Thursday, August 25, 2022

Jerzy Zitzman - Maszyna Trurla (1975)





Fantasticated score by Antoni Mleczko

The title translates as "Trurl's Machine" and is based on a story by Stanislaw Lem from his collection The Cyberiad: 

"Trurl and Klapaucius are "wizard robots" — brilliant engineers, also called "constructors" because they can construct practically anything at will — and capable of almost God-like exploits. For instance, on one occasion Trurl creates an entity capable of extracting accurate information from the random motion of gas particles, which he calls a "Demon of the Second Kind". He describes the "Demon of the First Kind" as a Maxwell's demon. On another, the two constructors re-arrange stars near their home planet in order to advertise.

"The duo are best friends and rivals. When they are not busy constructing revolutionary mechanisms at home, they travel the universe, aiding those in need. As the characters are firmly established as good and righteous, they take no shame in accepting handsome rewards for their services. If rewards were promised and not delivered, the constructors may even severely punish those who deceived them." - Wiki 



Saturday, August 13, 2022

Longin Szmyd - Oficyna (1983)

 


"An attempt to reconstruct the history of the old nineteenth-century building, when the people who once lived there were just memories, shadows, old photographs, and broken items. The director completes the parts with drawings, animations, graphics, and builds a strange, somewhat surreal whole."- Mubi


"Longin Szmyd was born on December 20, 1955 in Bytom, Slaskie, Poland. He is a director and actor, known for Królestwo zielonej polany. Powrót (1998), Lampa i slowik (1995) and Nostalgia (1984)" - IMDB


Cool, proggy-80s score from Janusz Grzywacz - founder and leader of the legendary Polish jazz band Laboratorium apparently - and sounding here a bit like Hassell's City of Fiction meets Associates "Q Quarters" meets Startled Insects. Dank and shadowy, modern yet dated, laced with absurdist vocals. 



A symphony of browns and moss-greens (and that's just the clothing and the hair).