Polish Movie Posters by Reece Turner

I found out recently that when communist Poland showed foreign movies they would replace their posters with ones of their own creation. This practice isn’t unusual in and of itself (a lot of countries still do it to this day), but what is unusual is the art on the new posters. Where the originals usually featured shots of the cast placed overtop an image of the film’s setting, these new posters were stylized and striking, works of art on their own merit. In the spirit of sharing around some of these alternate posters (and maybe figuring out where and how I can get my hands on them), here are some of my favorites.

 

Raging Bull:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raging Bull is a deeply uncomfortable movie. It’s about a boxer who becomes increasingly violent and paranoid as his career descends, and this poster captures that to a T. Compared to the original’s black and white still of Robert De Niro, there’s no contest.

 

Weekend at Bernie’s:

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one feels like a bit of an odd choice to me. I could imagine this (or one in a similar style) fitting with a surreal movie like Eraserhead rather than an outright comedy—although maybe that works for a movie like Weekend? I’m still split, personally, but on its own I love it.

 

Aliens:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one’s interesting. I feel like it fits more for the first movie with its 70s futurism and greater focus on body horror compared to the more action-driven sequel. Still, it’s not hard to admit it fits the general terror of the series, especially with those veins at the bottom that expand like tree roots.

 

Finally, and my personal favorite, is the poster for Danton, a French movie by a Polish director about one of the heads of the Reign of Terror in his final weeks. It’s a somber, cynical movie about a somewhat poetic downfall and this is the poster we got:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Versus the Polish version:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Incredibly different emotions are being conveyed in these two posters. It’s an example of the massive divide between artistic interpretation, such that two poster artists can watch the same movie and represent parts of its tone and themes with such stark difference.

8 thoughts on “Polish Movie Posters by Reece Turner

  1. Those are so cool! I agree that it’s fascinating how two artists can interpret something completely differently, but I have some questions about the collective Polish psyche.

  2. Wow! What a cool topic. I genuinely learned something and love funky art, so this really spoke to me. I agree with you that the Polish re-do of the movie posters are so much more striking! That Reign of Terror image strikes horror into my heart.

  3. Woahhh this is actually so interesting! It makes you wonder about the effect of movie posters (for example I would probably not go to these movies based off the posters alone).

  4. The Danton poster literally blew me away oh my goodness. I love when artists use colors to their utmost advantage! It’s so funky of them :”)

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