Online Discussion: Unknown Polish Cinema: Skolimowski + Kieślowski

Join us as we continue our discussions of foreign, avant-garde, and experimental films available online. You will need to find and watch the films prior to our discussion. The films chosen each month are available for free on one or more platforms such as YouTube, Open Culture, vimeo, and archive.org. In some cases, the films are also available on public library streaming databases such as kanopy or Hoopla.

On August 9 we discuss two early films by Polish directors Jerzy Skolimowski and Krzysztof Kieślowski. Skolimowski’s first feature film, Identification Marks: None, portrays the life of a disaffected student. Kieślowski’s The Card Index portrays a World War II partisan who feels adrift in the years following the war.

Identification Marks: None (1965), Dir. Jerzy Skolimowski (71 minutes)
"Jerzy Skolimowski's thesis film evokes the romantic cynicism of Poland's postwar lost generation, and was notable at the time for its punchy visual style and dialogue. Skolimowski cobbled together three of his short films to make Identification Marks: None, in which he plays a disaffected student on the eve of his national military service. The film follows his last few hours of liberty, encountering friends and lovers from his past (the renowned Polish actress Elzbieta Czyzewska plays the three women in his life). Skolimowski's protagonist is a student of ichthyology, a hollow man who hides genuine feeling and commitment behind narcissistic self-pity. His paralyzing lack of courage is underscored by the film's structure, a meandering flow of empty, disconnected episodes. The recurring image of the fishbowl is an apt symbol for a life of suspended animation. But Skolimowski's antihero is not alone in feeling apathetic; he belongs to a society of gray wanderers. For this reason, Skolimowski tempers his impoverishment with humor and pathos.’” – Pacific Film Archive

The Card Index (1979), Dir. Krzysztof Kieślowski (82 minutes)
Kieślowski filmed The Card Index, a pioneering drama by Tadeusz Różewicz, for Polish television in 1979. The film's main character, Hero, is a former World War II partisan who suffers from feelings of powerlessness, unbelief, self-irony and inarticulateness in the years following the war.
Note on searching YouTube: Try searching for the director’s last name plus the name of the film you are seeking, e.g. “Murnau Faust.” When searching for a foreign film, you may need to search for it by its original-language title, (e.g. “Bergman Jungfrukällan” instead of “Bergman Virgin Spring”). If you have trouble finding a version of your film with English subtitles, add “subtitles” to your search terms. Some foreign films offer computer generated subtitles if you click on the Settings icon at the bottom of the screen. If you do not find the film you are looking for on YouTube, try searching archive.org, Open Culture and vimeo.