Obscure Pleasures: The Films of Walerian Borowczyk
April 2 – 9
Master craftsman, Dadaist prankster, and unrepentant sensualist, Walerian Borowczyk and his films have yet to be both fully discovered and appreciated. Born in Poland during the 1920s, Borowczyk trained as a painter and sculptor before establishing himself first as a poster artist and later an animation filmmaker. Having relocated to France during the late 1950s, Borowczyk produced a succession of startling, often comic short films that were as innovative as they were provocative. When Borowczyk made the transition to feature films, he joined the ranks of the titans of world cinema.
Not only was Borowczyk a trailblazer for fine artists working in film but he also brought a keen, painterly eye to framing and editing objects, animals, and bodies. Expertly marrying film to both classical and electronic music, Borowczyk’s approach to cinema harked back to the silent days (Méliès, Keaton, Eisenstein) and even pre-cinema (Muybridge, chrono-photography, and zoetropes). From the outset, Borowczyk favored both fantasy and eroticism, tendencies in his work that became more pronounced with the relaxation of censorship. A sense of earthy humor masks a distinctly moral sensibility, eager to satirize the corruption of institutions, whether they be feudal, clerical, or bureaucratic.
Arguably the most controversial aspect of Borowczyk’s filmography is his approach to women. While his gaze is undeniably male and unashamedly voyeuristic, Borowczyk’s heroines are far from shrinking violets, often ready to toss off their corsets and use their sexuality as a means of transcending social constraints, while the men are left dithering between conflicting desires for physical gratification and public respectability.
If Borowczyk’s erotic obsessions rendered him a marginal figure in the history books, then it is high time to reevaluate this remarkable artist’s major contribution to cinema.
Co-curated by Daniel Bird. Series text by Daniel Bird.
See more for less with a 3+ Film Package!
Rare collection of Polish movie posters on display now in the Furman Gallery, Walerian Borowczyk— Posters and Lithography. Limited edition set of Borowczyk postcards and illustrated book Dumb Animals on sale now at the concession stand.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne
Opening Night | New digital restoration
Introduction by curator Daniel Bird at the 7:00pm screening
A masterpiece of surrealist cinema, Borowczyk’s chamber piece spanning just one night mischievously flits between violent farce, bloody delirium, and erotic frenzy. With Udo Kier as Henry Jekyll.
Walerian Borowczyk Shorts Program
Introduction by artist Dick Roberts
This program showcases a key section of Borowczyk’s career: his dazzling short films, innovative animations that are formally radical, conceptually surreal and arguably his most influential work.
The Beast
New digital restoration
Introduction by film critic Nick Pinkerton at 9:15pm screening on April 8
Bestial dreams interrupt the venal plans of a French aristocrat in this erotic black farce hell-bent on trampling every pretense of good taste.
Behind Convent Walls
Introduction by Violet Lucca of Film Comment on April 6
Borowczyk's first Italian production concerns the antics of a convent full of sexually repressed nuns and is a serious exploration of the relationship between flesh and spirit.
Blanche
New digital restoration
Introduction by film critic Simon Abrams at the 7:00pm screening
An amorous king and page fall under the spell of the young, beautiful wife to an aging, senile baron in Borowczyk’s heartrending third feature, filmed to resemble a Medieval fresco.
A Dazzling Imagination
This program of documentaries—all directed by series co-curator Daniel Bird—sheds light on the life and sui generis career of Borowczyk, ranging from his early animations, his erotic feature films, and his artwork beyond the realm of cinema.
Goto, Island of Love
New digital restoration
Introduction by author Abel Segretin at the 7:30pm screening
A petty thief works his way up the absurd hierarchy of Goto, an archipelago cut off from civilization by a tumultuous earthquake, in Borowczyk’s second feature (banned in Communist Poland and Franco’s Spain).
Immoral Tales
New digital restoration
Introduction by author Mike Levy at the 4:30pm screening
Structured in four episodes rolling back into the annals of history, this veritable cavalcade of depravity was a box-office smash in France and spent much of the 1970s embroiled in censorship problems around the world.
Immoral Women
A film in three parts that brings together tales of women in different historical epochs, from Renaissance Rome to modern-day Paris, who use their sexuality to triumph over the men that oppress them.
Love Rites
A vain, preening clothing buyer is spiritually consumed by a demonic prostitute in Borowczyk’s final feature, which turns the sexual tables with perverse exactitude.
Story of Sin
Introduction by curator Daniel Bird on April 5
Casting a critical eye on the hypocrisy of the Catholic Church, the Palme d’Or–nominated Story of Sin is Borowczyk’s most passionate film (and only Polish feature), a delirious melodrama that reaches an ecstatic pitch.
The Streetwalker
Introduction by cinematographer Sean Price Williams
Borowczyk’s most atypical film rivals Taxi Driver in rendering urban life as a seedy inferno and features an eclectic soundtrack including 10cc, Chopin, Elton John, and Pink Floyd.
Theatre of Mr. and Mrs. Kabal
New digital restoration
Strangely moving, Borowczyk’s existential soap opera (and only animated feature) eschews dialogue and conventional narrative to evoke the highs and lows of married life and serves as a stiff antidote to Disney’s saccharine whimsy.
