The final film by the great Polish filmmaker Andrzej Wajda (1926-2016) tells the story of another major Polish artist. Wladyslaw Strzeminski, who lost both an arm and a leg in World War I, was a leading abstract artist in the 1930s and ‘40s, but when the Soviet Union installed a Communist government in Poland after the war he was hounded, denounced, and attacked for refusing to betray his principles. Wajda's portrait begins in 1948, with Strzeminski (Boguslaw Linda) a beloved teacher at a Lodz art school when Soviet authorities proclaim that social realism is the only acceptable mode of art. Strzeminski is vocal in his disagreement, which marks him as an enemy of the state and therefore initiates his decline, beginning with his removal as a teacher and the suppression of his work on display in Polish art museums. Afterimage doesn't dwell much on Strzeminski's private life, as Wajda is much more interested in the martyrdom of this artist who sticks to his principles and is systematically stripped of his position, his rights, and finally his ability to earn a living, in a harrowing state-sanctioned destruction of someone who refuses to follow the official playbook. It's a fitting final word from a filmmaker who also challenged Soviet culture commissars and censors throughout his own career. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)
Afterimage
Film Movement, 100 min., in Polish w/English subtitles, not rated, Blu-ray/DVD Combo: $39.95 Volume 33, Issue 2
Afterimage
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