The Law of the Looking Glass — (2008)

Cinema in Poland, 1896–1939

By Sheila Skaff

“The originality of the book lies in its treatment of Polish cinema prior to World War II, about which very little has been written. Moreover, the author draws on considerable research in Polish-language sources, including various film publications, which few scholars have examined.”

Charles O'Brien — author of Cinema's Conversion to Sound: Technology and Film Style in France and the U.S.

Polish cinema has produced some of Europe’s finest directors, such as Krzysztof Kieslowski, Roman Polanski, Andrzej Wajda, and Krzysztof Zanussi, but little is known about its origins at the turn of the twentieth century. In spite of poor technical quality, cinema was popular with the many ethnic groups in partition-era Poland. Filmmakers, producers, and intellectuals recognized the artistic potential of cinema, most notably the philosopher and avant-garde novelist Karol Irzykowski, who in 1922 wrote The Tenth Muse, a theoretical work of criticism of the new medium.

In the early years of Polish cinema, films were shown in the cities and in smaller towns by traveling exhibitors. Sheila Skaff finds that an enduring appreciation for visual imagery is evident in every period of the history of cinema in Poland. She analyzes local film production, practices of spectatorship, clashes over language choice in intertitles, and the controversies surrounding the first synchronized sound experiments before World War I.

Skaff discusses the creation of a national film industry in the newly independent country of the interwar years; silent cinema; the transition from silent to sound film, including the passionate debates in the press over the transition; and the first Polish and Yiddish “talkies.” Yiddish films are among the most famous films in the interwar period, such as Micha? Waszynski’s Der dibuk in 1937, which depicted Jewish life and culture in Poland before the Holocaust. The Law of the Looking Glass places particular importance on conflicts in majority-minority relations in the region and the types of collaboration that led to important films such as Der dibuk.