ReFocus: The Films of Paweł Pawlikowski
Elzbieta Ostrowska, Joanna Rydzewska
The first book-length study of the oeuvre of Oscar-winning British-Polish director, Pawel Pawlikowski
- Explores the concept of global/transnational authorship
- Locates Pawlikowski’s oeuvre within various cinematic traditions and production cultures
- Examines stylistic and thematic elements of Pawlikowski’s films
- Draws on interdisciplinary approaches of Film Studies, Gender Studies, Migration Studies, Jewish/Holocaust Studies, Eastern European Studies and Slavic Cultures
Recognised as one of the most significant contemporary directors, Paweł Pawlikowski achieved global acclaim with the Academy Award-winning Ida (2013). ReFocus: The Films of Paweł Pawlikowski is the first book-length study of the director’s illustrious career, spanning nearly four decades and two countries – Great Britain and Poland. This volume traces Pawlikowski’s artistic journey, from early, lesser-known BBC documentaries to breakthrough international successes like Last Resort (2000), My Summer of Love (2004) and the critically acclaimed Cold War (2018).
Through in-depth analysis of his films, the book uncovers recurring themes such as identity, love, memory and journeys, often set against historical and social upheavals. It examines his distinctive style – marked by minimalist visuals – arguing that with atmospheric modernist aesthetics, Pawlikowski not only consciously develops the tradition of European art film but also demonstrates the continued significance of authorship in a transnational context.
List of Figures
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Departures and Returns
2. Authorial Investments
Part I. BBC, Documentaries and Beyond
3. Early Documentaries 1987 – 1990: In Search of a Voice
4. Late Documentaries 1990 – 1995: In Search of a Style
5. Between Fact and Fiction: The Grave Case of Charlie Chaplin and The Stringer
Part II. The English Trilogy
6. Poetry of the Quotidian: Twockers
7. Cartographies of the New Europe: Last Resort
8. Conjuring Englishness: My Summer of Love
Part III. The French Interlude
9. In Search of an Author: The Woman in the Fifth
Part IV. Polish Returns, Modernist Aesthetics
10. Postsecular Modernity and Polish-Jewish Relations: Ida
11. Music, Space and Identity: Cold War
Conclusion
Filmography
References
Index
This book is a tour de force in auteur scholarship. Ostrowska and Rydzewska offer not only the first comprehensive study of Paweł Pawlikowski’s body of work but also a groundbreaking contribution to contemporary debates on authorship in transnational cinema. Their concept of ‘neoliberal authorship’ is as timely as it is insightful, illuminating the evolving conditions of artistic autonomy within today’s global media industries. With meticulous textual analysis and deep contextual grounding, this volume will become an indispensable reference for scholars of European cinema and global film authorship.
Spanning nations (Poland, England, France and back to Poland), media (television documentaries and fiction films) and four decades in the life and work of Pawel Pawlikowski, this thorough, well-argued, and revealing account of his art and career deepens and complicates auteurist readings of Last Resort, My Summer of Love, Cold War and Ida amongst lesser known works that are given equal attention, and results in an important work of transnational film scholarship.
