Polish Cinema in the Mirror of the Soviet and Russian Film Critics

Abstract

The peak of the Soviet Union interest to Polish cinema took place in the 1960s. And this is understandable: in the first place, unlike the situation in the 1920s-1930s, the friendship and cooperation between USSR and Poland actively supported at the state level in 1960s; secondly, the so-called "Polish Film School" was very famous in Europe for those years (the second half of the 1950s to mid-1960s), thirdly, Polish films had a significant share on the Soviet screens.

This explains why dozens of articles and five books about the Polish films have been published in 1960s. The emergence Polish films of the "moral anxiety" led not only to a decrease in the share of Polish films on the Soviet screens, but also to a decrease in the publications of Soviet critics about Polish cinema 1970s.

The collapse of the Soviet Union almost immediately resulted in the liquidation of the existing system box office. Russian film/video screens were filled with American film production. The Russian cinemas 1990s had no place not only for Polish films, but also for the Russian cinema. Polish films have failed to win a place on Russian screens in the XXI century... As a result, not so many fans see Polish films in the Poland cinema weeks, on satellite television or the Internet.

Keywords: film critic, film studies, film history, film, cinema, movie, Poland, USSR, Russia