Marianna Bukowski: On isolation, imagination and inspiration

Filmmaker Marianna Bukowski shares the books and films she returns to for inspiration and comfort in uncertain times.

London, and the world as we know it, is in lockdown. The glorious spring sunshine blasting outside my window, reminds me of childhood. Although uninvited, Pneumonia would visit at least once a year back then, yet somehow I only ever remember it arriving in springtime.

I remember listening to other children playing outside my window whilst I was confined to what seemed to be never-ending bed rest. Yet prolonged physical confinement opens the door to journeys of a different kind – and once discovered they stay with you for life, because imagination is a travel companion like no other.

Perhaps I have also been lucky in that, since childhood, I have always had some ideas for things I wanted to make, and staying indoors is much easier if you are focused on creating something. To this day I’m rarely bored at home: there’s always some script to finish, a tv advert to edit, a film to plan – or an article to write. And if not, there is adventure within arm’s reach: through books and films. At times of worry or uncertainty, there are some books and films that I return to time and time again for renewed inspiration or reassuring comfort. As the lockdown continues, I hope this collection may be akin to something of a muse, for anyone seeking solace or inspiration…

On Filmmaking…

Let us start with the most obvious: the best book on the art of film-making is undoubtedly Andrey Tarkovsky’s Sculpting in Time. It is beautifully written with the same sensitivity and poetic touch as is characteristic of his films. There is also the remarkably candid interview with Alfred Hitchcock by Francois Truffaut. Another way of dissecting the film making process is through watching documentaries; albeit factual in nature – the narrative of any film, even a factual one, creates an edited framework that to some degree inevitably also becomes a fiction. One of my favourite documentaries which seems especially suited to mention now, is the cult classic Grey Gardens by the Maysles brothers. It is a story of Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter, ‘Little Edie’. Two eccentric and reclusive women, fallen from wealth and now living impoverished in secluded interdependency and who’s poignant dialogue is often said to evoke a play, as if written by Tennessee Williams…

Old Hollywood

To a film obsessive, selecting a handful of favourite films is an impossible task. So, I’ve narrowed the perimeter to black & white classics. I remember watching Some Like it Hot for the first time when I was 10. Marilyn Monroe glowed on screen and forever burned onto my retina. I have had a love for ‘Old Hollywood’ ever since. I pretty much know Sunset Boulevard and All About Eve by heart. Anyone in search of interesting and strong leading female characters need look no further than films with Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn, Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Crawford and Marlene Dietrich to name only a few. And of course, Elizabeth Taylor in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? or Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (albeit this film is in rule-breaking colour!). As someone who was born in Poland and grew up in Sweden, mentioning films by Wajda and Bergman would be too obvious, so I won’t. I must however also add the wonderful Italian actress Monica Vitti, as I simply adore her in Antonioni’s L’avventura and L’eclisse.

Hitchcock

As an absolute Hitchcock fan, if I had to pick a favourite, I would choose North by Northwest with Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint. It is the perfect film. But the film I have seen more than any other, which coincidentally suits the theme of being confined at home, is Rear Window with James Stewart and Grace Kelly. I never seem to tire of it. If I’m ill or worried, I often put on a Hitchcock film in the background to make everything feel just a little bit better. I play films I know by heart the way that other people play their favourite music.

The Iliad

To me, Poland’s history is a source of seemingly inexhaustible inspiration and I feel very fortunate and grateful that I have found different opportunities in sharing it with others, through some of my work. Yet whilst beautiful and heroic, it can at times also prove very difficult and genuinely heart breaking. For perspective in those moments – and others – there is nothing as restorative or awe-inspiring as trips to Classical Antiquity. From Greek myths to the writings of Suetonius, Seneca, Plutarch… and above all, Homer’s epic The Iliad. Perhaps this is because the Ancient Greeks knew every emotion known to Man – and Gods. Perhaps because it reflects all of us as Mankind. Or perhaps because it so clearly reminds us of our own fates and destiny…

Historical Novels…

I discovered Ancient Egypt on a summer break, in our back-garden when I was 12. I read every book on the subject I could get my hands on that summer – and dreamed of one day becoming an Egyptologist. I still do. And although I generally tend to read less fiction than factual, some historical novels tread the line so perfectly between both, you genuinely feel you have been transported through time. Pauline Gedge’s novels set in Ancient Egypt. Mary Renault’s trilogy about Alexander the Great. Robert Graves I, Claudius. And, I have recently managed to collect most of the Napoleonic novels by Marian Brandys, which I can’t wait to immerse myself in.

Remarque

My favourite author is Erich Maria Remarque, world renowned for All Quiet on the Western Front. However, he wrote some 10 novels after that – most of which tell stories of men and women drifting across Europe during the interwar period. My favourite novel of all time is Arch of Triumph. I love its hero, Ravic, a German doctor and refugee in Paris 1939, more than I could ever express in words.

… & Other Stories

I don’t read short novels as often as I would like but I have a few favourites I return to:

1. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Graham Greene’s The End of the Affair; the short stories in Echoes from the Macabre by Daphne Du Maurier, and I love Joseph Conrad’s The Duel, amongst others. The three books currently on my bedside table are: Wind, Sand and Stars by Saint-Exupery, The Leopard by Tomasi Di Lampedusa and Karen Blixen’s Out of Africa. All of them build entire worlds of their own within the first few pages.

Nietzsche

And last, but certainly not least, there’s always Nietzsche. Is there a philosopher more misinterpreted or misunderstood? Well, everything you have heard is wrong.

The only way to find the truth is to read all his works in full – for oneself.

In my view, there is no more life-affirming, uplifting or destiny fulfilling writing.

Open any page in Untimely Meditations. I dare anyone not to be inspired. Ecce Homo and Human, All Too Human. I promise, it will be a revelation.

***

Like most lists, this one is incomplete, and I have also tried to stay away from the all too obvious. This way, I hope it proves inspiring and, perhaps, acts as a springboard in the pursuit of new home bound adventures… and discoveries.

As whilst the current situation we find ourselves in is difficult, it is also unique; allowing for a different kind of reflection and appreciation for life. Solitude is often underrated. Silence too. Where else but shielded from outside noise, would it be as safe to try out new ideas and imagine new projects? Not to pressure ourselves to stay productive during times of crisis or when in poor health, but as inspiration and an opportunity to focus on the possibilities, rather than only the restrictions, that these unusual circumstances bring.

What could be made or invented in this strange situation – undisturbed and uninterrupted by everyday life that usually imposes itself the second we leave our front door? Let’s make the best we can of this moment – before we one day step outside again, to breathe in a brave new world.

Marianna Bukowski