Three Voices on the “Ode To Joy”

Abstract

In this three-part article its authors attempt to discuss one of the most exciting debuts in the Polish cinema of the recent years – Ode to Joy (2005). The first text, corresponding with the first part of the feature, examines the content of Anna Kazejak-Dawid’s etude entitled Silesia (Śląsk). Grzegorz Nadgrodkiewicz makes a subjective evaluation of the degree to which the etude withstood the test of time and tries to decide to what extent the generational criterion may be useful in interpreting the etude. Commenting on Jan Komasa’s episode, entitled Warsaw (Warszawa), Ewa Ciszewska focuses on Poland’s social stratification during transformation and on its consequences for the young. Also analysed is the manner in which hip-hop culture is represented here. The third text discusses Maciej Migas’s episode The Sea (Morze). Jadwiga Mostowska focuses on the key plots, motifs and, first of all, on the central character to depart from generational tropes in favour of a reflection on the film itself – a work of art of the young director who wants to tell a story. [originally published in Polish in Kwartalnik Filmowy 2007, no. 57-58, pp. 160-179]