Looking at Jan Mlodozeniec's poster for Alan J. Pakula's 1971 "Klute" at the National Film Archive of Japan's exhibition "Polish Posters for Films: 100th Anniversary of Poland-Japan Diplomatic Relations," it's a little hard to figure out what the film is about.
There's no sign of Jane Fonda, the star of the neo-noir, just her name in bold lettering, while Donald Sutherland, who plays the title role, is demoted to the lower half of the poster. Instead of the actors, there's an illustrated figure of a woman in pink skinny jeans, her upper torso morphing into the outline of a giant telephone. It's an odd one, but artistically, very compelling.
And that's what makes many Polish film posters so fascinating — their, at times, outlandish creative license.
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