Poster Exhibit: Film Art from Behind the Iron Curtain

[Harry Caul]

RUSSIAN POSTERS




Star Wars: A New Hope
Russian
Artist: Unknown
Year of Poster: 1991
Year of Film: 1977
Origin of Film: United States
Trying to gauge the importance of Star Wars’ impact on world cinema from it’s plot – the story of a farm boy who joins up with plucky rebel forces to save a princess and bring down a galactic empire run by the evil Darth Vader – almost seems comical at this point. Star Wars is one of the highest grossing film series of all time and also ushered in the phenomenon of merchandising tie-ins, sales of which have far surpassed the film itself. A spectacle as American as Coca-Cola and Levi’s, Star Wars was one of the first films screened for Russian audiences after the fall of the Soviet Union and it was done in grand style worthy of a blockbuster release with pent-up demand. While most Russian films might warrant a single poster style, Star Wars had no less than four designs, including the oversized “space cowboy” billboard design on display here. Interestingly, the innovative and creative designs often found in Eastern Bloc posters were still employed for Star Wars early release, even though they would all but disappear a few years later as film studios eventually attainted distribution rights and unified their global advertising campaigns.
Information on the artist is currently unavailable.




Conversation, The
Russian
Artist: I. A.
Year of Poster: 1988
Year of Film: 1974
Origin of Film: United States
Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece, filmed between the two Godfather movies and up for Best Picture along side Godfather II, The Conversation is a movie about paranoia, surveillance, and technology’s role in society. Coppola, inspired by the Watergate break-in and the manipulation of information during the Vietnam war, created this deeply personal project about a paranoid and personally-secretive surveillance expert who has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that a couple he is spying on will be murdered. A defining role for Gene Hackman and considered by Coppola to be his favorite film, The Conversation was released to Soviet audiences during the Perestroika reform movement of the late 1980s. Amazingly, during a time when only a handful of western movies were made available to Russian audiences, The Conversation somehow made the cut – possibly for its perceived criticism of American society – despite its criticism of surveillance on an unwilling and unknowing public. Information on the artist, only known from the signature I. A., is currently unavailable.




Броненосец Потёмкин (Battleship Potemkin)
Soviet Union
Artist: Unknown
Year of Poster: R1963
Year of Film: 1925
Origin of Film: Soviet Union
A film at the core of modern cinema, director Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin added volumes to the language of film. Intended as a propaganda film and shot only four years after the creation of the Soviet Union, Eisenstein was interested in the emotional and persuasive effects of montage and editing on audiences in conveying his story of rebellious soldiers on the Battleship Potemkin – one of key early events in the Bolshevik revolution. The film’s impact on audiences was unparalleled, with Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels calling Potemkin "a marvelous film without equal in the cinema ... anyone who had no firm political conviction could become a Bolshevik after seeing the film." Famed for the montage of the valiant proletariat fleeing the Tsar's troops down the Odessa Steps, Potemkin won admirers throughout the world, including the west, for its virtuoso technique allowing audiences to feel deeply for a piece of celluloid. As early as 1958 at Brussells World Fair, Potemkin was named the greatest film of all time. This 1963 country-of-origin re-release poster – with it’s striking black and red eagle motif – was intended for use in the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War.
Information on the artist is currently unavailable.

[Harry Caul]

EAST GERMAN POSTERS




Lavender Hill Mob, The
East German
Artist: Geffers, Kurt (unknown)
Year of Poster: 1959
Year of Film: 1951
Origin of Film: United Kingdom
Director Charles Crichton’s Lavender Hill Mob is heist comedy about a day-dreaming bank employee who, after twenty years of meticulously and faithfully transporting gold bullion, puts together a bumbling crew of misfits to steal a million pounds worth of gold. The heist goes as planned, but after melting down the gold into miniature souvenir statues of the Eiffel Tower and shiping them off to Paris, chaos ensues when they are accidently purchased buy a group of English schoolgirls on holiday. Little is known about the artist, Kurt Geffers. He created posters at least as early as the 1930s, many of which would look at home alongside western designs of the times. After WWII, however, he was employed by Deutsche Film Aktiengesellschaft (DEFA), the state-run East German film studios, and his work took on a decidedly more abstract quality.




Platoon
East German
Artist: Brandt, Gerhat (unknown)
Year of Poster: 1989
Year of Film: 1986
Origin of Film: United States
Director Oliver Stone’s breakthrough film about a brutally realistic grunt’s-eye-view of the Vietnam War won 4 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director. Colored by Stone’s own experiences as a Vietnam War veteran, the film omits the patriotism and pro-US propaganda often found in early Vietnam movies, and instead focuses on the moral evolutions of soldiers asked to fight a war against an ill-defined enemy. Information on the artist, Gerhat Brandt, is currently unavailable.

[Harry Caul]

ROMANIAN POSTERS




Cowboys, The
Romanian
Artist: Costa
Year of Poster: 1973
Year of Film: 1972
Origin of Film: United States
One of John Wayne’s later period westerns, The Cowboys follows rancher Wil Andersen’s (Wayne) desperate attempt to get his cattle herd to market and avoid financial ruin after all the working age men leave town for the gold boom. Andersen resorts to recruiting schoolboys between the age of 9 and 13, who age quickly beyond their years as they travel 400 miles across the hard country and fight off a gang of cattle thieves. To this day, the western mythology and films in general and John Wayne in particular are highly revered in Eastern Europe, with Romania being no exception. The striking poster on display here, simply titled ‘Cowboy’, is as much as homage to Wayne himself as it is the film. Information on the artist, only known by the signature Costa, is currently unavailable.




Papillon
Romanian
Artist: Leonida
Year of Poster: 1974
Year of Film: 1973
Origin of Film: United States
Based on the autobiography of Henri Charriere, one of a handful of people to successfully escape the penal colony of Devil's Island, Papillon (played by Steve McQueen) tells the story of a wrongly incarcerated French citizen sent to a jungle prison half a world away in French Guyana. While Charriere’s wild claims of innocence, multiple elaborate escapes, romantic involvement with natives, random acts of kindness and an unbreakable spirit remain highly questionable, the abhorrent conditions and treatment of prisoners on the notorious French penal colony are anything but. The Devil’s Island penal colony was operated by France, guillotine and all, for over 100 years, finally closing shortly after WWII in 1953. The Romanian poster on display here prominently features a butterfly (in French, papillon), which was Charriere’s nickname due to a large butterfly tattoo and reputation for escape. Information on the artist, only known by the signature Leonida, is currently unavailable.

[Harry Caul]

CZECH POSTERS




C'era una volta il West (Once Upon a Time in the West)
Czechoslovakia
Artist: Ziegler, Zdeněk (1932-)
Year of Poster: R1987
Year of Film: 1968
Origin of Film: United States
In Sergio Leone’s epic western, a railroad baron hires a sadistic mercenary to kill a property owner with prime real estate – only to have the owner’s newly arrived wife inherit the property and begin receiving help from some mysterious strangers with their own motivations to fight. Fresh off his “Dollars” trilogy, Leon’s revisionist efforts culminated with him casting Henry Fonda – beloved by many for his portrayal of the hero in countless westerns – as the blue-eyed assassin and cold-hearted killer of children. Fonda reportedly showed up for filming with a thick mustache and brown contacts to play “the villain,” but Leone told him no – he wanted the audience to gasp! Born in 1932 in Prague, Ziegler graduated from the Architecture Faculty of Czech Technical University in 1961. One of the most prolific Czech film poster designers with over 200 designs to his credit, Ziegler has won numerous awards and has had his work exhibited around the world. Also a graphic artist, typographer and designer, Ziegler currently teaches at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague.




All the President's Men
Czechoslovakia
Artist: Ziegler, Zdeněk (1932-)
Year of Poster: 1980
Year of Film: 1976
Origin of Film: United States
Based on Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s best selling 1974 book of the same name, All the President’s Men follows a pair of Washington Post reporters as they slowly piece together connections between a botched robbery of the Democratic Party headquarters in the Watergate apartment complex and, eventually, the Nixon administration. Borderline nauseating in it’s attention to detail and the journalistic process, the film ultimately succeeds by illustrating the necessity of a free press and the dangers of unchecked political power. Born in 1932 in Prague, Ziegler graduated from the Architecture Faculty of Czech Technical University in 1961. One of the most prolific Czech film poster designers with over 200 designs to his credit, Ziegler has won numerous awards and has had his work exhibited around the world. Also a graphic artist, typographer and designer, Ziegler currently teaches at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague.




Battaglia di Algeri, La (Battle of Algiers, The)
Czechoslovakia
Artist: Ziegler, Zdeněk (1932-)
Year of Poster: 1968
Year of Film: 1966
Origin of Film: Italy
Shot in documentary style, Gillo Pontecorvo’s masterpiece on revolution and guerrilla war highlights the increasingly extreme measures taken by the French government to take down an Algerian rebel movement – measures which ultimately provoke a nationwide revolt and the exodus of the French from Algeria. Upon its release in 1968, Roger Ebert wrote, “It is about the Algerian war, but those not interested in Algeria may substitute another war; "The Battle of Algiers" has a universal frame of reference.” In addition to being place-less, Battle of Algiers is also timeless – the film has been used as a training tool by everyone from the Black Panthers in the 1960s to the US government during the war on terror on how to successfully fight, or alternatively defeat, an insurgent movement. Born in 1932 in Prague, Ziegler graduated from the Architecture Faculty of Czech Technical University in 1961. One of the most prolific Czech film poster designers with over 200 designs to his credit, Ziegler has won numerous awards and has had his work exhibited around the world. Also a graphic artist, typographer and designer, Ziegler currently teaches at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague.




Alien
Czechoslovakia
Artist: Ziegler, Zdeněk (1932-)
Year of Poster: 1982
Year of Film: 1979
Origin of Film: United States
A perfect marriage of horror and science fiction, Ridley Scott’s Alien documents the deadly encounter between the small crew of the Nostromo on a commercial deep-space mining mission with a viscous and ruthless extraterrestrial – this is no E.T.! Sigourney Weaver shines as the heroine battling both the sinister intentions of her corporate employer and the titular creature, which sprung from the imagination of cyberpunk surrealist painter and sculptor, HR Giger. Born in 1932 in Prague, Ziegler graduated from the Architecture Faculty of Czech Technical University in 1961. One of the most prolific Czech film poster designers with over 200 designs to his credit, Ziegler has won numerous awards and has had his work exhibited around the world. Also a graphic artist, typographer and designer, Ziegler currently teaches at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague.




Jaws
Czechoslovakia
Artist: Fischerová, Olga (unknown)
Year of Poster: 1976
Year of Film: 1975
Origin of Film: United States
Based on Peter Benchley’s best-selling novel of the same name, Steven Spielberg's Jaws created the mold for both modern Hollywood blockbusters (a young target audience, heaps of marketing and a big opening weekend) and for modern horror films (the less you show of the monster the more suspenseful). The plot – a giant killer shark terrorizes a fictional resort island in the North East – is just one of many aspects including taut direction and an unforgettable score that helped to make Jaws a modern suspense classic. Aside from her designing over 20 Czech film posters, very little is known about the artist, Olga Fisherová.




Pierrot le Fou
Czechoslovakia
Artist: Hilmar, Jiří (1937-)
Year of Poster: 1967
Year of Film: 1965
Origin of Film: France
Jean-Luc Godard’s sixth film, Pierrot le Fou is a loose adaptation of Lionel White's 1960 pulp thriller Obsession, about a middle-aged married man who has a fling with his sexy babysitter and gets dragged into her seamy world. In Godard’s hands, however, the plot is secondary to his ever-evolving and experimental style that blends musical numbers, bold use of primary colors, and multiple references to literature and the history of cinema and painting. Born in 1937 in Hradec Kralove, in what is now the Czech Republic, Hilmar was a painter, sculptor, and graphic artist who studied at The Secondary School of Applied Art in Prague beginning in 1956. Living in Germany since 1969, Hilmar designed 55 Czech film posters during his lengthy career – all of which were on display in a show dedicated to him at the 15th exhibition of The Golden Era of Czechoslovak Film poster series in Prague earlier this year.




Midnight Cowboy
Czechoslovakia
Artist: Ziegler, Zdeněk (1932-)
Year of Poster: 1973
Year of Film: 1969
Origin of Film: United States
Based on James Leo Herlihy’s novel, Midnight Cowboy is a bleak look at a New York City that once was, told by a pair of two-bit hustlers played to perfection by John Voight and Dustin Hoffman. It perhaps took a British director, John Schlesinger, to hold a mirror up to the underbelly of urban American life, a portrayal that won him a Best Picture Oscar despite the MPAA awarding Midnight Cowboy the newly minted X-rating – the first given to a major studio film. Born in 1932 in Prague, Ziegler graduated from the Architecture Faculty of Czech Technical University in 1961. One of the most prolific Czech film poster designers with over 200 designs to his credit, Ziegler has won numerous awards and has had his work exhibited around the world. Also a graphic artist, typographer and designer, Ziegler currently teaches at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague.




Platoon
Czechoslovakia
Artist: Weber, Jan (1946-)
Year of Poster: 1986
Year of Film: 1986
Origin of Film: United States
Director Oliver Stone’s breakthrough film about a brutally realistic grunt’s-eye-view of the Vietnam War won 4 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director. Colored by Stone’s own experiences as a Vietnam War veteran, the film omits the patriotism and pro-US propaganda often found in early Vietnam movies, and instead focuses on the moral evolutions of soldiers asked to fight a war against an ill-defined enemy.
Born in 1946, Weber graduated from the Václav Hollar School of Arts in Prague, in what is now the Czech Republic. A freelance artist focusing on graphic design, illustration and poster art between 1972 and 1991, Weber now owns Studio GSW and currently focuses on graphic art and the design of books, CD covers, logotypes and typography.

[Harry Caul]

CUBAN POSTERS




Soy Cuba (I am Cuba)
Cuban
Artist: Portocarrero, René (1912-1985)
Year of Poster: R1980s
Year of Film: 1964
Origin of Film: Cuba/Soviet Union
Soy Cuba was the first joint filmmaking partnership between Cuba, eager to document the history of its revolution just three years earlier and to support its nascent stat-run film industry, the Soviet Union, interested in promoting communism abroad. Despite no expense being spared and with full support from both governments, Soy Cuba, a film consisting of four vignettes covering the days leading up to the revolution, was a commercial and critical failure. The film languished in Soviet warehouses until 1991, after which point a print was screened at Telluride Film Festival – allowing western audiences the first opportunity to witness some of the most technical and inventive camera work in cinematic history. Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola quickly championed the film and helped to get a restored print released for the first time in American cinemas. Born in Cerro on the outskirts of Havana in 1912, René Portocarrero is one of Cuba’s most celebrated artists. Self-taught, Portocarrero worked as a painter, sculptor, ceramicist, muralist, designer and book illustrator and his highly celebrated works are in countless permanent collections around the world.

[Bruce]

Really magnificent, and on every level!

[Harry Caul]

By the way, these blurbs were inspired by Peter -- who painstakingly wrote up a small, thoughtful entry for each and every poster on his site.  Some day I would love to do this for all of my 500+ posters!

http://petersmovieposters.com/

[archie leach]

I live in a college town and I'm close with several people who teach print-making.  They are all very excited and plan to bring their students.  I'm expecting a full house (30-50 people) for the talk.  And I've already been asked to give it a second time as one of the schools has a competing event.  I think I'm going to start by talking a little bit about poster collecting in general, then move on to Eastern European posters and how/why they are so different (or at least various theories people have), and then highlight 3-4 individual works and tell people more about the artists.  Should be fun... I'm expecting lots of questions too with so many students there!

And yes, having the US posters up for comparison was a must.  It is almost unbelievable, but the average undergraduate student was born the year Pulp Fiction came out!  I can't even believe I just wrote that and that it's true   I didn't want to take it for granted that people would have any frame of reference for the movies.  I'm not sure if y'all are interested, but I'll post the blurbs that go along with each poster in a minute.  I tried to spend 2-3 sentences on the movie/director and then 2-3 sentences on the artist.

In an educational setting such as this, I've always found it a good idea to illustrate a less successful example or two in order to draw comparison to the successful ones that you have on display.  Then again, maybe that's what you are suggesting with US poster comparison...

I note that all of the images you display have some relation to the actual film, unlike a good number of Eastern Block posters.  Do you have any examples in your collection where the image had little discernable connection the film? (I guess that Czech Alien is close - hard to tell what really going on there)

Very nice Sunset, one of my favorite posters for one of my favorite films...

Note to self: Avoid wearing orange when taking pictures...

[archie leach]

For the Czech Platoon, a better comparison might be to the photographic version of the image instead of the standard one sheet.  Just a thought...

[Harry Caul]

To all -- Thanks for the supportive comments!

Ben -- Yes, the Sunset Boulevard is (unbelievably) mine and will be displayed prominently at our house after the exhibit 

Archie -- Thanks for the advice and yes, the US posters are mostly shown as an example of what not to do!   Funny story about the orange shirt (although, yes, ugh in photos)... the Sunset Boulevard and Birds almost didn't make the show.  Tom Kuznar (http://www.cinemaposter.com/) acquired these for me and picked them up personally in Warsaw (Sunset Boulevard) and Vienna (The Birds from Zelek himself).  However, instead of risking them going through the global postal/customs systems, he hand delivered them to me at the Charlotte airport during his layover on his way back to Chicago last Thursday (2 days ago).  As we had never met, I texted him a photo of me with a bright orange shirt and white baseball cap so we could find each other in the airport... he had suggested a trench coat and dark sunglasses but I was trying not to arouse the suspicions of the TSA    I went right from the airport to the gallery to swap out my alternates (Charlie Varrick and The Last Detail) in case they didn't make the trip or the deals fell through.

[Harry Caul]

For the Czech Platoon, a better comparison might be to the photographic version of the image instead of the standard one sheet.  Just a thought...

Good point, I actually own the slightly undersized, style B int'l poster:

[Ed_209uk]

This looks brilliant Matt, congratulations! I only wish I could pop along to see them all in situ. Will this be the first of many exhibitions to come?

[Harry Caul]

Will this be the first of many exhibitions to come?

The person who ran the gallery was really taken with my French and Italians... maybe, just maybe 

[Silhouette]

Seriously impressed, well done

[posteropolis]

Outstanding! Congratulations on a job well done!

[Harry Caul]

Does anyone know of a website that would let me set up a free gallery exhibit with photos and text?  I would love to put this info up on a dedicated site somewhere so it isn't lost the APF archives at some point.   Any help would be appreciated...

[MoviePosterBid.com]

Does anyone know of a website that would let me set up a free gallery exhibit with photos and text?  I would love to put this info up on a dedicated site somewhere so it isn't lost the APF archives at some point.   Any help would be appreciated...

MoviePosterBid.com will be featuring such gallery setups in the future when we get a software change & new design. But they won't be set up as fan pages. galleries only with descriptions, no comments

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Does anyone know of a website that would let me set up a free gallery exhibit with photos and text?  I would love to put this info up on a dedicated site somewhere so it isn't lost the APF archives at some point.   Any help would be appreciated...

Pinterest, like this:

http://pinterest.com/camdesigns/amsel-s-movie-posters/

[Harry Caul]

Very cool.  That might be perfect.

[MyDear]

That exhibition, the setup and all is absolutely GREAT. Congratulations.  Really good work!

Krzysztof
polishposter.com

[brude]

The notes are excellent.  I read every word.
I know that this would be extremely difficult and time consuming, but I would love to read analyses of the designs and why the artists went in the directions they did.
Obviously, some of the artists are unknown and/or deceased and some of the posters are self-explanatory...

Will your presentation/Q&A be taped?

Your appreciation for these posters is much appreciated.
Thanks for busting it out here.
 

[ATLfun]

  I am always amazed at how much cooler posters look in a framed grouping.  The write-ups were fantastic and reflect a lot of effort. Well done, sir.   


Brian

[Harry Caul]

Well, I'm not sure I'm sold on the pinterest format for something like this.  It was a pain load everything, I couldn't paste in my descriptions (too short of a character limit), and there is absolutely no way I could find to organize it so the descriptions showed up next to the proper poster.  In the end their gallery view is just too random.  Anyway, here is a link for those who are interested in sharing the info about the show, but don't want to link to the added rambling in this thread:

http://pinterest.com/mpjohnst/film-art-from-behind-the-iron-curtain/

[Harry Caul]

That exhibition, the setup and all is absolutely GREAT. Congratulations.  Really good work!

Krzysztof
polishposter.com

Thanks Krzysztof, that means a lot coming from you!  If I got any of the info wrong in the descriptions, please let me know... thanks again!

[Harry Caul]

The notes are excellent.  I read every word.
I know that this would be extremely difficult and time consuming, but I would love to read analyses of the designs and why the artists went in the directions they did.
Obviously, some of the artists are unknown and/or deceased and some of the posters are self-explanatory...

Will your presentation/Q&A be taped?

Your appreciation for these posters is much appreciated.
Thanks for busting it out here.
 

I appreciate the kind comments Ted; this has definitely been a labor of love.  That said, I was a little hesitant to 'read' into the designs too much... I prefer not to talk out my ass when possible.  I feel like that is what it would have amounted too had I tried.  Instead, I offered up the US poster for comparison and let others come to their own conclusions...

Not sure if there are plans to tape the lecture, but I'll see if I can host the slides if nothing else.  And I'll see what I can do about a video tour at some point as well...