Camouflage

(Barwy ochronne, 1977)

   Krzysztof Zanussi deals with the themes of manipulation, corruption, and the conformity of Polish intelligentsia in this seminal film from the Cinema of Distrust period, a winner of the Festival of Polish Films. Set at a linguistics summer camp, the film is built around a psychological struggle between two academics: the pragmatic and cynical middle-aged professor Jakub Szelestowski (Zbigniew Zapasiewicz) and the younger and idealistic teaching assistant Jarosław Kruszyński (Piotr Garlicki). Like other films by Zanussi, Camouflage examines the confrontation between two moral stands. The cynical, almost devilish professor tests the young assistant and tries to deprive him of illusions about life. Their conversations, often taking place in the tranquil milieu of the summer camp, form the main part of the film. In Camouflage, both the students and their teachers are portrayed as pitiful characters who deserve their fate—conformists subjected to manipulation who change their colors rather than fight and hide rather than attack. The theme of social and political mimicry is introduced by the very title of the film and by referencing creatures that resort to camouflage to hide and stalk. Unlike Zanussi's previous philosophical examinations of moral issues, Camouflage is more of a political and social satire. For the majority of Polish viewers in 1977, the film served as a clear metaphor for Polish society and an allegory for the corruptive nature of the Communist system.

   Historical Dictionary of Polish Cinema by Marek Haltof