Stefan Themerson

The film is retracing the love story of an unusual and unique creative union. It is a well-hidden treasure in the culture and art of the 20th century. Franciszka and Stefan Themerson lived and worked together for almost sixty years, first in Poland, then in France and eventually they settled in England. The only time when they were separated was the outbreak of WW2 but even then they remained connected.

Stefan Themerson plays himself in the role of a poet who accuses political and religious leaders of stealing the tools of his trade. His goal is to expose the demagogues as thieves. A researcher launches an investigation and discovers that the poet is unwilling to take back hidden contaminated tools. He (the poet) has devised a method to reveal the reality behind the poem. He wants to strip the words of their associations, sever their ties to the past, scrub them clean of their dictionary definitions. He calls his method Semantic Poetry.

In the early inscriptions, this film is presented as a “lyrical bounce from reality” but not “senseless extravagance.” The plot involves a trek official to the advice of “There will be a hole in the sky even if you go back”, the procession of two people with a wardrobe and a march of people defending the established rules (“Down with walking backwards”). The formal aspect in the movie is a lot of trick shots using a mirror, photographs and negatives.