Comments on: Imperium Kontratakuje

Imperium Kontratakuje

genghis — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:11:21 -0800

Apparently whenever US movies were released in Soviet-era Poland, the posters were discarded and replaced by new versions by Polish artists. Alternately disturbing and frickin' awesome, and often containing political comments of varying subtlety. Previously.

By: genghis

genghis — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:12:16 -0800

(Probably-NSFW via)

By: Devils Rancher

Devils Rancher — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:17:24 -0800

You do not forget Soviet-Era Poland -- Soviet-Era Poland forgets YOU!.

By: Lord_Pall

Lord_Pall — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:19:02 -0800

Where oh where do I get prints or high resolution versions of these. I'm near Poland. I can go there if need be.

By: daniel_charms

daniel_charms — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:19:18 -0800

It has to be pointed out that some of them (like Eyes Wide Shut) aren't really Soviet-era films. It's still a very cool post, though. Dziękuję.

By: lekvar

lekvar — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:23:14 -0800

Alternately awesome and awesomer. It looks like you can order some of these through the links at the bottom of the main article.

By: daniel_charms

daniel_charms — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:26:30 -0800

some of them Come to think of it, it looks like Eyes Wide Shut is the only exception to the rule. My bad.

By: strontiumdog

strontiumdog — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:26:39 -0800

The Rosemary's Baby and Ghandi posters are standouts for me. The Willow one is just kooky! Is that the same Willow I'm thinking of?

By: strontiumdog

strontiumdog — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:27:47 -0800

Ooh, just noticed the After Hours one too. Really cool.

By: mannequito

mannequito — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:28:51 -0800

I like how some of them - like Apocalypse Now or Eyes Wide Shut - are actually great pieces of art in their own right, while others - check out Gremlins and Short Circuit - seem to have been done by a 5 yr-old playing with ms paint for the first time. Then there's Weekend at Bernies. It's just weird.

By: brundlefly

brundlefly — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:33:18 -0800

You can find a few more on eBay.

By: chococat

chococat — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:35:39 -0800

Ali MacGrove?

By: churl

churl — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:36:53 -0800

Also previously.

By: infinitewindow

infinitewindow — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:38:42 -0800

The poster for Fanny and Alexander is awesome.

By: churl

churl — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:38:53 -0800

And also previously here as well. Metafilter has a rich cultural tradition of Polish movie poster posts and I always love them.

By: ethnomethodologist

ethnomethodologist — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:39:58 -0800

mannequito, you must know some brilliant 5-year-olds. I think every one of these is magnificent.

By: George_Spiggott

George_Spiggott — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:40:37 -0800

manniquito, I can't agree about Gremlins and Short Circuit 2 (which I assume meant). Gremlins doesn't do much for me but the Short Circuit 2 one is in a classic tradition of poster art strongly reminiscent of work being done in the West around the 1930s.

By: kittens for breakfast

kittens for breakfast — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:41:33 -0800

Weekend at Bernie's and Harry and the Hendersons both just seem very...wrong to me. Like, there's something...um. You know. I mean. Okay. I don't know who they thought the audience was for Tootsie, but I bet they were disappointed if they showed up. I love Rosemary's Baby and the Edsel-esque Christine, though. My God.

By: philip-random

philip-random — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:43:16 -0800

Beautiful stuff including Weekend At Bernies. It actually gives me hope that something of genuine interest could come from that franchise. This all brings back memories of being in former East Berlin back in the 90s and how many of the public spaces still showed fading remnants of official state sponsored art (shopping areas, subway stations etc), and how this so-called "State Propaganda" was just so much more beautiful than all the f**king advertising polluting the public spaces of the west. One more argument against the inherent "goodness" of the Market.

By: mannequito

mannequito — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:51:18 -0800

You're right, taking another look at the Short Circuit poster, there's a fair bit of detail going on in there. Maybe I'm just not used to the style. Also, I just now saw Airplane 2 near the bottom ... it's got kind of an ourobouros theme too, but ... licking instead of eating. Awesome.

By: theclaw

theclaw — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:51:35 -0800

I'm a little disappointed I wasn't able to find the Short Circuit 2 print on sale anywhere. Also, it's worth noting that the "Eyes Wide Shut" and a few others are 'limited edition prints' done in the style of posters from this era but made in the late 2000s.

By: Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese

Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:55:42 -0800

While many of them are beautiful, I think in some cases the artist forgot that the point of a movie poster is to sell the movie, to make people want to go see the film. By that metric I think some of them fail -- the 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' one, for example. It looks nice, but doesn't say anything about the story, and it doesn't make me interested in seeing the film. Nor does the 'Terms of Endearment' poster. But I'll concede that not being Polish the posters aren't targeted at me -- they may be working on a cultural plane that doesn't intersect with my own sensibilities. Maybe they do make Polish people interested in the movies. That said, the 'Crocodile Dundee 2' poster is brilliant, with the croc's teeth turning into the NYC skyline.

By: elfgirl

elfgirl — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:56:38 -0800

I love how some of these make the movies seem more highbrow than they are. There's some beautiful artwork there.

By: Cranberry

Cranberry — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:57:22 -0800

The Fatal Attraction poster is a single panel Sex Education 101, while the mixed sports of the MASH poster could be a metaphor for the ambiguity of the doctor-draftees.

By: johnofjack

johnofjack — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 11:00:46 -0800

Or the scene (one of many where the rules are tossed out) where a character puts the football under his jersey and goes running with it.

By: George_Spiggott

George_Spiggott — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 11:05:07 -0800

KAC, that's kind of what I like about them. It's what you'd get if you handed the assignment to an artist and didn't allow the marketing people anywhere near them. And as marketing a good many of them are misfires, but they do bring art into the world where I can't help feeling that most official movie posters suck art out of the world. And a poster which says nothing about the story isn't necessarily a bad thing. Most Saul Bass posters say nothing about the actual content of a film but he was nevertheless in huge demand and it doesn't seem to have done them any harm at the box office.

By: philip-random

philip-random — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 11:15:11 -0800

as marketing a good many of them are misfires, but they do bring art into the world where I can't help feeling that most official movie posters suck art out of the world. 10 points. Move to the front of the line.

By: Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese

Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 11:24:14 -0800

George_Spiggott, you're right, Saul Bass posters didn't say much about the stories of the movies they promoted but I think they did establish an emotional tone that helped to brand and market the film. That's why they're good examples of cases in which fine art dovetails nicely with commercial purpose -- they're great art and also encourage an interest in the product. But I think some of these Polish examples lean too heavily toward creating art and neglect the marketing purpose of the poster. In some cases they actually turn me off toward seeing the movie. So while they may succeed as pure art, as advertising posters they fail.

By: the duck by the oboe

the duck by the oboe — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 11:27:16 -0800

These are great. Is there any relationship at all between the Days of Heaven poster and the content of the film? I can't see it.

By: bonobothegreat

bonobothegreat — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 11:31:18 -0800

The one for The Last Detail is great!

By: zusty

zusty — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 11:49:26 -0800

Oh boy, I need this so hard.

By: absalom

absalom — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 11:50:27 -0800

So many of these are so much better than the actual movie posters. Wow. Thanks, great post!

By: grapefruitmoon

grapefruitmoon — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 11:59:56 -0800

These are really rad. Thanks for the post!

By: vernondalhart

vernondalhart — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:09:06 -0800

Kraftmatic - Agreed. It took me a moment to notice that, but that ended up being the standout one for me.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:15:33 -0800

I think every one of these is magnificent. I agree except for Alphaville, which I don't care for. But 49/50 is a terrific batting average. Thanks for the post! In some cases they actually turn me off toward seeing the movie. So while they may succeed as pure art, as advertising posters they fail. Well, except as you yourself said: But I'll concede that not being Polish the posters aren't targeted at me -- they may be working on a cultural plane that doesn't intersect with my own sensibilities. Maybe they do make Polish people interested in the movies. I submit that your reactions are pretty much irrelevant to the actual effectiveness of the posters, and one would have to poll actual Poles (heh) to find out.

By: Bookhouse

Bookhouse — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:21:05 -0800

These are incredible. I want that Getaway poster. God, I want to use it as the cover of a novel. It's awesome. *geeks out hard*

By: captainsohler

captainsohler — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:24:52 -0800

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I just found an old Satsys poster I used to have! We've struck gold!

By: Thorzdad

Thorzdad — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:28:37 -0800

That single page is a course in poster design and illustration. Makes me long for the days when we actually did posters for every little event. Excellent post!

By: phyrewerx

phyrewerx — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:37:21 -0800

The fly's poster was amazing too. Love the scanline look.

By: daniel_charms

daniel_charms — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:42:21 -0800

In some cases they actually turn me off toward seeing the movie. So while they may succeed as pure art, as advertising posters they fail. You're right that as advertising posters, these are not very good (and in some cases, quite misleading). What you have to realize here, I think, is that in the context where these posters were created (I'm assuming that most of these really are Soviet-era posters, although there's evidence that at least some of them are from a later period), the channels for artistic self-expression were rather limited. The traditional channels (museums, exhibitions) would also be much more closely guarded by the ideological state machine, so it was inevitable that many talented artists would move to areas where they had more artistic freedom and where there was less ideological pressure (hence the occasional political commentary) - movie posters, illustrations for children's books and so on.

By: pracowity

pracowity — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:55:04 -0800

So many of these are so much better than the actual movie posters. They are the actual movie posters. Or were. If you like them, keep an eye out for Freedom on the Fence:

Polish School of Posters The late 1940s witnessed another shift in the life of the Polish poster. It was at this time that a small group of artists, including Henryk Tomaszewski, Józef Mroszczak and Eryk Lipiński, set out on a new path of artistic invention. When asked in 1946 by the Polish Film Department to design posters, they agreed- but with the stipulation that the work be based on their own artistic terms, not the typical advertising clichés of the past. This new direction saw a subtle use of metaphor, unusual juxtaposition of forms, and elements of abstraction combined in innovative ways. [...]

and

Poster life after Communism Almost overnight, capitalism arrived in Poland and the effects have been devastating for the genre of poster art. Today, garish billboards adorn the streets and globalized imagery and influences permeate Polish society, altering what was once a more isolated and distinct visual tradition. Where once there were 1,000 posters commissioned each year by the Polish government, there are now less than 100. Hollywood "star" posters have replaced the interpretive film poster. While filming in the summer of 2002, we could not escape the pre-packaged publicity images of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones promoting "Men In Black II." The Polish government no longer finances most cultural events; theatres cannot afford to publish artistic posters, and the idea of a film as an excuse to make a poster has vanished. [...]

By: louche mustachio

louche mustachio — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:57:36 -0800

I've got some posters from The Polish Poster shop and from this ebay seller. Welcome to your new obsession, guys. (On preview, I see the link above, but I highly recommend that particular seller.) My favorites are by Stasys Eidrigevicius. The impact on the computer screen is nothing to seeing them full size. They are really beautiful.

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 13:26:59 -0800

Brilliant posters. Cool find.

By: Deep Dish

Deep Dish — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 13:49:27 -0800

I would love to hang the poster for "After Hours" on my office wall. I should see the movie.

By: _dario

_dario — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 14:52:17 -0800

as I'm sitting in my kitchen typing this, there are a few polish posters found off ebay framed on the walls, mostly late 70s posters made for events or commemorations, such as the "60th anniversary of the russian revolution", a meeting for "journalists in the service of peace and cooperation among nations" and the "world assembly of builders of peace" (warsaw, 1977). They have - very differently from more pictorial posters, although they're from much the same artists - a quality of simple, linear, dry design which is now uncommon. Theatre, movies, and circus (cyrk) posters from artists such as Czerniawsky, Pagowsky and Stasys Eidrigevicius are really, really pure gold, and a testimony to a disappearing age. (leave some for me!)

By: AzzaMcKazza

AzzaMcKazza — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 15:24:42 -0800

So much fried gold in there! Short Circuit make me giggle giggle- my favoutire by far. Biggest WTF? = Neverending Story and Weekend at Bernies

By: Optimus Chyme

Optimus Chyme — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 15:25:05 -0800

This is fantastic. BotW.

By: tehloki

tehloki — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 16:38:16 -0800

I like the vision of the alien from Alien. Run! Run from the sentient pink goo!

By: Dr. Send

Dr. Send — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 18:54:40 -0800

These are wicked. They remind me a lot of concert posters rather than movie posters. I find that with music posters it seems like the artist uses the band or the music only as a jumping off point, rather than trying to fill out a template drawn up by the marketing department, which makes the posters much more expressive. I would definitely prefer to see movie posters like this around here than the photoshopped composites of the main actors looking all fake and made-up.

By: foxy_hedgehog

foxy_hedgehog — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:16:32 -0800

Thanks for this. Just ran into these for the first time two weeks ago via a dealer at the Kollwitzplatz Market in Berlin. I had no idea there was such a rich history of the graphic arts in Poland.

By: Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese

Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:28:41 -0800

I submit that your reactions are pretty much irrelevant to the actual effectiveness of the posters, and one would have to poll actual Poles (heh) to find out. I don't think my reaction is entirely irrelevant. Children probably have common interests across most Western cultures, and I remember what I liked as a child. If I were a child I wouldn't think much of the the Polish poster for "Raiders of the Lost Ark", a film whose core audience is young viewers. I'll bet Polish kids loved that movie as much as American kids did, but the Polish poster promises none of the action and adventure content of the movie; it's just some abstract art surrounding a treated image of Harrison Ford. In contrast, the American poster makes it very clear what's in store. Put a Polish kid in front of both of those posters and ask him which movie he'd rather see -- I'd bet 10 to 1 he's going to choose the one with the swords and guns and crazy guy swinging a bullwhip.

By: Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese

Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:31:30 -0800

Heh. Just as I posted the link to the Indiana Jones poster, this FPP appears.

By: Dragonness

Dragonness — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:44:07 -0800

I'm thinking of the Polish teenagers growing up with these on the wall in their room.

By: oneirodynia

oneirodynia — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 21:11:47 -0800

I've had great poster buying experiences online from the Art of Poster (bought a 1972 Solaris poster and they shipped it incredibly quickly right before Christmas), and in the store from Galeria Plakatu Krakow. Starowieyski is my favorite artist; we also have several from Stasys and Walkuski.

By: ghost of a past number

ghost of a past number — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 23:26:42 -0800

Great post - between this and the roleplaying history post, MeFi really is on a roll today.

By: metricfan

metricfan — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:43:03 -0800

They are all so beautiful, but if I saw the Weekend at Bernie's one, I'd be terribly disappointed. It definitly makes me think the movie will be brilliant because the poster is.

By: longsleeves

longsleeves — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 01:55:09 -0800

The Rosemary's Baby poster completely gives away the shattering climax which the movie's slowly rising tension and sense of gradually unfolding evil leads up to. They might as well have re-named the movie "Devil In My Womb: Rosemary's Horror"

By: palancik

palancik — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 18:21:34 -0800

One of my favorites (which I have on a wall upstairs) is the poster for Cabaret. These are not for everyone's taste. One strand (as noted) is rather gloomy, some tend toward probably ironic children's motifs, and there's a tendency to literalizing metaphors. There are several versions of some of these--I remember a different Raiders of the Lost Ark poster than is shown here. Many of these were designed and received as not-too-covert political commentary. The hairy hand in the Harry and the Hendersons poster is holding up two fingers in a V-for-Victory sign. Gen. Jaruzelski was famous for saying "There is no 'V' in the Polish alphabet," which became the starting-point for many many such gestures during protests.

By: longsleeves

longsleeves — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 22:50:29 -0800

Thank you, palancik, for linking to that brilliant Cabaret poster. I love it!

By: BrotherCaine

BrotherCaine — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 01:30:14 -0800

Unrelentingly awesome.

By: Mitheral

Mitheral — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 02:21:20 -0800

I love the War Games poster.