Katarzyna Taras
Mieczysław Jahoda - a demon and educator

Writing about a distinguished cinematographer who, because of his achievements, has been ascribed to an equally distinguished director, is connected with quite a dangerous issue: “does the cinematographer has his/her own style?" However, more important than style, which I believe exists (in spite of cinematographers' incantations, that there is no such thing), are probably some psychological predispositions, kinship of imagination, whether a director and a cinematographer are able to communicate.

Mieczysław Jahoda and Wojciech Jerzy Has had to be - to put it colloquially - on the same wavelength, since they made four films (and how magnificent they are!) together (Has more often worked only with Stefan Matyjaszkiewicz, with whom he created five films). The Saragossa Manuscript enchanted Bunuel in person to such an extent that he was to see it three times (I. Grodź, Encrypted in the Image. On Wojciech Jerzy Has' Films, Gdańsk 2008, p. 485), Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese considered this production a cult film (I. Grodź, an article in the catalogue of Era New Horizons International Film Festival, 22.07-1.08.2010, p. 410), and David Lynch devoted to it an essay The Story Behind the Story of The Saragossa Manuscript (I. Grodź, Encrypted..., p. 485). In turn, the organizers of Has' retrospective at New York Film Festival did not believe that The Noose (1957) was a debut (M. Kornatowska, I don't like surprises on the set - an interview with W.J. Has, in: Debuts in Polish Cinema, ed. M. Hendrykowski, Konin 1998, p. 53). The Codes astound with the smoothness of transition from realistic sequences, taking place in post-war Cracow (both Has and Jahoda's place of birth) to sequences with the father (Jan Kreczmar) being tormented by visions, who sinned of omission - during the Second World War he fought on the West, then he shaped his new life there. By the way, when I took a closer look at Vadim Yusov and Mieczysław Jahoda's output, I was struck by the kinship of their imaginations (noticeable especially in Ivan's Childhood and The Codes), visible in the way of portraying children infected with death and the similar way of thinking about an image. Both Has and Tarkovsky were interested in transcendence and they could not find for themselves better collaborators than Jahoda and Yusov; for what happens in the 27th minute of The Noose cannot be denied as one of the most transcendental shots in the world cinema, can it?

Still from "The Saragossa Manuscript"
If I referred earlier to manoeuvring between what is oniric and what is real, in a way that a viewer does not feel lost but guided through the meanders of narration, then this smooth transition can be considered the second characteristic feature of Jahoda's style (the first one is the above-mentioned ability to point out the transcendence), noticeable not only in The Saragossa Manuscript and The Codes, but also in Tadeusz Konwicki'sHow Far, How Near (1971). Jahoda collaborated with Has also on Farewells (1958), and, allegedly, it was the cinematographer who called the director's attention to Dygat's novel (I. Grodź, Encrypted..., p. 53).

Films he made with Has constitute a proof that Mieczysław Jahoda was also a master of chiaroscuro (and that may be the third feature adding to the description of His style), which he manipulated in such a casual manner as if he had been a painter, as if it had not been connected with setting lamps and activating this whole film pandemonium. Let us recall what happens with light in the studio/flat of Kuba (Gustaw Holoubek) from The Noose, or in countess Rose's residence, where Paweł (Tadeusz Janczar) from Farewells arrives, let us reminisce afterimages of huge open-works of shutters, stairs, Venetian blinds, which all mark the characters' faces. In the Polish cinema there is no other director whose phenomenon people have tried to describe with equally many “isms", as it was done with Wojciech Jerzy Has. And what about his cinematographer? The first trail is indicated by the director of The Noose, in which film “Mietek [Mieczysław Jahoda - trans.] excelled himself. He was handling the light so exquisitely, boosting the climate. He had his eyes fixed on Carné. (...) After the war, in 40s and 50s, we were all watching Carné and he kept charming us" (M. Kornatowska, op. cit., p. 70). We will be able to find out whether it continues during this year's edition of Camerimage. Moreover, a retrospective of films with Roger Hubert's (Marcel Carné's collaborator) cinematography will be presented, although researchers point out to the kinship of The Noose with films having other cinematographers behind them (I. Grodź, op. cit., p. 435). And speaking of handling the chiaroscuro, I need to mention Jahoda's debut, namely Stanisław Lenartowicz'sWinter Twilight, a film which significantly broadens our understanding of what we call Polish film school.

Still from "The Noose"
Has and Jahoda were describing their relation as follows: “With Mietek we knew each other inside out" (M. Kornatowska, op. cit., p. 70); “The two of us and our later production designer, Jerzy Skarżyński, knew one another from pre-war Cracow. (...) we were agreeable, which did not exclude discussions and disputes" (Wojciech Jerzy Has, Farewells, M. Jahoda's quote, “FILM" 11/2000, p. 13). The director used to call his cinematographer a demon, he talked about his disobedience, crankiness and the fact that the set was a scene for many rows (J. Słodowski, T. Wijata, Rupieciarnia marzeń [Lumber-room of Dreams - trans.], Warsaw 1994, p. 11); he described him as a rebellious cinematographer, who did not listen to a director and always had his own opinion (M. Kornatowska, op. cit., p. 70). The fact that Jahoda stuck to his views was also confirmed by Gustaw Holoubek, who - what we find out from Tadeusz Bystram and Stanisław Zawiśliński's documentary film Między prawdą a wyobraźnią [Between Truth and Imagination - trans.] - might not have played Kuba, because during screen tests the cinematographer did not take to him (nevertheless, later Jahoda became Holoubek's friend and a cinematographer behind his Mazepa). Jahoda was heavily disciplined by Has, Holoubek got the role and became Has' probably most important actor.

Mieczysław Jahoda admitted that he achieved most in Has' films: “My acquaintance and cooperation with Wojtek Has is a peculiarity, which, when it comes to director-cinematographer relation, does not seem to have an equivalent in our cinema. (...) The war has even strengthened my friendship with Wojtek, as in occupation times we were put in similar positions, we experienced similar dangers. (...) The Saragossa Manuscript was a moment of artistic dreams coming true. There was something amazing in this intertwining of lives, something closer to literature than reality" (W.J. Has. Farewells, op. cit., p. 13). It should be mentioned, generally, that these two giants of world cinema started their adventure with film in Cracow at two-year (!) Film Preparatory Courses, where - according to Wojciech Jerzy Has' memories - filmmaking was taught “with chalk and board. (...) You started as an assistant, carrying equipment and watching how things were being shot. The methods were domestic - this is how I made animated parts of Skroplone Powietrze [Liquid Air - trans.] (J. Słodowski, T. Wijata, op. cit., p. 7). The example of Has and Jahoda's relation shows perfectly that a film is a synthesis of a teamwork (still, one needs to be aware that the director has the last word), since it is not possible to estimate how much of Jahoda is in Has' films, or to what extent Has mitigated his cinematographer, especially as we know for sure that the artists used to quarrel.

Still from "Knights of the Black Cross"
Despite all my love to Has' films, about which I most often feel helpless like Iwaszkiewicz's “smitten kitten", despite the fact that even Mieczysław Jahoda himself considered this part of his biography most important, I would not want the cinematographer behind The Saragossa Manuscript to be perceived only as Has' cinematographer. I have already written about Winter Twilight, also it should not be forgotten that Mieczysław Jahoda is a cinematographer of the first Polish historical “blockbuster", the first Polish wide-screen film, the first Polish film made on Eastman Color Kodak negative, that is of Aleksander Ford'sKnights of the Black Cross (1960) (T. Lubelski, Historia kina polskiego. Twórcy, filmy, konteksty [The History of Polish Cinema. Filmmakers, Films, Contexts - trans.], Katowice 2009, pp. 225-226). And that he co-created one of few films concerning the Polish-Ukrainian relations, that is Czesław and Ewa Petelski'sThe Artillery Sergeant Kalen (1961) with Wiesław Gołas' perfect and unusual role, an adaptation of Łuny w Bieszczadach [Glows in Bieszczady - trans.] by Jan Gerhard.

Andrzej Brzozowski, in turn, while reminiscing the atmosphere at film school in Łódź in the 50s, indicates Mieczysław Jahoda as the most elegant student - “He was wearing an American camel-wool sailor coat. Of course, he also had a yellow scarf and a beret. At some point we started to be stigmatized for wearing yellow scarves. But they were just the cheapest ones. They cost only seventeen Zloty" (K. Krupski, M. Miller, Z. Turowska, W. Wiśniewski, Filmówka. Powieść o łódzkiej szkole filmowej [Filmówka. A Novel about Film School in Łódź - trans.] Warsaw..., pp. 67-68).

At some point I juxtaposed Mieczysław Jahoda and Vadim Yusov, indicating their ability to capture transcendence. It turns out that they also had educating bent in common - both of them were teaching and both are remembered as charismatic educators.