There's an old joke amongst Poles that the Church works best under mild oppression. As it was, the Church did triumph over the odds during the Soviet era. Likewise, most film critics would say that Polish directors made their best work before the Berlin Wall fell. When directors were struggling to evade the communist censors, Poland captured the world's imagination with a string of inspired movies, but since 1989 Poland has struggled to produce stars of the calibre of Wajda, Polanski or Kieslowski.
That said, whilst Poles search for new directions, some of the world's most talented outsiders have been getting in on the act. David Lynch and Ken Loach - two directors who enjoy enormous prestige in Poland - are both involved in Polish projects right now.
Lynch has just finished filming 'Inland Empire' in Lodz, a city often described as 'the Polish Manchester,' on account of its role in the Industrial Revolution.
"I fell in love with the city of Lodz," Lynch reveals, "a city so beautiful and old, filled with factories and great giant electrical plants and these low hanging gray clouds and a Polish rain or cold - and ideas started coming."
Of course, this being a Lynch film, with all the requisite one-legged men and flickering phantoms, a straightforward plot is not on the cards.
"It's about a woman in trouble, and it's a mystery, and that's all I want to say,'' Lynch confided in typically evasive fashion.
Meanwhile, controversial British director Ken Loach ('Kes', 'The Wind That Shakes the Barley') is shooting a film about Polish immigrants in England. Filming for "These Times'" began in Poland in October, before moving on to London, where most of the action takes place.
It's safe to say that Loach's work will be rather more on the naturalistic side than Lynch's. Laura Dern, leading actress in Lynch's film, said that she was looking forward to seeing the premiere so that she could finally discover what the film was actually about. Classic Lynch then!
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