Jazzowość filmu - filmowość jazzu. O muzyce Krzysztofa Komedy w filmach krótkometrażowych Romana Polańskiego
Jazzity of film - jazz film-making. About Krzysztof Komeda's music in Roman Polanski's short films

Summary/Abstract: The relationship between a film director and the composer of the film soundtrack is an exceptionally interesting research subject. Even more so in the context of Krzysztof Komeda’s music in Roman Polański’s film etudes. It is a rare case for the influence of music on a film and for the influence of the film on the music to be so significant in the shaping of the styles of two artists on the threshold of their careers, one of whom is a composer, the other one being a film director.In the article, the author attempts to prove that creating a film using directing solutions that refer to jazz music elements is just as possible as the transformation of a jazz composer (in the context of a film) into an author of music which also becomes a film soundtrack. What is more, the mutual inspirations translate into the artistic development of both artists which is noticeable in their subsequent joined works. Those are: Two Men and a Wardrobe (1958), The Fat and the Lean (1961) and Mammals (1961).The author performs a film study-musicological analysis of the films mentioned above on the basis of the works of Marek Hendrykowski, Alicja Helman, Zofia Lissa, and Emilia Batura; he also uses the opinions of the authors themselves on their shared films which are the subject of the analysis mentioned. Examining the role of Krzysztof Komeda’s music in Roman Polański’s short films proved that apart from functionalizing the basic element of a music piece (melodic, agogic, rhythmic, and meter), the element of improvisation – characteristic of jazz – can also occur in a film, present both in its visual as well as in the sound layer. Thus, the use (on both levels) of elements of two kinds of art different from each other (in an ontological sense) has a significant influence on the shaping of the unique style of both artists.

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