Women in Polish Cinema

by Mazierska, Ewa; Ostrowska, Elzbieta

• ISBN13: 9781571819482
• ISBN10: 1571819487
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-03-01
• Publisher: Berghahn Books

Summary

Polish film has long enjoyed an outstanding reputation but its best known protagonists tend to be male. This book points to the important role of women as key characters in Polish films, such as the enduring female figure in Polish culture, the "Polish Mother," female characters in socialist realistic cinema, women depicted in the films of the Polish School, Solidarity heroines, and women in the films from the postcommunist period. Not less important for the success of Polish cinema are Polish women filmmakers, four of whom are presented in this volume: Wanda Jakubowska, Agnieszka Holland, Barbara Sass and Dorota Kedzierzawska, whose work is examined.

Table of Contents

The myth of the Polish mother	p. 15
Filmic representations of the myth of the Polish mother	p. 37
Polish 'superwoman' : a liberation or victimisation?	p. 55
Caught between activity and passivity : women in the Polish school	p. 75
Agnieszka and other solidarity heroines of Polish cinema	p. 92
Witches, bitches and other victims of the crisis of masculinity : women in Polish postcommunist cinema	p. 110
Between fear and attraction : images of 'other' women	p. 131
Wanda Jakubowska : the communist fighter	p. 149
Barbara Sass : the author of women's films	p. 166
Agnieszka Holland : a sceptic	p. 185
Dorota Kedzierzawska : ambivalent feminist	p. 205
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