Official

First of all, one of the reasons I would like to recommend this exhibition is the large number of works.
This time, 96 posters from the late 1950s to the early 1990s will be exhibited in the first and second semesters!
During the period of the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo Film Center, the predecessor of the National Film Archives, we exhibited about 50 Polish movie posters only in the collection, but this time we realized an exhibition that included other museums, movie museums, and even private collections.
And this time, we also sell the Polish movie poster catalog.♪

These works are exhibited in three chapters: "Chapter 1 Polish Film Poster", "Chapter 2 Japanese Film Poster", and "Chapter 3 Movie Poster from around the World".
Okada says that Polish movie posters can be viewed not only as advertising media for movies, but also as art works.
Especially in Chapter 3, there are many famous movies, so you can enjoy them from the perspective of movie fans!
If you are studying a movie, you can enjoy the changes and importance of posters in the history of the movie, and if you have actually watched a movie, you can take a closer look at what is expressed in the poster from the relationship with the movie itself.

Let's take a brief look back on the history of Poland here.
Poland, which was divided by Nazis Germany and the Soviet Union during World War II.
Due to the influence of the Soviet Union, the communists won a great victory in the 1947 election and became a socialist country.
However, Stalin's death in 1953 and the Stalin's critique in 1956, the suppression of speech under the Communist Party's one-party dictatorship temporarily weakens.
With this opportunity, we break away from socialist realism and create new trends in movies, graphics, jazz, etc. by new generations of artists.

Especially since the late 1950s, film posters featuring fresh expressions that distanced from the government's cultural control were called the Polish faction and surprised the world at their high level.
The word "Poland faction" itself was first used by designer Jan Reniza in 1960, and then it became known around the world that Poland has an excellent faction.

Other countries that have produced such excellent film posters besides Poland include Czechoslovakia and Cuba, and the posters in these countries have something in common, says Okada.
That is the "abnormal freedom in the constraint" under such a system.

When I was in high school, the history of the communist countries after the war was not a field that I liked to study very much, but it is strange that when I look at that time from a different angle, I get interested in it!
Now, I would like to introduce some of the posters.

The posters on display this time have three interesting points in common.
First, unlike modern movie posters, it doesn't contain much starring actors/actresses.
When watching a movie, some people choose the work depending on who the starring is, so this is an amazing trend.
Behind this is the fact that there was no need to think about design for selling under socialist regimes.
On the other hand, in addition to the names of leading actors that may or may not exist, the director's name and award history can be relatively seen on posters.
When viewing, please pay attention to how to issue such character information.♪

The second is that it is not the main actor / actress, but the "face" is drawn.
Here, there was a nuance that appealed to criticism of society and politics.
Even though the social background of Poland at that time is reflected and relatively free expression is allowed, it is possible to read a testimony that has produced a metaphor full of free expression as a result of trial and error under strict supervision.

Thirdly, in Poland, a graphic power, film posters were not anonymous work within the industry, but a work by top-notch poster writers.
Isn't this a different point from many other countries?
In addition to the design, there are many expressive expressions, and not everything left in the eyes and mind at first glance, but the taste that can be understood only by looking carefully is also attractive!

For example, the poster of the "Forest of Assassination" in the flyer of this exhibition.

"Forest of Assassination" Poster: Jan Muwad Jenniez (1974) Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama (photographed by Makoto Ichise)

This film, which has the original title of "acilitationist," is a work that made Bernard Beltruci known to the world.
The protagonist is a young man who falls down with the collapse of the fascist organization according to the order of the fascist organization.
In this poster, clothes with tightly closed buttons impressively express the hidden inside of the young man.
In particular, watching movies is not a hobby, but I wonder what this seemingly unexpressed man hides inside, and I was invited to the movie world to actually watch this movie Needless to say.

"Sanshiro" Poster: Yaj Frisak (1971) National Film Archives

This is a poster for the movie "Kata Sanshiro" based on a popular novel by Tsuneo Tomita depicting the human growth of young people trying to master judo in the Meiji era.
This was made into a movie as the first film by Akira Kurosawa, but was made into a movie (directed by Seiichiro Uchikawa), and is characterized by extremely abstraction and symbolization of judo players.
Unlike the "Forest of Assassination" poster, it may be difficult to understand the intention contained in the poster.
However, that may make you feel like "Let's watch a movie" again.

"Knife in the Water" Poster: Jan Lenniza (1962) Kawakita Memorial Film and Culture Foundation　©ADAGP, Paris & JASPAR, Tokyo, 2019 G1994

Following the senior directors of the "Poland School", the poster of the first work "Knife in the Water" directed by Roman Polanski, who surprised the world with vivid expressions.
Three characters are depicted as fish in the lake.
Long before I was born, I was worried about why the characters were depicted in this way, so I just searched for syntaxes and videos.

"Danton" poster: Vieswav Vauxki (1993) Musashino Art University Museum Library

Danton is a historical masterpiece on the theme of the conflict between two politicians during the French Revolution, Robespierre, who laid the politics of fear, and the realist Danton.
It is said that the man's face is a symbol of the relentless purge of Robespiere.
If you have such an impact, it's easy to imagine Robespierre even if you don't have a clear personality.
And I realize that the hairstyle is like seeing in paintings during the French Revolution, and that the features of those days are well preserved.

"The ugly guy, dirty, bad guy" poster: Yaji Frisak (1978) Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama (photographed by Seki Photos Shunji Tanaka)

The last part of the poster introduced this time is an insect with a face of a poor person who seems to match the movie title "The ugly guy, the dirty guy, and the bad guy".
Again, I realize that it is an expression that emphasizes the face.
This is a comedy poster whose story is centered on a large family living in a slum area on the outskirts of Rome, and when you know the characteristics of the characters, you can see why only one eye of the insect is open and why such a dirty image appears all over.

Up to this point, I have briefly introduced the features and highlights of Polish movie posters based on Mr. Okada's commentary, but as movie posters are now becoming more uniform, this is original, free, and deep poster I felt very new.
As stated in the purpose of the exhibition, I was able to enjoy the poster itself as an art work, not as a by-product poster of the movie.
This may be due to the fact that the text information was less than the poster I imagined, and that the text was placed modestly.

And above all, it is particularly impressive that the poster oozes out of what country Poland is and what it has developed after the war.
When I was studying world history in high school, if I had the opportunity to learn about Polish history from film posters, I might have been more interested in Poland.
At the next EU Film Days, we had a plan for next year to watch Polish movies.♪

In addition, I did not introduce this time, but in Chapter 2, the official record movie of the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, which caused controversy of "Art or Record" (written by Yasuhiko Takiguchi) and "The Tokyo Olympics", the first work of the Godzilla series that reflects the pollution problems at that time, directed by Godzilla vs Heon.
Despite the posters of Japanese movies, it was interesting to see them with freshness, and I thought it was an exhibition worth visiting this season.

It will be held until early March next year, so if you are near you, why not try to experience the fun of Polish movie posters?

※This time, with the permission of the National Film Archive, I filmed in gallery space.

Polish Posters for Films 100th Anniversary of Poland-Japan Diplomatic Relations Exhibition "Polish Posters for Films 100th Anniversary of Poland-Japan Diplomatic Relations"

Venue: National Film Archive Exhibition Room (7th floor)
Date: December 13, 2019 (Friday) – March 8, 2020 (Sunday)
　Exhibition in the first half of the year: From December 13 (Fri) to January 26 (Sun)
　Late exhibition: January 28 (Tuesday) - March 8 (Sunday)
　※Some exhibitions will be changed during the exhibition period.
Opening hours: From 11:00 to 18:30 (entrance until 18:00), from 11:00 to 20:00 on the last Friday of every month (entrance until 19:30)
Closed days: Monday, December 28 (Sat)-January 3 (Fri)
Viewing fee: 250 yen for general, 130 yen for university students, 130 yen for senior and high school students and younger and under 18 years of age, disabled persons (up to one attendant in principle), campus members of the National Film Archive are free of charge.
Official Website: https://www.nfaj.go.jp/exhibition/polishposters/