Paradoxes of Time Travel in Juliusz Machulski’s Cinema

DOI: https://doi.org/10.35765/pk.2023.4203.28
Keywords: time travel, paradox, time machine, cinema, science fiction, fantasy

Abstract

The subject of time travel has been scarcely explored in Polish cinema. How Much Does The Trojan Horse Weigh? (2008) and EmbaSSy (2013) directed by Juliusz Machulski, a shrewd observer and ruthless critic of the Polish social situation over the past four decades, are rare examples. Best known for his 1980s comedies exposing the absurdities of the communist regime, Machulski takes us on a journey back in time in his two post-millennial time travel films. How Much Does The Trojan Horse Weigh? shifts us back to 1987 and revisits the reality of communism in Poland, whilst EmbaSSy transports us to 1939, where World War II is about to begin. The aim of this paper is to examine Juliusz Machulski’s vision of time travel, its paradoxes and consequences, as well as the nature of diegetic realities within his time travel films.

Author Biography

Magdalena Grabias, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin

An Assistant Professor and a Deputy Head of the Institute of Cultural Studies at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, Poland. She received her PhD in Cultural Studies in 2012. She specialises in Film Studies, Gothic Studies, Dracula Studies, literary translation and music journalism. She was the co-organiser of the Fourth World Dracula Congress in Dublin (2016) as well as numerous conferences in Poland. She is a co-founder of the international organisation “Children of the Night” and a co-organiser of International Dracula Congress series. Her academic publications include books: Songs of Innocence and Experience: Romance in the Cinema of Frank Capra (UK, 2013), Visual Culture: Art, Popular Culture and Digital Media (ed.) (Poland, 2020), as well as numerous articles in English, Polish and Romanian propagating film, music and theatre viewed from the perspective of philosophy, semiotics, anthropology and popular culture. Over the last decade, her academic interest has been focused on Dracula and Vampire Studies, which resulted in a series of articles discussing the subject of literary and cinematic vampires and their meaning in contemporary culture. In 2019 she received the prestigious “International Helion Award” from the science fiction cultural association “Helion” in Timișoara, Romania. In 2022, “Children of the Night” International Dracula Congress organised by dr Magdalena Grabias, was nominated for a prestigious American “Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award” in the category of “Best Event 2022”.

References

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Gleick, J. (2017). Time Travel: A History. London: Harper Collins Publish-ers.

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Filmography

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, dir. Emmett J. Flynn, USA: Fox Film, 1921.

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, dir. David Butler, USA: Fox Film Corporation, 1931.

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, dir. Tay Garnett, USA: Par-amount Pictures, 1949.

Back to the Future, dir. Robert Zemeckis, USA: Universal Pictures, 1985.

Back to the Future Part II, dir. Robert Zemeckis, USA: Universal Pictures, 1989.

Back to the Future Part III, dir. Robert Zemeckis, USA: Universal Pictures, 1990.

EmbaSSy (AmbaSSada), dir. Juliusz Machulski, Poland: Studio Filmowe Zebra, 2013.

Groundhog Day, dir. Harold Ramis, USA: Columbia Pictures, 1993.

Hour Of The Crimson Rose (Godzina pąsowej róży), dir. Halina Bielińska, Poland: Wytwórnia Filmów Fabularnych, 1963.

How Much Does The Trojan Horse Weigh? (Ile waży koń trojański?), dir. Juliusz Machulski, Poland: Studio Filmowe Zebra, 2008.

Kiler, dir. Juliusz Machulski, Poland: Studio Filmowe Zebra, 1997.

Midnight in Paris, dir. Woody Allen, USA: Sony Pictures Classics, 2011.

Sexmission (Seksmisja), dir. Juliusz Machulski, Poland: Zespół Filmowy Kadr, 1984.

Superproduction (Superprodukcja), dir. Juliusz Machulski, Poland: Studio Filmowe Zebra/Vision Film, 2003.

The Adam Project, dir. Shawn Levy, USA: Netflix, 2022.

The Hourglass Sanatorium (Sanatorium pod klepsydrą), dir. Wojciech Jerzy Has, Poland: Zespół Filmowy Silesia, 1973.

The Lullaby (Kołysanka), dir. Juliusz Machulski, Poland: Studio Filmowe Zebra, 2010.

The Time Machine, dir. George Pal, USA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Galaxy Films, 1960.

The Time Machine, dir. Simon Wells, USA: Warner Bros., 2002.

Vabank, dir. Juliusz Machulski, Poland: Zespół Filmowy Kadr, 1981.

Vinci, dir. Juliusz Machulski, Poland: Studio Filmowe Zebra, 2004.

Perspektywy Kultury
Published
2023-07-17
How to Cite
[1]
Grabias, M. 2023. Paradoxes of Time Travel in Juliusz Machulski’s Cinema. Perspectives on Culture. 42, 3 (Jul. 2023), 471-486. DOI:https://doi.org/10.35765/pk.2023.4203.28.
Issue
Vol. 42 No. 3 (2023): Culture (in) Hybrid Reality
Section
Varia

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Autor, zgłaszając swój artykuł, wyraża zgodę na korzystanie przez Wydawnictwo Uniwersystet Ignatianum z utworu na następujących polach eksploatacji:

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