Kirpianuscus this is the basic feeling. it is a film about present. not only for remind the Communist regime profound traces in every day life. but for the dictatorship of bureaucracy. for the desire of unanimity. for the role of person as tool. and for the politically correctness who is not real far by the Communist dictatorship. it is , in same measure, a significant last word of Wajda. not only as legacy. but as remember of his themes, message, precise exposure of the action of the evil, crash of the artist, forms of freedom out of political rules. a film about present, maybe, only from the perspective of an Easter European.

subxerogravity Fascinating movie. Stalinist tenets were preventing a renowned avant-garde polish painter who teaches art at a school he help to create form living up to his full capable potential, because of his radical ideals and writings that go against the government. To me what sucks more was that this dude was a war vet who literally gave an arm and a leg for country, which I feel gives him the right to be truthful about what he sees around him.It was crazy how they used the system to basically suppress him as the qualifications to work in his country were ridiculously and being crippled met that he did not meet enough standards to receive a stamp on his work Visa that said he could work as an artist. The art store would not even sell him paint if he did not have his work ID. So this guy wanted to work and was more than capable of being an artist despite his limitations, but they would not simply because his thoughts went against what was popular at the moment. I find it interesting that movies about the events around World War II seem to be popping up a lot. My first thought was that people are getting tired of movies about Iraq or Afghanistan like possibly people got tired of the constant references of Vietnam in every 1980s TV show, but I'm starting to think that's not the case. Even though life in the present is no where near as hard as what they went through back then, I'm noticing some trends from yesteryear coming back into fashion and these movies are used to keep in are minds fresh the idea that those who do not know history are doom to repeat it.I don't know if this story is based on truth, but it's definitely inspired by things that did happen, which makes it a very educational film, but at the same time it was very entertaining, with great acting and very good visuals. The relationship between the painter and his students was very colorful. Afterimage does a great job at hinting at things without hitting you over the head with it, which I liked.Not what I was expecting when going to the theater, but well worth watching.http://cinemagardens.com

Joe Stemme When Director Andrzej Wadja passed away last fall, his career wasn't give the notice his extraordinary career merited. His post-war trilogy (A GENERATION, KANAL and ASHES AND DIAMONDS) is one the finest in World Cinema. Over two decades later his MAN OF MARBLE and MAN OF IRON (contextualizing the rise of the Lech Walesa and the Solidarity movement) comprise one of the greatest double features I have ever seen. If he had only made those five films, Wadja's place in the history of European cinema would be secure. But, he made a number of other superb films including DANTON and A LOVE IN Germany.AFTERIMAGE isn't at that level, but, it's a good solid work, and a fitting epitaph to his career. It's a biography of Russian-Polish artist Władysław Strzemiński who struggled during the rise of communism in post-war Poland. It's a fittingly symbolic end for Wadja's filmography, for the Director's first feature (A GENERATION) was made only a couple of years after Strzemiński's death. And, like the artist in AFTERIMAGE, Wadja's own work inspired a 'generation' of Polish Directors to come such as Polanski and Skolominski. In AFTERIMAGE it is explained that the term means the image in one own's eye that remains after one views a work of art. So too, for me, and for other's inspired by Wadja's art, this movie serves as a lasting afterimage of his work.

Ruben Mooijman 'After Image' shows the struggle of one man against a system. The man is Wladyslaw Strzeminski, a Polish avant garde painter, and the system is postwar communism. Slowly, we see the man being destroyed by the system. Witnesses stand by, but are unable to do anything. That's how powerful totalitarianism is: any opposition, even from a harmless painter, is crushed.In the very first scene, we see Strzeminski in a beautiful green meadow, teaching his pupils how to paint a landscape. When a new pupil presents herself, he literally rolls down the hillside to meet her - in spite of his disabilities: he misses one leg and one arm. Strzeminski is happy and upbeat. During the film, this proud man slowly transforms into a human wreck. At the end, he is no longer able to stand on his feet, let alone roll down a hillside.Bit by bit, the communists make his life impossible. In a visually stunning scene, all light in his apartment turns red, because of a giant Stalin banner which is attached over his window. Furious, because he is no longer able to paint in natural daylight, he tears the banner with one of his crutches. It's the start of a fight against the system that turns out to be futile.Director Andrzej Wajda, who died last year, shows Strzeminski as a man who lives for his art, and for nothing else. Even his teenage daughter is forced to move to an orphanage, because he doesn't seems to be interested in raising her. Wajda shows Strzeminski's weaknesses, but also his opponent's doubts. Many of them somehow sympathize with him, but are unable to show support without risking their own position. An example is the manager of the local museum, who cannot display his paintings, but carefully keeps them in storage.Parallel with Strzeminski's decline, we witness also Poland's transformation from a proud nation into a Soviet-dominated satellite state, where communist propaganda is everywhere and the quality of life deteriorates rapidly. In one scene, Strzeminski is turned down by a shop selling painting materials, because his membership of the artist's union is withdrawn. He hides his disappointment and takes his daughter to the cinema. But there he finds out he has to watch Soviet propaganda. Disgusted, he leaves the theatre.'After Image' shows an important episode of Poland's artistic history. At the same time, it is a warning against any totalitarianism, and an ode to artistic freedom.