After WW2 up until the late 80s, Poland was occupied by Communists. There was a major amount of censorship and depravation happening in the country during this age. Even so, there was one avenue that had less restrictions for artists: Movie posters.
The posters coming out of Poland during this time were expressive, avant-garde, and filled to the brim with emotion. It was the only avenue designers had to express themselves fully. Here is a round up of some that I though were special.
Midnight Cowboy – 1969
Midnight Cowboy directed by John Schlesinger tells the story of a Texan who moves to New York City to become a male prostitute and befriends a sickly con man. It was rated X when it came out, but still won several awards. I especially love this one for the contrast of colors. The lips is the only element that is red, while the rest of the poster are different shades of blue. It also plays into the theme of the movie, and it not just contrast for the sake of it. The feather-weight of the text is also very palpable by having it be a lighter shade of blue on top of the extremely dark, pretty much black, cowboy hat.
Taxi Driver – 1976
Taxi Driver is one of my personal favorite movies. It was directed by Martin Scorsese and tells the story of a lonely and alienated Vietnam veteran who works as a taxi driver in a decaying New York City. We see his decent into madness throughout the film, but his madness comes from a good place. The posters does an amazing job in visualizing this sort-of two face of our main character. It also draws from classic New York City visuals of newspapers, fast-motion, and the ever-appearing color of yellow on cabs.
Alien – 1976
This poster is definitely one of the more “expressionist” out of those that came out during this period in Poland. It is for the movie Aliens directed by Ridley Scott and tells the story of the crew on the commercial spaceship Nostromo who encounter a deadly extraterrestrial creature. If one has seen this movie then we can see which scene inspiration from: where the alien bursts through the persons chest. This poster is one of the best I’ve seen. It draws viewers in naturally with the eyes, but leaves us itching for more when we don’t find the rest of the head. Again, the contrast of colors is superb with the red and the blue, this time, in reverse. Simple elements, done in such a manner to tell enough of a story where the viewer is forced to watch the movie to complete it.