Walerian Borowczyk (21 October 1923 – 3 February 2006) was a Polish

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

described by film critics as a "genius who also happened to be a pornographer". He directed 40 films between 1946 and 1988. Borowczyk settled in Paris in 1959. As a film director, he worked mainly in France.Margalit Fox
Walerian Borowczyk, The New York Times 2006 obituary.
/ref>

Biography

Born in Kwilcz near

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

, Borowczyk studied

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

at the Academy of Fine Arts in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, then devoted himself to painting and

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

,Lithograph by Borowczyk at Desa auction house, 2003.
/ref> including the creation of posters for the cinema, which earned him a national prize in 1953. His early films were surreal animations, some only a few seconds long, including several comic abecedaria. His most acclaimed early films were ''Był sobie raz'' (Time Upon a Once) (1957) and '' Dom'' (House) (1958, with Jan Lenica). In 1959, Borowczyk immigrated to France and settled in Paris. He worked with

Chris Marker Chris Marker (; 29 July 1921 – 29 July 2012) (born ''Christian-François Bouche-Villeneuve'') was a French writer, photographer, documentary film director, multimedia artist and Essay#Film, film essayist. His best known films are ''La Jetée' ...

for ''Les Astronautes''. Major works of this period include the

stop motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...

film ''

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

'' (1964), which uses reverse motion to depict various destroyed objects (a prayer book, a stuffed toy, etc.) re-assembling themselves, only to be destroyed again when the last object (a bomb) is complete. In 1967, he directed his first animated

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

, ''Théâtre de Monsieur & Madame Kabal: un film dessiné pour les adultes'' ( Mr. and Mrs. Kabal's Theatre). Borowczyk moved into live-action feature film with '' Goto, l'île d'amour'' (Goto, Isle of Love) (1968) and ''Blanche'' (1971), both tales of illicit love thwarted by jealous husbands, and both starring his own wife, Ligia Branice. One of his most appreciated films of this period, '' Dzieje grzechu'' (A Story of Sin) (1975), which was nominated for

Palme d'or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...

, is an adaptation of a Polish literary classic by Stefan Żeromski. Like his 1966 short film ''Rosalie'' (a

Guy de Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, celebrated as a master of the short story, as well as a representative of the naturalist school, depicting human lives, destinies and s ...

adaptation and a

Silver Bear The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

winner), ''Dzieje grzechu'' had successfully rendered the themes of seduction and

infanticide Infanticide (or infant homicide) is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose being the prevention of re ...

. ''Contes immoraux'' ( Immoral Tales) (1973) and his later work, including ''Interno di un convento'' (Behind Convent Walls) (1977) (inspired by ''Promenades dans Rome'' of

Stendhal Marie-Henri Beyle (; 23 January 1783 – 23 March 1842), better known by his pen name Stendhal (, , ), was a French writer. Best known for the novels ''Le Rouge et le Noir'' ('' The Red and the Black'', 1830) and ''La Chartreuse de Parme'' ('' T ...

) and ''Cérémonie d'amour'' (Rites of Love) (1988) have been controversial, lauded by some for their unique surrealist vision and derided by others as contentless

pornography Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is Sexual suggestiveness, sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolv ...

. (The Beast, 1975) (based on the novel ''Lokis'' by

Prosper Mérimée Prosper Mérimée (; 28 September 1803 – 23 September 1870) was a French writer in the movement of Romanticism, one of the pioneers of the novella, a short novel or long short story. He was also a noted archaeologist and historian, an import ...

and originally conceived in 1972 as a film on its own, but then in 1973 as the fifth story in ''Contes immoraux'') was seen by many as a decline in the director's career after ''Dzieje grzechu'', except in France, where it was hailed by prominent critics such as Ado Kyrou. His 1980 film ' was based on the eponymous character created by

Frank Wedekind Benjamin Franklin Wedekind (July 24, 1864 – March 9, 1918) was a German playwright. His work, which often criticizes bourgeois attitudes (particularly towards sex), is considered to anticipate expressionism and was influential in the developme ...

. In 1981, he made ''Docteur Jekyll et les femmes'' (Blood of Dr Jekyll), a version of the Jekyll and Hyde story starring

Udo Kier Udo Kierspe (born 14 October 1944), known professionally as Udo Kier, is a German actor. Known primarily as a character actor, he has appeared in more than 220 films in both leading and supporting roles throughout Europe and the Americas. He has ...

and Patrick Magee and depicting Jekyll's transformation as a violent rebellion against

Victorian morality Victorian morality is a distillation of the moral views of the middle class in 19th-century Britain, the Victorian era. Victorian values emerged in all social classes and reached all facets of Victorian living. The values of the period—which ...

. In his 1988 book ''Nightmare Movies'',

Kim Newman Kim James Newman (born 31 July 1959) is an English journalist, film critic, and fiction writer. He is interested in film history and horror fiction – both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's ''Dracula'' at the age of eleven & ...

described the film as "dark,

misanthropic Misanthropy is the general hatred, dislike, or distrust of the human species, human behavior, or human nature. A misanthrope or misanthropist is someone who holds such views or feelings. Misanthropy involves a negative evaluative attitude tow ...

and interestingly offensive". He made a brief return to animation with his 1984 short film ''Scherzo infernal''. In 1987, he directed '' Emmanuelle 5'', an installment of the Emmanuelle series, that was also released in a hardcore video-only version. He was unhappy with the project due to a dispute concerning the casting of lead actress Monique Gabrielle. In 1988 and 1990, he directed four episodes for the series ''Série rose: Les Chefs d'œuvre de la littérature érotique'' on M6. Many of Borowczyk's films use historical settings, including ''Ars Amandi: l'arte di amare'' (The Art of Love) (1983), set in the time of

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

(and featuring the poet as a character); ''Blanche'', set during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

; and three of the four episodes in ''Contes immoraux'', set respectively in the nineteenth century, the sixteenth century, and the

Borgia The House of Borgia ( ; ; Spanish and ; ) was a Spanish noble family, which rose to prominence during the Italian Renaissance. They were from Xàtiva, Kingdom of Valencia, the surname being a toponymic from the town of Borja, then in the Cro ...

papacy. A number of his films (such as the "tale" ''La Marée'' (The Tide) in ''Contes immoraux'', the 1976 ''La Marge'' (The Streetwalker), the episode ''Marceline'' in ''Les Héroïnes du mal: Margherita, Marceline, Marie'' (Immoral Women) (1979), and ''Cérémonie d'amour'') were based on stories by André Pieyre de Mandiargues. A less usual product of this cooperation was ''Une collection particulière'' of 1973, a representation of Borowczyk's collection of pornographic items, with Mandiargues having written (and read) the narration. Borowczyk was the author of three books: "Anatomia diabła" (Anatomy of Devil, published in 1992), "Moje polskie lata" (My Polish Years, published in 2002) and "Co myślę patrząc na rozebraną Polkę" (What Do I Think When I'm Looking at a Nude Polish Woman, published posthumously in 2007). He died of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...

in Paris in 2006, aged 82.

Legacy

The nightmarish
Jeux des anges
' (1964, aka ''The Games of Angels''), an expressionist evocation of the horrors of

Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamp (SS), subcamps on its own territory and in parts of German-occupied Europe. The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately af ...

, was selected by

Terry Gilliam Terrence Vance Gilliam ( ; born 22 November 1940) is an American-British filmmaker, comedian, collage film, collage animator, and actor. He gained stardom as a member of the Monty Python comedy troupe alongside John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Pa ...

as one of the ten best animated films of all time.

Filmography

;Film

Accolades

* Nominated: BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film — '' Dom'' (1960) (shared with Jan Lenica) * Won: Special Jury Award for Best Short Film — ''Le concert de M. et Mme. Kabal'' (1963) * Won: Special Mention Award for Best Short Film — ''Rosalie'' (1966) * Won: Silver Berlin Bear for Best Short Film — ''Rosalie'' (1966) * Won: Special Jury Prize — ''Rosalie'' (1967) * Won: Interfilm Award — ''Théâtre de Monsieur & Madame Kabal'' (1967) * Won: Interfilm Grand Prix — ''Blanche'' (1972) * Nominated:

Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...

— '' Dzieje grzechu'' (1975) * Won: Maria Award for Best Director — '' Docteur Jekyll et les femmes'' (1981)

References

External links