Gender, especially masculinity, is a perspective rarely applied in discourses on cinema of Eastern/Central Europe.Masculinities in Polish, Czech and Slovak Cinema exposes an English-speaking audience to a large proportion of this regions cinema that previously remained unknown, focusing on the relationship between representation of masculinity and nationality in the films of two and later three countries: Poland, Czechoslovakia/the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The objective of the book is to discuss the main types of men populating Polish, Czech and Slovak films: that of soldier, father, heterosexual and homosexual lover, against a rich political, social and cultural background. Czech, Slovak and Polish cinema appear to provide excellent material for comparison as they were produced in neighbouring countries which for over forty years endured a similar political system state socialism.

Ewa Mazierska is Professor of Contemporary Cinema, Department of Humanities, University of Central Lancashire. Her publications include numerous articles in Polish and English and several books, such asRoman Polanski: The Cinema of a Cultural Traveller (I.B. Tauris, 2007),Women in Polish Cinema (Berghahn, 2006) (co-authored with Elzbieta Ostrowska),Dreams and Diaries: The Cinema of Nanni Moretti (Wallflower Press, London, 2004) andFrom Moscow to Madrid: Postmodern Cities, European Cinema (IB Tauris, 2003, London) (both co-authored with Laura Rascaroli). She also co-editedRelocating Britishness (MUP, 2004). Her latest title isJerzy Skolimowski: The Cinema of a Nonconformist (Berghahn, 2010)

List of Illustrations Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1. Polish and Czechoslovak Histories, Cultures and CinemasChapter 2. Madmen, Martyrs, Dodgers: Men and WarChapter 3. Who Is My Father? Representation of Fathers, Sons and Family Life in Polish and Czechoslovak FilmsChapter 4. Larks on a String, or Men in LoveChapter 5. You Will Not Find Much? Construction of Mens Other Sexualities in Polish and Czechoslovak Cinema

Conclusions: Between Fate and Emptiness

Bibliography Index