SURREALIST VISIONS OF WOJCIECH HAS, A BARBICAN RETROSPECTIVE – 1-25 OCTOBER

Multi-award winning Polish director Wojciech Has (1925 – 2000) notably renowned for his influence on the work of filmmakers like David Lynch and was embraced by high profile admirers including Luis Bunuel, David Lynch, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and the Grateful Dead’s frontman, Jerry Garcia. Wojciech Has is fondly regarded as one of Poland’s most adventurous and visionary filmmakers, known for works such as THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT and THE HOURGLASS SANITORIUM, spanning an impressive 40 year career his often surrealistic and avant-garde style of filming drew from literature, contemporary politics and art. In the 90s he ran the famous Lodz Film School, where he had studied 50 years previously.

A month long Directorspective at the Barbican (1-25 October) gives audiences an opportunity to rediscover five of Has’s key works, including his earlier, realist dramas, NOOSE a Kafkaesque-style tale of alcoholic paranoia, two stories set against the backdrop of Post-WW2 Poland, looking at the emotional casualties of war; the nostalgic FAREWELLS and the tragic tale of crossed lovers in HOW TO BE LOVED. In addition the season will screen his Surrealist fantasies, the cult ‘Head’ movie, THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT, a Chinese-box tale within a tale structure and cherished arthouse classic as well as his oft-referenced, dazzling masterpiece, THE HOURGLASS SANITORIUM which opens the Barbican season. A fascinating penetration of the human psyche, adapted from Bruno Schulz’s (regarded as Poland’s answer to Kafka) collection of short stories, THE HOURGLASS SANITORIUM follows one man’s descent through the portals of fantasy and the unconscious into the mazes of his mind. The film won the Special Jury Prize at Cannes in 1973.

“Simultaneously horrific, erotic and funny…The Saragossa Manuscript is one mother of a film” David Lynch

“I love the Saragossa Manuscript…exceptional” Luis Bunuel

“The Hourglass is the cinematographic equivalent of all Mahler’s symphonies put together” Derek Elley, International Film Guide

“Wojciech Has…Polish cinema’s closest thing to a fully fledged Surrealist”

one of the ‘Wild Bunch’ of top 50 visionary filmmakers in Sight & Sound’s ‘The Mad, the Bad and the Dangerous’ September 2009 issue

Wojciech Has constantly returned to the theme of disorientated individuals making psychological journeys through increasingly complex physical and mental landscapes, more Lynch than Lynch, Has developed a distinctive, painterly style with which to express the bewildering intricacies, Surrealist elements and bizarre imagination at the heart of his mind-blowing works.

Embraced by the sixties counter culture, THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT gained a cult, underground following and was eventually restored to its original glory, the full length director’s cut. Long thought lost, the restoration came about with the financial support of Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola and the assistance of Jerry Garcia before his death.

All titles will be presented in newly restored prints and the season at the Barbican launches a retrospective tour of Has’s films at regional independent cinemas across the autumn including Edinburgh Filmhouse (12 October – 15 November), CINECITY, The Brighton Film Festival. (19 November – 6 December) and a special screening of THE HOURGLASS SANITORIUM at the Cornerhouse Manchester on 3 December.

To complement the season the PCI have commissioned a new installation by contemporary artists and filmmakers The Brothers Quay, inspired by the films of Wojciech Has’s Surrealist tradition, the piece will premiere at the Barbican from 1 October.

The Barbican Has Directorspective is organised by the Polish Cultural Institute and has been made possible with the kind support of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of POLSKA!YEAR (a year long celebration of the very best of Polish culture at venues across the UK).

Back 14.08.2009.