Irzykowski, Karol

(1873-1944)

   A literary critic and writer, a prominent early film theorist, and one of the most important figures on the Polish literary scene. In 1924 he published the crowning accomplishment of prewar Polish film theory and one of the most important works of film theory produced in the 1920s: The Tenth Muse: Aesthetic Problems of Cinema (X muza: Zagadnienia estetyczne kina). Unlike many of his contemporaries, Irzykowski focused on the artistic possibilities of film rather than on its imperfect stage of development. He saw cinema's unique feature in the visibility of movement of material forms, illustrating, in Irzykowski's own words, "man's struggle with matter." In spite of his importance and broad readership in Poland (there were reprints after the war in 1957, 1960, 1977, and 1982), Irzykowski's ideas had only limited influence on cinematic practice and on the dominant mode of theorizing and film criticism.

See also Irzykowski Film Studio.

   Historical Dictionary of Polish Cinema by Marek Haltof