleries of many of his designs and images of his other work.

He’s responsible for some incredible designs and two of my favourites include those he painted for Lars Von Trier’s Breaking the Waves and the Dustin Hoffman comedy Tootsie.

 

The rest of the John Carpenter posters I’ve collected can be seen by clicking here.

Dvoynoy Obgon / B1 / Poland

26.11.15

Poster Poster

A striking illustration by the Polish artist Michal Piekarski features on this B1 poster for the release of the obscure Russian action film Dvoynoy Obgon (released at some point in English-speaking countries as ‘Double Passing’). I’ve struggled to find out much about the film beyond the information on its IMDb page, which includes the detail that it was helmed by Moscow-born Aleksandr Gordon, a director with a handful of titles to his name from 1956 to 1990 (when he appeared to stop working).

The lead actors, the late Boris Khimichev and Yuriy Nazarov, appear to be significantly more prolific. The latter is known for his work in Andrei Tarkovsky’s Andrei Rublev and The Mirror. If anyone knows any details about the film’s plot please get in touch. There are several clips from car chases in the film on YouTube so it clearly made an impression in terms of its vehicular action.

I’ve also struggled to find out many details about Michal Piekarski online, other than some of the other posters he worked on via sites like Polishpostershop.com and Terry Posters. If anyone has any more information about him please get in touch.

Anna i Komandor / B1 / Poland

10.12.15

Poster Poster
Title
Anna i Komandor
AKA
Anna and the Commander (English title) |
Year of Film
1975
Director
Yevgeni Khrinyuk
Starring
Alisa Freyndlikh, Vasiliy Lanovoy, Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy, Leon Kukulyan, Vladimir Kozel, Sergei Karnovich-Valua
Origin of Film
Soviet Union
Genre(s) of Film
Alisa Freyndlikh, Vasiliy Lanovoy, Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy, Leon Kukulyan, Vladimir Kozel, Sergei Karnovich-Valua,
Type of Poster
B1
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
Poland
Year of Poster
1975
Designer
Romuald Socha
Artist
Romuald Socha
Size (inches)
22 6/16" x 31.5"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
--

A striking design by the artist Romuald Socha on this Polish poster for the release of the Soviet drama Anna i Komandor, which appears to have never been released in the US or UK. I’ve struggled to find out any details about the film other than the information on its IMDb page. It was directed by the late Yevgeni Khrinyuk who died 3 years after this film was released and has only 3 directorial credits to his name. The actress who plays Anna, Alisa Freyndlikhwas somewhat more prolific and appeared in Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker, amongst other films.

The artwork is credited to Romuald Socha and I’ve had a similarly hard time discovering much about him, other than he was born in 1943 and that he’s responsible for a number of other posters, as can be seen on Polishposter.com  and GaleriaPlakatu.com.pl. If anyone has any more information about Socha please get in touch.

Willow / B1 / Poland

18.12.15

Poster Poster
Title
Willow
AKA
--
Year of Film
1988
Director
Ron Howard
Starring
Warwick Davis, Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley, Jean Marsh, Patricia Hayes, Billy Barty, Pat Roach
Origin of Film
USA
Genre(s) of Film
Warwick Davis, Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley, Jean Marsh, Patricia Hayes, Billy Barty, Pat Roach,
Type of Poster
B1
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
Poland
Year of Poster
1989
Designer
Wieslaw Walkuski
Artist
Wieslaw Walkuski
Size (inches)
26 5/16" x 37 2/16"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
--

Unique artwork features on this Polish B1 poster for the release of Ron Howard‘s 1988 fantasy film Willow, which was conceived of by George Lucas. British actor Warwick Davis features as the eponymous hero and the part had been written specifically with him in mind after he appeared as an Ewok in Lucas’ Return of the Jedi. The story begins as the evil Queen Bavmorda (Jean Marsh) hears of a prophecy that a newborn child will bring about her downfall and sets about imprisoning all pregnant women in her castle’s dungeon.

When a child is born and identified as the one in the prophecy, the child’s mother manages to convince the mid-wife to secret her daughter out of the castle. When Queen Bavmorda discovers what has happened she sends her daughter Sorsha (Joanne Whalley) and leader of her army General Kael in pursuit. Before being caught, the midwife manages to put the child on a raft on a river and the child ends up being found by Willow Ufgood (Davis) a a member of a race of hobbit-like people called the Nelwyns. Initially caring for the baby with his wife, Willow is persuaded to take it away from their village and back to the Daikinis (humans) when it becomes clear that there are people hunting for it. As the adventure begins, Willow and his companions soon realise they’re in for more than they bargained for.

Featuring a great performance by Val Kilmer as a selfish, reluctant hero the film still stands up today as a fun and engaging fantasy adventure with several memorable sequences and a brilliant score by James Horner. Despite being critically derided on release and not fairing too well at the box- office it has nevertheless grown something of a cult following and is notable for its use of ground-breaking special effects by Industrial Light and Magic that were used for a sequence involving a morph between several animals and a human.

The artwork on the poster is by Wieslaw Walkuski who was born in 1956 and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. Since 1981 Walkuski has worked as a graphic designer and artist for publishing houses and theaters, as well as for the Polish film organisations Polfilm and Film Polski. He’s worked freelance since 1987 and has painted over 200 film posters. He continues to live and work in Warsaw. Walkuski’s official website features galleries of many of his designs and images of his other work.

He’s responsible for some incredible designs and two of my favourites include those he painted for Lars Von Trier’s Breaking the Waves and the Dustin Hoffman comedy Tootsie.

From the Life of the Marionettes / B1 / Poland

20.04.16

Poster Poster
Title
From the Life of the Marionettes
AKA
Aus dem Leben der Marionetten (West Germany - original title)
Year of Film
1980
Director
Ingmar Bergman
Starring
Robert Atzorn, Christine Buchegger, Martin Benrath, Rita Russek, Lola Müthel, Walter Schmidinger, Heinz Bennent, Ruth Olafs, Karl-Heinz Pelser, Gaby Dohm
Origin of Film
West Germany | Sweden
Genre(s) of Film
Robert Atzorn, Christine Buchegger, Martin Benrath, Rita Russek, Lola Müthel, Walter Schmidinger, Heinz Bennent, Ruth Olafs, Karl-Heinz Pelser, Gaby Dohm,
Type of Poster
B1
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
Poland
Year of Poster
1983
Designer
Wieslaw Walkuski
Artist
Wieslaw Walkuski
Size (inches)
26 6/16" x 37 11/16"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
--

Wieslaw Walkuski artwork features on this Polish poster for the release (in 1983) of Swedish director Ingmar Bergman‘s From the Life of the Marionettes. The film was developed and shot by Bergman whilst he was living as a tax exile in West Germany and had a screenplay and soundtrack in German. It was originally developed as a TV movie and was shown on a German public-service channel in November 1980, but was later released at several film festivals and granted wider cinema releases in the following years.

The film depicts the degeneration of the relationship between the arguing couple seen briefly in Bergman’s earlier film, Scenes From a Marriage, Katarina and Peter Egermann (played by Christine Buchegger and Robert Atzorn). The Wikipedia plot description makes it sound like a pretty grim watch:

‘As Katarina seeks other lovers, the emotionally repressed and despondent Peter descends into neuroses, eventually leading him to tearfully murder a prostitute (played by Rita Russek), with the same name as his wife, at a Munich peep show before sodomising her dead body. In the closing sequence he is incarcerated in a mental asylum’

Wieslaw Walkuski was born in 1956 and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. Since 1981 Walkuski has worked as a graphic designer and artist for publishing houses and theaters, as well as for the Polish film organisations Polfilm and Film Polski. He’s worked freelance since 1987 and has painted over 200 film posters. He continues to live and work in Warsaw. Walkuski’s official website features galleries of many of his designs and images of his other work.

He’s responsible for some incredible designs and two of my favourites include those he painted for Lars Von Trier’s Breaking the Waves and the Dustin Hoffman comedy Tootsie.

Rhapsody in August / B1 / Poland

11.05.16

Poster Poster
Title
Rhapsody in August
AKA
Hachi-gatsu no kyôshikyoku (Japan - original title)
Year of Film
1991
Director
Akira Kurosawa
Starring
Sachiko Murase, Hisashi Igawa, Narumi Kayashima, Tomoko Ôtakara, Mitsunori Isaki, Toshie Negishi, Chôichirô Kawarasaki, Mieko Suzuki, Richard Gere
Origin of Film
Japan
Genre(s) of Film
Sachiko Murase, Hisashi Igawa, Narumi Kayashima, Tomoko Ôtakara, Mitsunori Isaki, Toshie Negishi, Chôichirô Kawarasaki, Mieko Suzuki, Richard Gere,
Type of Poster
B1
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
Poland
Year of Poster
1993
Designer
Waldemar Świerzy
Artist
Waldemar Świerzy
Size (inches)
26 6/16" x 38 13/16"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
--

A striking design by the celebrated Polish artist and designer Waldemar Świerzy features on this Polish B1 poster for the release of the Japanese director Akira Kurosawa‘s penultimate film, Rhapsody in August. The story focuses on three generations of a Japanese family who were affected by the 1945 Nagasaki atomic bomb. Kane (Sachiko Murase) is the grandmother of the family who lost her husband to the explosion and she is tasked with looking after her four grandchildren for the summer, whilst her children visit a man who claims to be Kane’s long-lost brother in Hawaii. The children learn about the effects of the bomb and what it meant for their family. Richard Gere appears as Clark, an American-born cousin of Kane’s children, who gets involved in a ceremony to commemorate the bombing.

The late Waldemar Świerzy is considered to be one of the most important Polish designers and artists and it’s estimated he’s worked on over 2500 posters during his career. He was born in Katowice in 1931 and graduated from the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts in 1952. He later became professor in the University of Fine Arts in Poznań from 1965 and Professor in the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw in 1994. The artist was one of the key figures in the influential Polish School of Posters a movement to push the level of quality of Polish posters forward which was active for over 30 years, starting in the 1950s. Świerzy won multiple awards during his career and had several exhibitions of his work held over the years. He sadly passed away in 2003.

Polishposter.com has several pages of his work and this biography on culture.pl goes into great detail about his life and work. Poster.com.pl has another gallery of his work.

Harakiri / B1 / Poland

27.07.16

Poster Poster

This is a Polish B1 poster for a 1987 re-release of the 1962 Japanese drama Harakiri (originally titled Seppuku) that was designed and illustrated by Waldemar Świerzy. Both titles refer to the grisly ritual suicide by slashing a sword across your own belly that was originally practiced by samurai swordsmen in medieval and early-modern Japan. The action formed part of the samurai code and was used by warriors who would rather die with honour than fall into the hands of the enemy, or by disgraced samurai who had committed gross offences or brought shame upon themselves.

The film was helmed by the celebrated Japanese director Masaki Kobayashi who directed a number of notable films, including the superb horror anthology Kwaidan (1964), before he passed away aged 80 in 1996. The story is set in 17th Century Japan and deals with an elder samurai without a master (known as a Ronin) called Hanshirō Tsugumo (Tatsuya Nakadai, star of multiple Akira Kurosawa films). The plot is described thusly on IMDb:

Peace in 17th-century Japan causes the Shogunate’s breakup of warrior clans, throwing thousands of samurai out of work and into poverty. An honorable end to such fate under the samurai code is ritual suicide, or hara-kiri (self-inflicted disembowelment). An elder warrior, Hanshiro Tsugumo seeks admittance to the house of a feudal lord to commit the act. There, he learns of the fate of his son-in-law, a young samurai who sought work at the house but was instead barbarically forced to commit traditional hara-kiri in an excruciating manner with a dull bamboo blade. In flashbacks the samurai tells the tragic story of his son-in-law, and how he was forced to sell his real sword to support his sick wife and child. Tsugumo thus sets in motion a tense showdown of revenge against the house.

The film won multiple awards upon its release in 1962, including the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and received excellent reviews when released around the world in the following years (1964 was its first release in the USA). Japanese director Takeshi Miike released a remake in 2011 with the title Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai.

The late Waldemar Świerzy is considered to be one of the most important Polish designers and artists and it’s estimated he’s worked on over 2500 posters during his career. He was born in Katowice in 1931 and graduated from the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts in 1952. He later became professor in the University of Fine Arts in Poznań from 1965 and Professor in the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw in 1994. The artist was one of the key figures in the influential Polish School of Posters a movement to push the level of quality of Polish posters forward which was active for over 30 years, starting in the 1950s. Świerzy won multiple awards during his career and had several exhibitions of his work held over the years. He sadly passed away in 2003.

Polishposter.com has several pages of his work and this biography on culture.pl goes into great detail about his life and work. Poster.com.pl has another gallery of his work.

All that Jazz / B1 / Poland

20.12.16

Poster Poster

This Polish B1 poster for All that Jazz (1979) was designed and illustrated by Leszek and Jadwiga Drzewinscy. The film itself was directed by the late Bob Fosse who was a man of many talents, being a dancer, choreographer, theatre and film director, screenwriter and actor. Fosse won multiple awards for his choreography of musicals but also found success as a director of films, including Cabaret (1972), starring Liza Minelli. Arguably his most famous project as choreographer is the musical Chicago which was first produced in 1975 and has been running ever since. It’s currently the second-longest running musical behind Phantom of the Opera.

All that Jazz is a semi-autobiographical film which was written by Fosse in response to a real-life incident that happened a few years earlier. Whilst planning for the first performance of Chicago, he was also directing and editing a film based on the life of comedian Lenny Bruce, released as Lenny (1974). Due to the physical stresses of such a workload, Fosse suffered a heart attack that almost killed him. Roy Scheider (in arguably a career-best performance) stars as Joe Gideon, a Fosse facsimile who is balancing the production of a new musical with the preparation of a film based on a fictional comedian.

To add to the madness Gideon takes amphetamines, smokes constantly and sleeps with his dancers at any opportunity. He is also dealing with an ex-wife who is helping him with the production of the show, a daughter who he struggles to find time for and a despairing girlfriend, Kate Jagger (Ann Reinking). Using much-praised editing techniques, the audience gets to understand the frenzy with which Gideon lives each day. Throughout the film, he is shown conversing with a woman wearing all white, known as Angelique (Jessica Lange). It becomes clear that this is his imagination and Angelique is the angel of death, with whom he’s discussing the mistakes he’s made in his life.

Eventually, Gideon’s health worsens and he’s admitted to hospital. When his film is released without his final say so, he suffers a massive heart attack and is rushed to have open heart surgery. With scenes from the operation intercut, a series of incredible musical numbers referencing events from his life are staged in his imagination as he battles to stay alive. The film was received well by critics and audiences alike. Director Stanley Kubrick is reported to have said that it was the “best film I think I have ever seen” when he watched it upon release.

I’ve been unable to find out much about Leszek and Jadwiga Drzewinscy, including whether they’re siblings or a married couple. If anyone can shed any light please get in touch. I did find this gallery of other posters that they worked on, including one for The Blues Brothers (1980). Emovieposters has sold a few posters featuring their artwork too. There’s a clear theme of close-ups of character’s faces.

Convoy / B1 / Poland

08.02.17

Poster Poster

Convoy was legendary American director Sam Peckinpah‘s penultimate film and his most commercially successful, despite it being critically mauled. It was made at the height of the craze for CB Radio/trucking films, which included the likes of Smokey and the Bandit and the TV series Movin’ On. The film’s title comes from the hit country and western novelty song of the same name by C.W. McCall and Chip Davis that was released in 1975. The song appears during the opening and intermittently during the film, with the latter version being reworked especially for the production.

It’s fair to say that the film is light on plot but Kris Kristofferson stars as long-distance trucker Martin ‘Rubber Duck’ Penwald who ends up leading the titular line of trucks across several states. Following an diner-based altercation with three police officers, including Duck’s long-term nemesis Sheriff “Dirty Lyle” Wallace (a great performance by Ernest Borgnine), a group of truckers head for the Arizona state line to escape prosecution. Lyle ups the stakes and pursues them into New Mexico whilst the convoy continues to grow. The authorities are determined to stop the truckers and Lyle uses the life of a fellow trucker to lure Duck into a trap from which it seems there’ll be no escape.

As had become standard for Peckinpah productions, the film finished over schedule and massively over budget, causing the director to be taken off post-production of the film. Studio staff worked with an editor to trim down a first cut that was over three hours long. It doesn’t particularly feel like a Peckinpah film (compared to the likes of The Wild Bunch, say) but there are certainly some well done scenes and the choices of location are excellent. Some of the editing choices aren’t great, however, with the slow-motion diner brawl being particularly excruciating to watch today. By this point in his career the director’s addiction to alcohol and drugs had become so profound that it would be another five years before he would work again.

 

This Polish poster was designed and illustrated by Andrzej Pagowski, a prolific film poster artist who was born in Warsaw in 1953 and studied at the celebrated University of Fine Arts in Poznań, graduating in 1978 under the tutorship of the noted artist Waldemar Świerzy. In 1990 he started his own graphic design studio called Studio P, which he developed into an advertising agency by 1993. According to the biography on his official site, Pagowski has illustrated over 1000 posters during his career and has also done work for books, magazines and music covers. In addition, he is also a TV and theatre stage designer and a screenwriter. Undoubtedly a man of many talents!

Pagowski’s official site features an extensive gallery of his work, including several of the posters. Polishposter.com also features multiple pages worth of his movie posters and this culture.pl article is well worth a read too.

To see the other Pagowski-designed posters I’ve collected click here.

Inland Empire / quad / UK

18.05.11

Poster Poster
Title
Inland Empire
AKA
--
Year of Film
2006
Director
David Lynch
Starring
Laura Dern, Jeremy Irons, Justin Theroux, Harry Dean Stanton, Julia Ormond
Origin of Film
France | Poland | USA
Genre(s) of Film
Laura Dern, Jeremy Irons, Justin Theroux, Harry Dean Stanton, Julia Ormond,
Type of Poster
Quad
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
UK
Year of Poster
2007
Designer
Empire Design
Artist
--
Size (inches)
30" x 40"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
--

Inland Empire / B2 / Japan

17.05.11

Poster Poster
Title
Inland Empire
AKA
--
Year of Film
2006
Director
David Lynch
Starring
Laura Dern, Jeremy Irons, Justin Theroux, Harry Dean Stanton, Julia Ormond
Origin of Film
France | Poland | USA
Genre(s) of Film
Laura Dern, Jeremy Irons, Justin Theroux, Harry Dean Stanton, Julia Ormond,
Type of Poster
B2
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
Japan
Year of Poster
2007
Designer
Unknown
Artist
--
Size (inches)
20 6/16" x 28 13/16"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
--

Poltergeist / one sheet / style B / USA

17.05.11

Poster Poster
Title
Poltergeist
AKA
Duch (Poland)
Year of Film
1982
Director
Tobe Hooper
Starring
Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams, Beatrice Straight, Dominique Dunne, Oliver Robins, Heather O'Rourke
Origin of Film
USA
Genre(s) of Film
Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams, Beatrice Straight, Dominique Dunne, Oliver Robins, Heather O'Rourke,
Type of Poster
One sheet
Style of Poster
Style B
Origin of Poster
USA
Year of Poster
1982
Designer
Unknown
Artist
--
Size (inches)
27 1/16" x 41 1/16"
SS or DS
SS
NSS #
820027
Tagline
They're here.

Poltergeist / B2 / Japan

27.04.12

Poster Poster
Title
Poltergeist
AKA
Duch (Poland)
Year of Film
1982
Director
Tobe Hooper
Starring
Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams, Beatrice Straight, Dominique Dunne, Oliver Robins, Heather O'Rourke
Origin of Film
USA
Genre(s) of Film
Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams, Beatrice Straight, Dominique Dunne, Oliver Robins, Heather O'Rourke,
Type of Poster
B2
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
Japan
Year of Poster
1982
Designer
Unknown
Artist
--
Size (inches)
20 6/16" x 28 14/16"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
--

A striking design on this Japanese poster for Tobe Hooper‘s seminal horror, featuring significantly more colour than the US one sheet and the scared face of Carol Anne (Heather O’Rourke). Although it’s now 30 years since its release the film is still very effective, thanks to the sharp script, solid acting from the likes of JoBeth Williams, the unforgettable Zelda Rubinstein as the psychic Tangina, and brilliant special effects by Industrial Light and Magic.

There are several stand out scenes, including the infamous tree attack, a terrifying clown and the first appearance of the extremely creepy Reverend Henry Kane (albeit in ghostly form), who would later feature in the sequels. There has always been an air of controversy surrounding the film’s true director, with various claims made that Steven Spielberg, who had co-written the story and was producing it at the same time as directing his mega-hit E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, was very active on the set to the point of taking over directing duties, but Tobe Hooper has hit back at these claims in recent years. This fan site has a good article on the situation.

One very specific bit of trivia is that a handful of original film posters can be seen in the bedroom of Robbie Freeling (Oliver Robins), including one for the original Star Wars.

The trailer is on YouTube.

Tentacles / B2 / Ohrai artwork style / Japan

17.05.11

Poster Poster
Title
Tentacles
AKA
Tentacoli (Italy - original title) | Macki (Poland)
Year of Film
1977
Director
Oliver Hellman
Starring
John Huston, Shelley Winters, Bo Hopkins, Henry Fonda, Delia Boccardo, Cesare Danova, Alan Boyd, Sherry Buchanan, Franco Diogene, Marc Fiorini
Origin of Film
Italy | USA
Genre(s) of Film
John Huston, Shelley Winters, Bo Hopkins, Henry Fonda, Delia Boccardo, Cesare Danova, Alan Boyd, Sherry Buchanan, Franco Diogene, Marc Fiorini,
Type of Poster
B2
Style of Poster
Ohrai artwork style
Origin of Poster
Japan
Year of Poster
1977
Designer
Unknown
Artist
Noriyoshi Ohrai
Size (inches)
20 5/16" x 28 14/16"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
--

Tentacles / B2 / boob style / Japan

17.05.11

Poster Poster
Title
Tentacles
AKA
Tentacoli (Italy - original title) | Macki (Poland)
Year of Film
1977
Director
Oliver Hellman
Starring
John Huston, Shelley Winters, Bo Hopkins, Henry Fonda, Delia Boccardo, Cesare Danova, Alan Boyd, Sherry Buchanan, Franco Diogene, Marc Fiorini
Origin of Film
Italy | USA
Genre(s) of Film
John Huston, Shelley Winters, Bo Hopkins, Henry Fonda, Delia Boccardo, Cesare Danova, Alan Boyd, Sherry Buchanan, Franco Diogene, Marc Fiorini,
Type of Poster
B2
Style of Poster
Boob
Origin of Poster
Japan
Year of Poster
1977
Designer
Unknown
Artist
Unknown
Size (inches)
20 5/16" x 28 13/16"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
--

The Pianist / B2 / ruins style / Japan

17.05.11

Poster Poster
Title
The Pianist
AKA
--
Year of Film
2002
Director
Roman Polanski
Starring
Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Maureen Lipman, Emilia Fox, Michał Żebrowski
Origin of Film
France | Poland | Germany | UK
Genre(s) of Film
Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Maureen Lipman, Emilia Fox, Michał Żebrowski,
Type of Poster
B2
Style of Poster
Ruins style
Origin of Poster
Japan
Year of Poster
2002
Designer
Unknown
Artist
--
Size (inches)
20 6/16" x 28 14/16"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
--

The Wicker Man / one sheet / UK

17.05.11

Poster Poster
Title
The Wicker Man
AKA
Kult (Poland) | El culto siniestro (Venezuela)
Year of Film
1973
Director
Robin Hardy
Starring
Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Diane Cilento, Britt Ekland, Ingrid Pitt, Lindsay Kemp, Russell Waters, Aubrey Morris, Irene Sunter, Walter Carr, Ian Campbell, Roy Boyd, Peter Brewis, Gerry Cowper, John Hallam
Origin of Film
UK
Genre(s) of Film
Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Diane Cilento, Britt Ekland, Ingrid Pitt, Lindsay Kemp, Russell Waters, Aubrey Morris, Irene Sunter, Walter Carr, Ian Campbell, Roy Boyd, Peter Brewis, Gerry Cowper, John Hallam,
Type of Poster
One sheet
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
UK
Year of Poster
1973
Designer
Unknown
Artist
--
Size (inches)
27" x 40"
SS or DS
SS
NSS #
--
Tagline
From the writer of 'Frenzy & Sleuth' Anthony Shaffer's incredible occult thriller