Wojciech Has
Encyclopedia
Wojciech Jerzy Has was a Polish film director, screenwriter and film producer.
, with Jewish origin on his father's side, - Has is the Hollandic
, Yiddish and Germanised Jewish surname Haas (האָז), hare in English- and Roman Catholic on his mother's; however Wojciech Jerzy Has was agnostic. (Cf. Moldes, Diego, El manuscrito encontrado en Zaragoza. La novela de Jan Potocki adaptada al Cine por Wojciech Jerzy Has, Ediciones Calamar, Madrid, 2009. ISBN 84-96235-32-7.)
During the wartime German occupation of Poland, Has studied at the Kraków Business and Commerce College and later clandestine underground classes at the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts - until it was disbanded in 1943. When the war ended, he went on to study at the reconstituted Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. In 1946, Has completed a one-year course in film and began producing educational and documentary films at the Warsaw Documentary Film Studio
, and in the 1950s moved on to work at Poland's premier filmmaking academy, the National Film Studio, in Łódź.
(Harmonia, 1948), a medium-length feature, and began making full-length feature films in 1957. In 1974, he was appointed as professor in the directing department at the National Film School in Łódź. Throughout his long and prolific career, he directed such notable films as The Saragossa Manuscript
, The Doll
and The Hour-Glass Sanatorium
(also known as The Sandglass).
Early on in his career, Has gained a reputation as an individualist who avoided political overtones in his art. He produced his most important films throughout the period when the Polish Film School
was at its most prominent; however, his work possessed its own stylistic feeling that was independent of the over policial themes that dominated the prevailing Polish School. In practically every film, Has sought to create hermetic environments, in which the problems and storylines of his protagonists were always of secondary importance to the particular world he had created, characterized by an accumulation of random objects that formed unique visual universe.
"If Wojciech Has had become a painter, he would surely have been a Surrealist," wrote the Polish critic Aleksander Jackiewicz. "He would have redrawn antique objects with all their real accoutrements and juxtaposed them in unexpected ways."
Has's oeuvre is commonly associated with Surrealist painting in Polish criticism. This is reinforced by the director's dream poetic and his use of objects, which are also characteristic of many canvasses by the Surrealists. Has also created a number of intimate psychological dramas during his career, such as How to Be Loved
and Farewells
, focusing on damaged individuals who have difficulty settling into life. In his work, he was fascinated by outsiders and people incapable of finding their place in reality.
Two currents remain evident in Has's output: one was his cinema of psychological analysis, the other his films of visionary form, in which he most often used the motif of a journey.
Early Life & Studies
Born in KrakówKraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
, with Jewish origin on his father's side, - Has is the Hollandic
Hollandic
Hollandic or Hollandish is, together with Brabantian, the most frequently used dialect of the Dutch language. Other important Low Franconian language varieties spoken in the same area are Zeelandic, East Flemish, West Flemish and Limburgish....
, Yiddish and Germanised Jewish surname Haas (האָז), hare in English- and Roman Catholic on his mother's; however Wojciech Jerzy Has was agnostic. (Cf. Moldes, Diego, El manuscrito encontrado en Zaragoza. La novela de Jan Potocki adaptada al Cine por Wojciech Jerzy Has, Ediciones Calamar, Madrid, 2009. ISBN 84-96235-32-7.)
During the wartime German occupation of Poland, Has studied at the Kraków Business and Commerce College and later clandestine underground classes at the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts - until it was disbanded in 1943. When the war ended, he went on to study at the reconstituted Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. In 1946, Has completed a one-year course in film and began producing educational and documentary films at the Warsaw Documentary Film Studio
Warsaw Documentary Film Studio
The Warsaw Documentary Film Studio is a Polish film production company.Founded in 1950 as a unit of the film monopoly P. P...
, and in the 1950s moved on to work at Poland's premier filmmaking academy, the National Film Studio, in Łódź.
Filmography
Has made his debut with HarmonyHarmony (film)
Harmony is 2010 South Korean film is about a former musical professor turned death row inmate who becomes a music conductor for the female prison. It sold over 3 million tickets making it one of the top selling movies of the year.-Cast:...
(Harmonia, 1948), a medium-length feature, and began making full-length feature films in 1957. In 1974, he was appointed as professor in the directing department at the National Film School in Łódź. Throughout his long and prolific career, he directed such notable films as The Saragossa Manuscript
The Saragossa Manuscript (film)
The Saragossa Manuscript is a 1965 Polish film directed by Wojciech Has, based on the 1815 novel The Manuscript Found in Saragossa by Jan Potocki. Set primarily in Spain, it tells a frame story containing gothic, picaresque and erotic elements...
, The Doll
The Doll (1968 film)
The Doll is a 1968 Polish film directed by Wojciech Jerzy Has. The Doll is an adaptation of the novel, The Doll by Bolesław Prus, which is regarded by many as one of the finest Polish novels ever written and, along with Pharaoh , made Bolesław Prus a potential candidate for the Nobel Prize in...
and The Hour-Glass Sanatorium
The Hour-Glass Sanatorium
The Hour-Glass Sanatorium is a 1973 Polish film directed by Wojciech Jerzy Has, starring Jan Nowicki, Tadeusz Kondrat, Mieczysław Voit, Halina Kowalska and Gustaw Holoubek. It is also known as The Sandglass in English speaking countries. The story follows a man who visits his father in a mystical...
(also known as The Sandglass).
Early on in his career, Has gained a reputation as an individualist who avoided political overtones in his art. He produced his most important films throughout the period when the Polish Film School
Polish Film School
Polish Film School refers to an informal group of Polish film directors and screenplay writers active between 1955 and approximately 1963.The group was under heavy influence of Italian neorealists. It took advantage of the liberal changes in Poland after the 1956 to portray the complexity of...
was at its most prominent; however, his work possessed its own stylistic feeling that was independent of the over policial themes that dominated the prevailing Polish School. In practically every film, Has sought to create hermetic environments, in which the problems and storylines of his protagonists were always of secondary importance to the particular world he had created, characterized by an accumulation of random objects that formed unique visual universe.
"If Wojciech Has had become a painter, he would surely have been a Surrealist," wrote the Polish critic Aleksander Jackiewicz. "He would have redrawn antique objects with all their real accoutrements and juxtaposed them in unexpected ways."
Has's oeuvre is commonly associated with Surrealist painting in Polish criticism. This is reinforced by the director's dream poetic and his use of objects, which are also characteristic of many canvasses by the Surrealists. Has also created a number of intimate psychological dramas during his career, such as How to Be Loved
How To Be Loved
How to be Loved , a Polish film released in 1963, directed by Wojciech Has.The film, based on a novel of the same name by Kazimierz Brandys, examines the emotional casualties of war, which is perhaps the central theme of the Polish Film School...
and Farewells
Farewells
Farewells is the English title for Pożegnania, a film released in 1958, directed by Wojciech Has....
, focusing on damaged individuals who have difficulty settling into life. In his work, he was fascinated by outsiders and people incapable of finding their place in reality.
Two currents remain evident in Has's output: one was his cinema of psychological analysis, the other his films of visionary form, in which he most often used the motif of a journey.
Later life
From 1987 to 1989, Has was artistic director of the Rondo Film Studio and a member of the Polish State Cinema Committee. In 1989-1990, he served as dean of the directing department at the National Film School. In 1990, he became the school's provost and remained in this position for six years. He was the managing director and chief advisor at the school-affiliated Indeks Studio.Selected filmography
- Noose (Petla, 1958)
- FarewellsFarewellsFarewells is the English title for Pożegnania, a film released in 1958, directed by Wojciech Has....
(Pożegnania, 1958) - How to Be LovedHow To Be LovedHow to be Loved , a Polish film released in 1963, directed by Wojciech Has.The film, based on a novel of the same name by Kazimierz Brandys, examines the emotional casualties of war, which is perhaps the central theme of the Polish Film School...
(Jak być kochana, 1962) - The Saragossa ManuscriptThe Saragossa Manuscript (film)The Saragossa Manuscript is a 1965 Polish film directed by Wojciech Has, based on the 1815 novel The Manuscript Found in Saragossa by Jan Potocki. Set primarily in Spain, it tells a frame story containing gothic, picaresque and erotic elements...
(Rękopis znaleziony w Saragossie, 1964) - The CodesThe CodesThe Codes is the English title for Szyfry, a Polish film released in 1966, directed by Wojciech Has.-Story:Tadeusz is a Polish veteran of World War II who fled to London at the end of the war, leaving behind his wife Zofia and son, Maciek , who disappeared when he was 12 years old.Tadeusz returns...
(Szyfry, 1966) - The DollThe Doll (1968 film)The Doll is a 1968 Polish film directed by Wojciech Jerzy Has. The Doll is an adaptation of the novel, The Doll by Bolesław Prus, which is regarded by many as one of the finest Polish novels ever written and, along with Pharaoh , made Bolesław Prus a potential candidate for the Nobel Prize in...
(Lalka, 1968) - The Hour-Glass SanatoriumThe Hour-Glass SanatoriumThe Hour-Glass Sanatorium is a 1973 Polish film directed by Wojciech Jerzy Has, starring Jan Nowicki, Tadeusz Kondrat, Mieczysław Voit, Halina Kowalska and Gustaw Holoubek. It is also known as The Sandglass in English speaking countries. The story follows a man who visits his father in a mystical...
(Sanatorium pod klepsydrą, 1973) - An Uneventful Story (Nieciekawa historia, 1982)
- Write and Fight (Pismak, 1984)
- Memoirs of a Sinner (Osobisty pamiętnik grzesznika... przez niego samego spisany, 1985)
- The Tribulations of Balthazar Kober (Niezwykła podróż Balthazara Kobera, 1988)