Eugeniusz Bodo: the tragic face of Polish capitalism

ABSTRACT This article presents the career of Eugeniusz Bodo who was the greatest Polish male movie star of the interwar period, examines the character he created on screen and its connection to Bodo’s off-screen persona. It also examines his position in Polish cinema after his death, especially during the period following the fall of state socialism, what is described here as ‘poststardom’. It argues that Bodo owed his success to two principal factors. One of them was the conducive circumstances in the Polish film and entertainment industry and his ability to exploit them to the full. Another factor was the match between his artistic persona and certain traits of Polish national character and, especially, the fit between the ideas Bodo embodied in some of his films and the image Poland tried to create during the same period. It also claims that after 1989 Bodo’s appeal was augmented because the details of his death, revealed in this period, rendered him the perfect tragic artist.