[HN Gopher] Thousands of classic Polish films, etc. made availab...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Thousands of classic Polish films, etc. made available for free
       online
        
       Author : danielam
       Score  : 283 points
       Date   : 2022-07-20 13:55 UTC (9 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (35mm.online)
 (TXT) w3m dump (35mm.online)
        
       | lizardactivist wrote:
       | We've become so hypnotized and hyped up by spandex-clad super-
       | heroes with bad acting and snappy, pretentious dialogues that
       | we've forgotten what real film and art is like.
        
         | lnsru wrote:
         | Maybe overworked and tired population needs spandex instead of
         | Tarkovsky's movies. After 1,5 hours commuting and 9,5 hours in
         | the office I prefer Netflix' Red Notice over Stalker. And I
         | guess I am not the only one.
         | 
         | On the other hand as non native Polish speaker I will enjoy
         | some evening with some great movie recommended in this thread.
        
           | crispyambulance wrote:
           | > After 1,5 hours commuting and 9,5 hours in the office I
           | prefer Netflix' ...
           | 
           | I can appreciate that point of view. It's really a matter of
           | what you're receptive to at any given moment.
           | 
           | Keep in mind, however, that Tarkovsky and other innovative
           | filmmakers from the Iron Curtain era literally risked their
           | career every time they made a film. They had something to say
           | and took great pains to do it. It just goes to show that
           | there's really no excuse for the film industry to release so
           | much slop when they got unimaginable resources at their
           | disposal.
        
             | badpun wrote:
             | Try some movies by Andrzej Wajda, he's one of the most
             | accessible directors (while still being great), so it might
             | work well in the post-work time slot. For example "Man of
             | Marble" (https://35mm.online/vod/fabula/czlowiek-z-
             | marmuru). It's about creating myths of superhuman workers
             | in the Stalinist times to get people to work more/harder.
        
             | myth_drannon wrote:
             | Not sure about the other filmmakers but Tarkovsky was
             | pretty much the establishment, a token avant garde cinema
             | in a sea of state propaganda movies. Yes "Andrei Rublyov"
             | was shelved, but that's about it, really. Many others had
             | some of their movies shelved for all kinds of reasons.
             | Risking their lives? Well maybe, if you can consider mental
             | breakdown, heart attack as risk. But I bet Hollywood
             | directors/actors risked their lives more by being in the
             | same hotel room with Harvey Weinstein and his exposed puny
             | dongle.
        
             | UncleOxidant wrote:
             | I agree, but I wonder if viewers who have been brought up
             | on the superhero genre where something is blowing up every
             | minute or two could even watch a Tarkovsky film. Whenever I
             | try to introduce people to Tarkovsky's films I warn them up
             | front that they need to completely change their sense of
             | time - they need to view these films as meditations, they
             | need to slow way down. And even with these suggestions up
             | front, it's still difficult for many modern viewers to make
             | it through.
        
           | Ansil849 wrote:
           | An overworked population is precisely the one that needs
           | thought-provoking cinema.
        
             | copperx wrote:
             | Exactly. The last thing the overworked need is more
             | cultural anesthesia.
        
         | sequoia wrote:
         | Speak for yourself. Sometime one wants their thoughts
         | "provoked," other times one wants to laugh, or relax, or be
         | thrilled by something scary.
         | 
         | I continue to read the somewhat mediocre wheel of time series
         | mostly because it's familiar and thereby comforting, and
         | there's a lot of it. I listened to "parable of the sower" (a
         | more high-brow fiction by Octavia Butler) audiobook recently
         | and while it was more "thought provoking" it was also
         | depressing, and I've got enough stressors in my life right now
         | without spending my leisure time reading about made-up
         | tragedies. So I instead opt for something less mentally
         | challenging when I want to relax.
         | 
         | Most importantly, appreciating "real art" doesn't make you
         | better than someone who likes to binge on MCU movies. It's
         | condescending and superior to call someone "hypnotized" for
         | liking something you don't, and comments like that tell us more
         | about you than the person you're judging.
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | BryantD wrote:
         | Counter arguments:
         | 
         | While there are a ton of lost movies, we also live in a world
         | in which services like Criterion Channel, Mubi, and Shudder
         | make more film available than ever. The other week, I got
         | curious and watched a movie from Ulrike Ottinger, loved it, and
         | when I get around to it I can watch any of a dozen more of her
         | movies.
         | 
         | Likewise, I just bought a boxed set of folk horror movies from
         | Severin Films. I miss good video rental stores, but even pre-
         | Netflix there weren't more than a dozen US cities with video
         | stores where you could rent stuff like that.
         | 
         | The top grossing lists are mostly dominated by blockbusters,
         | it's true, but let's look at (say) 1978. Grease, Animal House,
         | Close Encounters, Every Which Way But Loose, and Heaven Can
         | Wait (a remake!) are the top five. It's been a blockbuster-
         | driven market for 40+ years, with the occasional breakthrough
         | art house film and, more frequently, a big non-franchise genre
         | film (The Martian, Us, etc.) None of this has prevented great
         | directors like the Coen Brothers, Soderbergh, or del Toro from
         | making very good movies.
         | 
         | There's a market for super-hero movies. There's also a market
         | for "real" film. These two things are sometimes in tension, but
         | I think at the moment they're both viable.
        
           | margoguryan wrote:
           | What we need are more films in the $30m-$70m region; art-
           | house blockbusters. Superhero fatigue is real - what
           | audiences really want is someone like Michael Mann in the
           | 90s.
        
             | MichaelCollins wrote:
             | For me, it's Michael Mann's 1981 _Thief_. _Heat_ was good,
             | but I feel like _Thief_ had more soul.
        
             | BryantD wrote:
             | Recently:
             | 
             | - Everything Everywhere All at Once - The Black Phone - The
             | Northman - House of Gucci - Knives Out - Little Women - A
             | Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood - The Shape of Water
             | 
             | The blockbusters are such a huge part of the cultural
             | landscape so that it's easy to miss all the other film out
             | there. But there's really a lot of it!
        
       | oxplot wrote:
       | Ahh, grew up watching this at least a 100 times:
       | https://35mm.online/vod/fabula/vabank
        
         | throwmisinfo388 wrote:
         | English link:
         | 
         | https://35mm.online/en/vod/feature-films/va-banque
        
       | 99_00 wrote:
       | I went from having ZERO interest in classic Polish film to having
       | some interest.
       | 
       | So mission accomplished, Polish Film Institute.
        
       | mzs wrote:
       | They have this nice page* of movies with Ukrainian subtitles. I
       | am teaching English to a family of Ukrainian refugees. Films in
       | English with Ukrainian subtitles would be a fantastic resource.
       | Does anyone know of such a service?
       | 
       | * https://35mm.online/kolekcje/dla-ukrainy
        
         | thriftwy wrote:
         | Sites like subscene have endless supply of subtitles in any
         | languages and you can probably torrent the films themselves.
        
           | mzs wrote:
           | I should add, they only have iphones and the 35mm site's
           | player _just worked_ as expected with Ukrainian subs.
        
         | aeontech wrote:
         | FWIW, I highly, highly recommend showing them (simpler) movies
         | with _english_ subtitles.
         | 
         | This helped tremendously when I was going from "school English"
         | to "native English", because things I couldn't pick up by ear
         | yet, I could pick up by reading the subtitles.
         | 
         | If you watch it with Ukrainian subtitles, your brain just falls
         | back on what it already knows, and ignores the soundtrack
         | (mostly).
        
       | itsmenow wrote:
       | Kingsajz [1] is one of my favorite Polish movies of all time.
       | It's about way for people to consume some elixir and become tiny
       | (it's an adult movie, although may not sound like it). The
       | special effects are absolutely phenomenal - it's mind boggling
       | that it was done in 1987, and with communist budgets!
       | Unfortunately looks like no English subtitles are available.
       | 
       | [1] https://35mm.online/vod/fabula/kingsajz
        
         | throwmisinfo388 wrote:
         | English link:
         | 
         | https://35mm.online/en/vod/feature-films/king-size
        
       | stefantalpalaru wrote:
        
       | makerofspoons wrote:
       | I recommend "Blind Chance". It follows three storylines about a
       | man trying to catch a train where different events cause his life
       | to unfold differently. It really makes you think about all the
       | small events that have occurred in your life that snowball to
       | make you who you are.
        
         | ttlsa wrote:
         | Pretty much everything directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski is
         | worth watching.
        
         | achairapart wrote:
         | Second this! Also other early films by Kieslowski: Amateur, No
         | End, A Short film about love, A short film about killing.
        
         | andrea76 wrote:
         | Where is this movie? Is it subtitled in English?
        
           | makerofspoons wrote:
           | It's here: https://35mm.online/en/vod/feature-films/blind-
           | chance
           | 
           | Unfortunately, it does not appear to have English subtitles
           | on this site according to the icons (I cannot create an
           | account to check at the moment). It does look like you can
           | rent the film with subtitles quite cheaply from Amazon:
           | https://www.amazon.com/Blind-Chance-English-Subtitled-
           | Bogusl...
        
             | M4v3R wrote:
             | According to the About the Project [1] section of the page:
             | 
             | > All film materials presented on the 35mm.online platform
             | meet the requirements of WCAG 2.0 - they have audio
             | descriptions, transcriptions, subtitles in Polish and
             | English, as well as comprehensive descriptions. For
             | foreigners, the entire film library of the Platform is
             | available in English.
             | 
             | So I assume that this one also has English subtitles. The
             | icon below the film is only about the available audio
             | language options.
             | 
             | Edit: Just double checked and yes, the English subtitles
             | are available for this one (and all other films).
             | 
             | [1] https://35mm.online/en/articles/about-the-project
        
         | odiroot wrote:
         | Very good recommendation. I was taken to this movie by my
         | (secondary school, I believe) teacher.
         | 
         | It really moved me, although I don't agree with suggestion that
         | movie is making: staying neutral is the worst choice you can
         | make.
         | 
         | Especially in communist Poland it was probably best choice to
         | avoid jail/torture/execution and shame of collaboration at the
         | same time.
        
           | Swizec wrote:
           | > staying neutral is the worst choice > best choice to avoid
           | jail/torture/execution
           | 
           | See that's the thing with rhetoric. It's easy to say from the
           | safety of our modern lives. Or as my mom used to say: "It's
           | easy to shit when your butt is full"
           | 
           | Growing up in almost eastern europe (slovenia), you'd hear a
           | lot of stories from ye olden days of what was and wasn't
           | said. What people did and didn't do. At the end of the day,
           | you can be all the hero you want, but the only thing that
           | matters long-term is whether you got scooped up into the
           | murder pits or not.
           | 
           | Objectively, neither side was _that_ great. In the 60's and
           | 70's we built memorials to fallen comrades bravely fighting
           | the fascist oppressor. In the 90's and 00's we built
           | memorials to the fallen souls bravely dying in communist
           | murder pits during that same period. _shrug_
        
             | foobarian wrote:
             | Sometimes when my elders reminisced about the darker parts
             | of that era they mentioned "getting swallowed by the
             | night."
             | 
             | One other fun story from a relative who participated in a
             | work action just after war building a railroad. It was
             | pouring rain, and that day Tito came through to
             | visit/peptalk. According to her, he said "Is it raining
             | comrade?" to which she retorted "It is not raining comrade
             | Tito, it is a sunny day!"
        
               | mistrial9 wrote:
               | US military type guys with truck caps doing manual labor
               | on some strict team say exactly this kind of nonsense
               | too, right now.
        
           | KptMarchewa wrote:
           | >Especially in communist Poland it was probably best choice
           | to avoid jail/torture/execution and shame of collaboration at
           | the same time.
           | 
           | Till 1956? Yes. After? The regime was bad, but less violent
           | like some of the modern dictatorships, for example current
           | Putin's Russia. Low level activism could result in losing
           | job, but not execution.
           | 
           | Imagine that perpetrators of Navalny poisoning were actually
           | tried: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerzy_Popie%C5%82uszko
        
             | odiroot wrote:
             | It returned in the 80's. Many people were "disappeared". A
             | few members of my family were interned. One was brutally
             | beaten and tortured and never recovered from it.
        
         | crispyambulance wrote:
         | "A Short Film about Killing" is absolutely devastating. It
         | exists in 2 forms: a shortened version that is one part of
         | Kieslowski's 10-part Television series "Dekalog" and a longer
         | standalone version.
         | 
         | I would also add the masterpieces he is most known for: "The
         | Double Life of Veronique" and the trilogy, "Red", "White", and
         | "Blue". Of these "White" is the most accessible, it stars a
         | very young and luminous Julie Deply.
         | 
         | https://www.criterionchannel.com/videos/a-short-film-about-k...
         | https://www.criterionchannel.com/videos/three-colors-white-t...
        
           | lr1970 wrote:
           | All 10 pieces of Decalog (Dekalog) are worth watching.
           | Kieslowski is one of the greatest film directors of all time.
        
           | BryantD wrote:
           | The trilogy is currently in re-release to celebrate a new 4K
           | transfer. If you live in a US city with an arthouse theater
           | you might be able to catch it on the big screen.
        
       | michaelscott wrote:
       | This is incredible! Does anyone know of other sites like this for
       | films from other countries? I've been looking to broaden my
       | cinematic horizons a bit, as well as hunting for material to
       | practice language comprehension.
        
         | DanSmooth wrote:
         | There is https://croatian.film/en/ for Croatian short films.
        
         | lubesGordi wrote:
         | There's the National Film Board of Canada:
         | 
         | https://www.nfb.ca/
        
         | pjc50 wrote:
         | Large amounts of Mosfilm output was available on Youtube,
         | although I think Russian cinema may be an unpopular choice at
         | the moment.
         | 
         | A surprising amount of pre-90s film is randomly available on
         | youtube; sometimes with odd choices about dubbing and
         | subtitles.
        
           | themodelplumber wrote:
           | IDK, I run a pro-Ukraine resource page but I could still go
           | watch films like Moscow - Cassiopeia, or Courier, any day
           | 
           | A lot of the creators behind the various films were pretty
           | nuanced people, too...it shows in the way that they speak a
           | clearly ethical filmic language based in universal ideals.
        
         | JKCalhoun wrote:
         | I have been working through the book "1000 Films To See Before
         | You Die" -- finding the films on YouTube or Netflix....
        
           | BryantD wrote:
           | If you have the budget for it, I strongly recommend Criterion
           | Channel as another source for these.
        
         | ankaAr wrote:
         | The only one I know is from here, Argentina, but I cannot
         | remember if I can see from outside the country.
         | 
         | play.cine.ar
         | 
         | Tell me if you can, maybe with a proxy or cheating the account
         | registration. It is a free public platform anyway. We are
         | paying that with taxes so don't worry.
        
           | sofixa wrote:
           | Just tested it, i can create an account with the location
           | properly set (to France) and it lets me watch (at least the
           | two random things i clicked on).
        
       | crispyambulance wrote:
       | Since we're talking Polish cinema. I recommend 2 films from
       | Andrzej Zulawski:
       | 
       | * Possession (1981) starring Sam Neil and Isabelle Adjani. It
       | starts out sort of like a relationship-gone-bad film then goes
       | into a full-on crazy mode.
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah4Z1yIAoFM
       | 
       | * On The Silver Globe (1988) -- Unfinished sci-fi, super
       | innovative, completely bonkers.
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Silver_Globe_(film)
        
       | nextstepguy wrote:
       | I can't find The Saragossa Manuscript!!
        
         | JKCalhoun wrote:
         | Try YouTube: https://youtu.be/LNoEmDZufWY
        
         | rasz wrote:
         | The closest you can get are
         | 
         | Documentary from the set, starts @10:00
         | https://35mm.online/vod/kroniki/polska-kronika-filmowa-64-26...
         | 
         | Similar surreal movies by same Director/Author:
         | 
         | https://35mm.online/vod/fabula/sanatorium-pod-klepsydra
         | 
         | https://35mm.online/vod/fabula/osobisty-pamietnik-grzesznika...
        
         | mistrial9 wrote:
         | check out section 4 (!)
         | 
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Saragossa_Man...
        
       | miki123211 wrote:
       | They even provide audio descriptions, unlike basically every
       | other service over here.
        
       | unny wrote:
       | Pilot Pirx was already mentioned, I would add:
       | https://35mm.online/vod/fabula/seksmisja
        
         | tannedNerd wrote:
         | This is one of my fav polish comedies. If you want to go down
         | the rabbit hole, this list is pretty good place to start.
         | https://culture.pl/en/article/knee-slappers-polands-most-bel...
        
         | throwmisinfo388 wrote:
         | English link:
         | 
         | https://35mm.online/en/vod/feature-films/sexmission
        
         | type0 wrote:
         | One of the first things I looked up as well, so happy it was
         | there; too bad 'With Fire and Sword' (Ogniem i mieczem) wasn't
         | there.
        
       | btdmaster wrote:
       | Very disappointed that it has DRM...
        
         | rasz wrote:
         | >KEYFORMAT="com.apple.streamingkeydelivery"
         | 
         | yep you are right, looks like FairPlay Streaming (FPS).
        
       | ArtWomb wrote:
       | I don't see Zbignew Cybulski's Ashes and Diamonds, but there are
       | a few others selections from the "polish james dean". It's
       | amazing how difficult it is to stream deep cinema online from any
       | of the online services. For example, Criterion Collection will
       | have Milos Forman's Fireman's Ball & Loves of a Blonde, but not
       | Black Peter. One is sort of left scrounging bits of ephemera on
       | YT ;)
        
       | deckard1 wrote:
       | This is an excellent resource. Lots of great films on here. Piotr
       | Szulkin is on here as well, for anyone into sci-fi. I've been
       | looking for some of these films for awhile...
       | 
       | Golem:
       | 
       | https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080806/
       | 
       | https://35mm.online/en/vod/feature-films/golem
       | 
       | The War of the Worlds: Next Century:
       | 
       | https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083335/
       | 
       | https://35mm.online/en/vod/feature-films/the-war-of-the-worl...
       | 
       | O-Bi, O-Ba: The End of Civilization:
       | 
       | https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089714/
       | 
       | https://35mm.online/en/vod/feature-films/o-bi-o-ba-the-end-o...
       | 
       | Ga-ga: Glory to the Heroes:
       | 
       | https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091096/
       | 
       | https://35mm.online/en/vod/feature-films/ga-ga-glory-to-the-...
        
       | drosan wrote:
       | "How I Unleashed World War II" is not there sadly, nor "With Fire
       | and Sword".
        
         | mistrial9 wrote:
         | Ogniem i mieczem 1999 3 hours .. with costumes
        
         | minipci1321 wrote:
         | "Potop" is also missing it seems? Didn't find "Katyn" either.
        
         | bklaasen wrote:
         | The former is a classic comedy. For a taste of what you're
         | missing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfKZclMWS1U
        
           | ajuc wrote:
           | The funny thing is - Polish pronunciation is objectively
           | easier than English.
        
       | 0x38B wrote:
       | As far as Polish films, highly recommend 1982's "Znachor" (1).
       | 
       | Quoting IMDB: "Abandoned by his wife and daughter, a famous
       | surgeon starts drinking, hurts his head and loses his memory. His
       | medical knowledge gradually resurfaces and he becomes a village
       | healer ..."
       | 
       | 1: https://imdb.com/title/tt0084953/
        
       | billfruit wrote:
       | Does it include the classic Polish movie about Egypt, Pharaoh.
        
       | IndrekR wrote:
       | I am not from Poland, but Pilot Pirx's Inquest (Sci-Fi) left
       | unforgettable scenes in my memory... those wrists...
       | 
       | https://35mm.online/en/vod/feature-films/pilot-pirx-s-inques...
        
         | thriftwy wrote:
         | One thing you should probably mention is that it's based on
         | Stanislav Lem's story.
        
       | achairapart wrote:
       | This is fantastic. Question: Any way to watch these movies on an
       | Android TV box?
       | 
       | I haven't tried yet, but every time I try casting with
       | Chromecast/AirPlay somehow subtitles always get lost...
        
       | fatherzine wrote:
       | https://35mm.online/en
        
         | noman-land wrote:
         | This should be the submitted link I think.
        
       | JKCalhoun wrote:
       | I've seen "Passenger" because it is included in the "1001 Films
       | To See Before You Die" and it is ... haunting.
       | 
       | https://35mm.online/en/vod/feature-films/passenger
        
       | rasz wrote:
       | Wow. This is fully legit:
       | 
       | >In the years 2018-2021, the Polish Film Institute, the
       | Documentary and Feature Film Studios and Studio Filmow
       | Rysunkowych implemented a Project (number POPC.02.03.02-00-0007 /
       | 17), named:
       | 
       | >'Digital restoration and digitization of Polish feature films,
       | documentaries and animated films in order to ensure access in all
       | fields of distribution (cinema, television, Internet, mobile
       | devices) and to preserve Polish film heritage for future
       | generations', under Sub-measure 2.3.2 'Digital sharing of
       | resources of culture' for Measure 2.3 'Digital accessibility and
       | usefulness of public sector information', under the Operational
       | Programme Digital Poland for 2014-2020.
       | 
       | >160 feature films, 71 documentaries, 474 animated films,
       | including 10 full-length animated films have been restored as
       | part of the project.
       | 
       | >The project was co-financed by the European Regional Development
       | Fund. The total value of the project is PLN 107 292 917,71, the
       | value of the European Union funding is PLN 75 121 952,02. The
       | project was also co-financed by the Minister of Culture and
       | National Heritage in the amount of PLN 13 516 016,95.
       | 
       | Co-funded (75%) by EU, cost $22mil.
        
         | auganov wrote:
         | 20M to put a bunch of easily available communist movies (to
         | which they already owned copyrights?!) on a website. Why not
         | "preserve heritage" by "restoring" pre-war movies that have
         | been mostly forgotten and actually do need some real restoring?
         | Could probably restore _all_ of them for a few M tops. Sounds
         | like a typical EU grafting scheme. This would never get funded
         | without EU $.
        
           | gnubison wrote:
           | Perhaps those movies are next :) ... and it seems to me you
           | could make this argument about _any_ positive action, if you
           | wanted.
        
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       (page generated 2022-07-20 23:01 UTC)