More Louise Brooks and Poland - Photography of Piotr Pietryga

While searching under the keywords "Puszka Pandory" (a Polish name for Pandora's Box), I came across an intriguing Polish website devoted to the photographic art of Piotr Pietryga. One series that caught my eye was devoted to images of restaged scenes and characters from silent films, including The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari, Metropolis, and Pandora's Box. Here are a few images. (See more of this photographer's work on his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/PiotrPietryga)

Gabinet Doktora Caligari

Gabinet Doktora Caligari

Metropolis

Puszka Pandory

Puszka Pandory

Imaginary encounter between Fernando Pessoa, Pablo Picasso, and Louise Brooks.

Today in Barcelona, Spain -- an imaginary encounter between Fernando Pessoa, Pablo Picasso, and Louise Brooks.

There will be a staged reading of Imaginary Encontros, the title of a text by Hélder Costa, playwright and Portuguese director - with the participation of 21 players from the Catalan theater scene. This special event takes place at the El Born Centre Cultural (Pl Comercial, 12, Barcelona, 08003).

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Els Encontros Imaginaris són set lectures dramatitzades a partir dels textos de l’Hélder Costa, el dramaturg i director portuguès, -excepte una-, amb una senzilla i cuidada posada en escena dins la peculiar atmosfera de la Sala Moragues del Born CC, i que comptarà amb la participació de 21 intèrprets de l’escena teatral catalana.

Als Encontros Imaginaris, diversos personatges històrics universals conversen en format de tertúlia, despertant somriures i complicitats a partir d’uns textos plens d’intel·ligència i d’humor.

En aquesta primera edició al Born CC podrem comptar amb un Encontro Imaginari, l’últim, escrit per Josep Maria Benet i Jornet, que posarà a conversar el gran Àngel Guimerà amb en Frederic Soler (Pitarra) i la Margarida Xirgu!

Law of the Looking Glass: Cinema in Poland

Lately, I've been reading a terrific book, Law of the Looking Glass: Cinema in Poland, 1896-1939 by Sheila Skaff. The book was published by Ohio University Press in 2008. There is nothing specific in the book about Louise Brooks, but there is a lot of useful material about the silent and early sound era in Poland - a country whose history and contribution to world cinema is too little known.

Films from other countries - including American, French, German, Czech and Russian silents, were shown in Poland alongside Polish-made fair. Those imported films included Brooks' American, German, and sole French film. So far, I have been able to document the premieres of both Lulu (the Polish title for Pandora's Box), Prix de Beaute and other films in Warsaw, the capitol of Poland.

I found out, for example, that the Casino theater in Warsaw, the theater where Lulu was shown, was a major cinema in the Polish capitol.

The great thing about Law of the Looking Glass: Cinema in Poland, 1896-1939 is that it offers clues about where else to look for material about Louise Brooks and the reception of her films. Skaff's book discusses the surprising number of film publications (both industry journals and fan magazines) which were issued not just in Warsaw, but also in Krakow and elsewhere. Of course, accessing those publications is the tricky part. Few American libraries have them.

Happily, I was able to search through a couple of Polish publications over the web. Here is a piece about director G.W. Pabst which mentions Lulu. It is from Kino: tygodnik ilustrowany from 1932.

Nameographie

While doing research a few years back, I found this item in an Austrian newspaper dating from 1928. As may be noticed, portraits of each individual are composed of the letters of their name. Pretty cool. Can anyone come up with a similar Louise Brooks name-o-graph?

The Louise Brooks Society blog in 2009

Believe it or not, but the Louise Brooks Society started blogging back in 2002. The LBS started on LiveJournal, and moved to Blogger in June of 2009. In the last year or so, the LBS has been migrating many of the earlier LiveJournal posts over to this blog. (The ephemeral ones, about now long-passed eBay auctions, etc..., were not moved.) So far, the 2002 and 2003 posts have been relocated. And just recently, most all of the 2009 posts have also found a home here.

Below are some of the highlights from 2009. It was a great year. Check out these posts, as well as all of the earlier entries in the blog archive located in the column on the right.

Did small pox kill The Canary Murder Case?

David Levine, painter and illustrator, has died

Unusual 1954 Louise Brooks image for sale

A Screen Test for Bobbed Hair

Italian censorship of Louise Brooks' films

Louise Brooks look-alike in new Dr. Who comic

A wow Louise Brooks discovery

What Becomes of the "Follies" Girls

A vintage Russian Lulu - at last

A remarkable 1932 reference to Louise Brooks

A Shakespearean Lulu

Alan Moore on " the delectable Louise Brooks"

Lulu in Calcutta, 1966

Philip Jose Farmer Has Died

Lulu in Hollywood - the Russian Edition

No wonder they complained about nudity

Guy Maddin mentions Louise Brooks

Cool pic of the day: Louise Brooks in Pandora's Box

Cool pic of the day: Louise Brooks in Pandora's Box (1929) . . . . what's interesting about this screen capture of a passing moment in a moving picture is its timeless, almost composed quality.

"Louise Brooks," a poem by William Logan

Willian Logan's poem, "Louise Brooks," was first published in the TLS (Times Literary Supplement) on April 8, 2008. Logan is a poet whose most recent book, Madame X (Penguin), was published in 2012. "Louise Brooks" will be in his next book, tentatively titled Rift of Light (probably 2016).  The poem is published here with the permission of the author.


Louise Brooks

Certain memories, uncertain,
and bearing toward gentle impoverishment—

Brooks, I mean, of the bow mouth
and ink-rimmed eye, the raccoon’s

calculating, injured stare,
and a black coiffure like an Achaean helmet.

There were few like her along the Niobrara.