Film zakulisowy jako gatunek i zwierciadło społeczne
The Backstage Film as a Genre and as a Social Mirror

Summary/Abstract: This article attempts to characterize a genre that has not yet been described: the backstage film. Its storyline follows the process of creating a theatrical performance, from casting to a successful premiere, which takes place despite numerous obstacles. An important feature of the film is its depiction of the theatre company as a micro-community with the potential of a social metaphor. Busby Berkeley’s backstage musical can be considered the prototype of the genre. In the subsequent decades, it was referred to or deconstructed by John Cassavetes, Bob Fosse, and Carlos Saura, among others, and recently by Alejandro González Iñárritu. Krzysztof Kieślowski and Agnieszka Holland in their films representing moral anxiety cinema used the formula of the backstage film to talk about disillusionment and to question the idea of an ensemble. They suggested that their films should be read not as a criticism of the institution of theatre, but as universal social metaphors.

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