Peter Weir: Mystic and Traveller

Krzysztof Mętrak captured his essence perfectly when he observed that Weir “returns again and again to a single motif: the ordinary person stepping out to encounter the extraordinary – something that reshapes their understanding of the world, enriches it, yet at the same time complicates it in risky ways, unsettling their psychological balance” (“Film”, no. 33/1985).

But let us try another approach – a simpler one. Have you ever thought of Peter Weir as a master of the opening sequence? Think back…

…young girls at Mrs Appleyard’s boarding school performing their morning toilette. Beyond the window stretches the Australian bush; on the soundtrack, the haunting sound of a pan flute. Details of lace, nightgowns, alabaster hands – and beneath it all, a descending note, like the breath of a weary god… This is, of course, Picnic at Hanging Rock.

…the New York subway. A young Black man sits with an upturned bucket between his knees, drumsticks in hand, surrounded by a crowd. He begins to drum with astonishing speed, as if trying to express the entire hunger of an outsider in a world that can cast people aside on a whim – for instance, for lacking legal residency papers. A woman nearby watches him, intrigued. The film’s title is itself a symbol of permission to belong: Green Card.

…a cotton screen, flickering flames, Javanese shadow theatre. In the background, Maurice Jarre’s score, inspired by local musical traditions. A promise of contact with another – the so-called “third” – world… and at the same time a warning: what you are about to see is only the shadow of a shadow. This is The Year of Living Dangerously.

…a sun-weathered man in a suit walks through a cornfield. He meets a small boy and continues on. Is this a war zone? The beginning of some post-apocalyptic story? Only then does the camera reveal the smoking wreckage of a plane in the background. These are the survivors of Fearless, a story about discovering the soul in the aftermath of catastrophe.

Each of these openings is a passage into another world. And this retrospective is like a pass granting access to all of them. Let the journey begin.

Michał Oleszczyk

Michał Oleszczyk is a lecturer at the Faculty of Artes Liberales at the University of Warsaw, creator of the SpoilerMaster podcast, and – together with Jakub Duszyński – the curator of the retrospective Peter Weir: Mystic and Traveller.

The retrospective will be accompanied by the launch of Peter Weir: Mystic and Traveller, a new book devoted to the Australian director’s work. Written by Marek Haltof, the volume also features interviews conducted by Jakub Duszyński, Michael Dempsey, Bryan McFarlane, Tom Ryan, and Michael Bliss. The book will be published by W Podwórku Press.

Another highlight of the retrospective will be the premiere of a visual installation created especially for Timeless Film Festival Warsaw: A Dream Within a Dream: Peter Weir. Composed by Jakub Duszyński from previously unused footage from Picnic at Hanging Rock, the installation draws almost entirely on material never before presented on the big screen, including the film’s legendary, long-lost ending.

In keeping with Peter Weir’s original vision, the installation will be screened exclusively in a cinema setting as part of Timeless Film Festival Warsaw, making this a unique, one-time opportunity to experience it.

This short-form work will be accompanied by the director’s voice, reflecting on his creative process, the making of the film, and the artistic choices that shaped its final form.

The retrospective is presented in partnership with the Embassy of Australia.

The media partner of the section is SpoilerMaster.

As part of the section Peter Weir: Mystic and Traveller, the following films will be screened:

• The Cars That Ate Paris, dir. Peter Weir, Australia, 1974,
• Picnic at Hanging Rock, dir. Peter Weir, Australia, 1975,
• The Last Wave, dir. Peter Weir, Australia, 1977,
• The Plumber, dir. Peter Weir, Australia, 1979,
• Gallipoli, dir. Peter Weir, Australia, 1981,
• The Year of Living Dangerously, dir. Peter Weir, Australia/USA/Philippines, 1982,
• Witness, dir. Peter Weir, USA, 1985,
• The Mosquito Coast, dir. Peter Weir, USA, 1986,
• Dead Poets Society, dir. Peter Weir, USA, 1989,
• Green Card, dir. Peter Weir, USA/France/Australia, 1990,
• Fearless, dir. Peter Weir, USA, 1993,
• The Truman Show, dir. Peter Weir, USA, 1998,
• Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, dir. Peter Weir, USA, 2003,
• The Way Back, dir. Peter Weir, USA/United Arab Emirates/Poland/India, 2010.

The retrospective will also feature short and medium-length films:

• Count Vim’s Last Exercise, dir. Peter Weir, Australia, 1968,
• The Life and Times of the Reverend Buck Shotte, dir. Peter Weir, Australia, 1968,
• Incredible Floridas, dir. Peter Weir, Australia, 1972,
• Heart, Head and Hand, dir. Peter Weir, Australia, 1979.

The festival is co-financed by the City of Warsaw, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, and the Polish Film Institute.

The festival’s main partner is the National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute.

The festival is co-organized by the Documentary and Feature Film Studio and The Mazovia Institute of Culture.