The Law of the Looking Glass

the long version

"The Law of the Looking Glass: Cinema in Poland, 1896-1939 reveals the complex relationship between nationhood, national language, and national cinema in Europe before World War II. Author Sheila Skaff describes how the major issues facing the region before World War I. from the relatively slow pace of modernization to the desire for national sovereignty, shaped local practices in film production, exhibition, and criticism." "The Law of the Looking Glass: Cinema in Poland, 1896-1939 is the first comprehensive history of the country's film industry before World War II. This history is characterized by alternating periods of multilingual, multiethnic production, on the one hand, and rejection of such inclusiveness, on the other. Through it all, however, runs a single unifying thread: an appreciation for visual imagery."--BOOK JACKET.