Walerian Borowczyk

Walerian Borowczyk(21 October 1923 – 3 February 2006) was a Polishfilm directordescribed 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.

Walerian Borowczyk
Born	(1923-10-21)21 October 1923 Kwilcz,Poland
Died	3 February 2006(2006-02-03)(aged 82) Paris,France
Occupation	Film director
Years active	1946–1988

Biography

Born inKwilcznearPoznań,Borowczyk studiedpaintingat the Academy of Fine Arts inKraków,then devoted himself to painting andlithography,including the creation of posters for thecinema,which earned him a national prize in 1953. His early films weresurrealanimations,some only a few seconds long, including several comicabecedaria.His most acclaimed early films wereBył sobie raz(Time Upon a Once) (1957) andDom(House) (1958, withJan Lenica).

The house inLe Vésinetnear Paris where the artist lived his last thirty years

In 1959, Borowczyk immigrated to France and settled in Paris. He worked withChris MarkerforLes Astronautes.Major works of this period include thestop motionfilmRenaissance(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 animatedfeature film,Théâtre de Monsieur & Madame Kabal: un film dessiné pour les adultes(Mr. and Mrs. Kabal's Theatre).

Borowczyk moved into live-action feature film withGoto, l'île d'amour(Goto, Isle of Love) (1968) andBlanche(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 forPalme d'or,is an adaptation of a Polish literary classic byStefan Żeromski.Like his 1966 short filmRosalie(aGuy de Maupassantadaptation and aSilver Bearwinner),Dzieje grzechuhad successfully rendered the themes of seduction andinfanticide.Contes immoraux(Immoral Tales) (1973) and his later work, includingInterno di un convento(Behind Convent Walls) (1977) (inspired byPromenades dans RomeofStendhal) andCérémonie d'amour(Rites of Love) (1988) have been controversial, lauded by some for their unique surrealist vision and derided by others as contentlesspornography.La Bête(The Beast, 1975) (based on the novelLokisbyProsper Mériméeand originally conceived in 1972 as a film on its own, but then in 1973 as the fifth story inContes immoraux) was seen by many as a decline in the director's career afterDzieje grzechu,except in France, where it was hailed by prominent critics such asAdo Kyrou.His 1980 filmLuluwas based on the eponymous character created byFrank Wedekind.

In 1981, he madeDocteur Jekyll et les femmes(Blood of Dr Jekyll), a version of theJekyll and Hydestory starringUdo KierandPatrick Mageeand depicting Jekyll's transformation as a violent rebellion againstVictorian morality.In his 1988 bookNightmare Movies,Kim Newmandescribed the film as "dark,misanthropicand interestingly offensive ". He made a brief return to animation with his 1984 short filmScherzo infernal.In 1987, he directedEmmanuelle 5,an installment of theEmmanuelleseries, 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 actressMonique Gabrielle.In 1988 and 1990, he directed four episodes for the seriesSérie rose: Les Chefs d'œuvre de la littérature érotiqueonM6.

Many of Borowczyk's films use historical settings, includingArs Amandi: l'arte di amare(The Art of Love) (1983), set in the time ofOvid(and featuring the poet as a character);Blanche,set during theMiddle Ages;and three of the four episodes inContes immoraux,set respectively in the nineteenth century, the sixteenth century, and theBorgiapapacy.

A number of his films (such as the "tale"La Marée(The Tide) inContes immoraux,the 1976La Marge(The Streetwalker), the episodeMarcelineinLes Héroïnes du mal: Margherita, Marceline, Marie(Immoral Women) (1979), andCérémonie d'amour) were based on stories byAndré Pieyre de Mandiargues.A less usual product of this cooperation wasUne collection particulièreof 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 ofheart failurein Paris in 2006, aged 82.

Legacy

The nightmarishJeux des anges(1964, akaThe Games of Angels), an expressionist evocation of the horrors ofNazi concentration camps,was selected byTerry Gilliamas one of the ten best animated films of all time.

Filmography

Film

Title	Year	Director	Writer	Other	English Title	Notes
Renesans	1964	Yes	Yes	—	"Renaissance"
Les Jeux Des Anges	1964	Yes	Yes		"The Game of Angels"
Théâtre de Monsieur & Madame Kabal	1967	Yes	Yes	Production designer	"Mr. and Mrs. Kabal's Theatre"
Goto, l'île d'amour	1969	Yes	Yes	—	"Goto, Island of Love"	Songwriter: "L'hymne national de Goto"
Blanche	1972	Yes	Yes	Editor & production designer	"Blanche"
Contes immoraux	1973	Yes	Yes	Editor & production designer	"Immoral Tales"
La Bête	1975	Yes	Yes	Editor	"The Beast"
Dzieje grzechu	1975	Yes	Yes	Actor (role: "Piotr Iwanycz" )	"The Story of Sin"	Uncredited role
La Marge	1976	Yes	Yes	—	"The Margin" or "The Streetwalker"
Interno di un convento	1977	Yes	Yes	Editor	"Behind Convent Walls"
Les héroïnes du mal	1979	Yes	Yes	—	"Immoral Women"
Collections privées	1979	Yes	Yes	—	"Private Collections"	Segment: "L'armoire"
Lulu	1980	Yes	Yes	Production designer	"Lulu"
Docteur Jekyll et les femmes	1981	Yes	Yes	Production designer	"Dr. Jekyll and his Women", "Blood of Dr. Jekyll", "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne"
Ars amandi	1983	Yes	Yes	Editor & cinematographer	"The Art of Love"
Emmanuelle 5	1987	Yes	Yes	—	"Emmanuelle 5"
Cérémonie d'amour	1987	Yes	Yes	—	"Love Rites"

Accolades

• Nominated:BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film—Dom(1960)(shared withJan 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—Dzieje grzechu(1975)
• Won:Maria Award for Best Director—Docteur Jekyll et les femmes(1981)

Further reading

• Boro, L'Île d'Amour(2015), edited by Kamila Kuc, Kuba Mikurda, and Michał Oleszczyk.ISBN978-1-78238-701-5
• Immoral Tales: European Sex & Horror Movies 1956-1984(1994) by Cathal Tohill and Pete Tombs (with a chapter dedicated to Borowczyk).ISBN0-312-13519-X
• Nightmare Movies(1988) by Kim Newman.ISBN0-517-57366-0
• Unquiet Dreams: The Bestiary of Walerian Borowczyk(2015), bySimon Strong,ISBN0-9923021-6-1
• Walerian Borowczyk: Cinema of Erotic Dreams(2008), by Jeremy Mark Robinson, Crescent Moon Publisher 2008,ISBN1-86171-230-8
• Matthew Coniam. "Angel Games: The Early Films of Walerian Borowczyk" in Andy Black (ed),Necronomicon: The Journal of Horror and Erotic Cinema: Book Two,London: Creation Books, 1998, pp. 79–87.
• Jeremy Mark Robinson and Dionisio Bauducco, "Eros onirico. Il cinema di Walerian Borowczyk", Ripostes, Salerno, 2021

External links

• Walerian BorowczykatIMDb
• Walerian Borowczyk, bio and filmographyat culture.pl
• Where to Begin with Walerian Borowczyk