Teatralny wymiar twórczości filmowej Romana Polańskiego
Theatrical Dimension of Roman Polański's Films

Summary/Abstract: The last two films of Roman Polanski – "Carnage", based on a theatrical play by yasmina Reza and "Venus in Fur" based on David Ives’ play adapted for the New york theatre scene from the story of the count Leopold von Sacher-Masoch – are a good occasion for reconsidering the origins and roots of Polanski’s creativity, and in particular the impact of the theatre on Polański’s films. Zmudziński in his analysis goes beyond films that are straightforward adaptation of plays written for the theatre, and examines and orders the areas of influence of the theatre aesthetics and theatrical experience of the director, including the “poetics” of the absurd, the use of isolated spaces, circular structures of narration, compressed time, restricted number of characters remaining in peculiar relationships, and finally emotionally active engagement of the audience, reaching the level of the original psychodrama. Within Polanski’s twenty feature films “theatre thinking” is clearly, though not overtly, present. The theatrical inclinations of the director are also confirmed by the fact that many of his films could easily be adapted for the stage.

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