The thing about Eastern Europeans is they don’t do ‘happy’. Well not the older generation anyway. After a century of war, rape and pillage, everyone just figured it was easier to be miserable fucks and get on with it.
That approach to life would form the basis of many an art-house film, novel, or free-form jazz performance to come out of Eastern Europe in the 60s, 70s and 80s. And even when they were importing their cultural fix from abroad, the miserable fucks in the east would find ways to inject their own morbid sense of style.
Take these Polish film posters. They manage to turn dumb-arse blockbusters like
Romancing the Stone,
Weekend at Bernie's and
Raiders of the Lost Ark look like creepy arthouse thrillers. That’s some feat.