Andrzej Zulawski

well maybe this thread will take a few years to get going, so I'll all say is: first time I saw Possession I loved it but didn't take it for a 'good' film, too many moments seemed gratuitous or simply thrown in. but the second time I saw it, every last overdone moment seemed perfect and it became one of my favorite films. even more than The Brood, it's the most descriptive divorce film about being in love with an impossibly beautiful, genuinely insane woman you could hope to see.

it's so perfect that I put off tracking down his other films because I couldn't imagine them being as good, but I was wrong -- if you like Possession, you need to see the other ones. Zulawski knows what he likes.

on the one hand it's confusing that he isn't better known, but on the other hand, remembering my initial impression of Possession it makes sense. all of his films start with one genre archetype, and then once you're immersed in the eurodrama, suddenly revolt into histrionic B-movie gothic horror formulas. it seems like such a rupture that a casual viewer could even see the shift as total incompetence on the part of the director, and his films often turn up briefly and mockingly reviewed on 'Worst Movie Ever' websites. That and the fact that his films are hard to find explains why he's not as well known as he should be, but it's just a matter of time.

I'm glad you revived this thread Milton, as I wanted to point out to you - in case you hadn't seen it - that the latest issue of Video Watchdog magazine contains a long and v. enthusiastic review of Zulawski's 'The Important Thing is to Love' - he even gets his name on the cover:

http://www.videowatchdog.com/home/home.html

that's the thing though -- most of his coverage comes from horror fans. you can't complain given all the tentacles & braineating & evil bird monsters & goat transference in his best known films but... man, so much more is going on.

haven't seen Important Thing yet. Klaus Kinski alert. that one is next.

this one's immanent as well: http://www.amazon.com/Andrzej-Zulawskis-Publique-Soundtrack-commemorative/dp/B001BRZAD8

http://whiggles.landofwhimsy.com/funbag/femmecover.jpg

http://whiggles.landofwhimsy.com/archives/2008/05/the_day_approaches.html
http://www.bagatellen.com/?p=2056

^^ good review without too many spoilers or screenshots

just got the deluxe MondoVision release yesterday, watched it last night. Sacha Vierny's style as cinematographer is so recognizable, so many of the ludicrously beautiful shots kept bringing to mind Sacha's work on 'Zed and Two Noughts' a year later, almost because Zulawski & Greenaway's manners are so precisely inverted from each other.

no horror tropes in this one, in fact the references this time are Dostoyevsky & early 80's European politics. as per usual the main characters have already lost all composure before the credits have even finished, but the quality of the cinematography is so rich this time it makes it more difficult to read the histrionics as indulgence. it's utterly disorienting but underneath it all there's something real happening, and it's up to you to figure it out

& also, exercise extreme caution with Third Part of the Night. It's hands down the most upsetting and hard to watch of any of his films.

& crossposting from -movies- noise thread

'The Devil' - Zulawski! new favorite director. when characters begin acting this hysterically insane within the first five minutes of a film, pacing is usually a problem, how can you sustain interest when you start by flooring it. but somehow the plot is well constructed enough, the film just keeps getting heavier. and even though many of the details are specific to Polish national history, the basic story of a soldier who's become an unflinching murderer, and sent home to witness how he's been betrayed by his decadent family... when he starts taking his revenge, you're left without any moral center whatsoever, the film does not flinch. and the ending is masterful

― Milton Parker, Wednesday, August 13, 2008 8:05 PM

My Nights Are More Beautiful Than Your Days (Zulawski doing a sweet Felliniesque romantic comedy is still Zulawski, his version of an accessible film does mean there's not as much screaming, he must really love his wife)

― Milton Parker, Thursday, September 25, 2008 8:00 AM

The Third Part of the Night (Zulawski's first film, about a man whose wife & son are executed during the Nazi occupation of Poland. he stumbles into a random apartment to hide from the SS to encounter his wife's doppleganger giving birth, while the SS seize her husband outside. to support them in his absence, he takes a job as a test subject in a Nazi lab, getting injected with Typhus while lice feed on his legs, which he then takes to the lab to dissect. he spends the days trying to figure out the degree to which he is hallucinating. I had to pause this film about four times to go do anything else, almost too much, but would make an incredible double feature with Black Book.)

― Milton Parker, Monday, October 6, 2008 9:08 PM

My Nights Are More Beautiful Than Your Days

first impression was obviously a little tempered. but I just watched this again, and there's definitely no such thing as lesser zulawski.

who shot the pope

http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/8601/dscf4466lq5.jpg

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews35/diabel%20Andrzej%20Zulawski/diabelcap01.jpg

you'll have to trust me

Oh, I trust you. There's only one Zulawski.

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/protectedimage.php?image=JohnWhite/PDVD_000.JPG_10102009&width=750

so so manic & more dostoyevsky underpinnings here. also sophie marceau in this is STUNNING

just bought this. and sprang for the remastered Szamanka as well. funny how Mondo Vision's sole reason to exist seems to be to release Zulawski films, but they are doing an amazing job of it, some of the most beautiful DVD packaging I've ever seen. evidently they're doing an edition of On The Silver Globe next.

I saw La Fidelite last year. loved it. you have to wonder what in the world Zulawski & Marceau's relationship was like when you get a film both that direct and that folded over. formally mainstream i.e. the characters do not begin the film by screaming but there's no ignoring the details. if it ends up being his last film it'd be understandable, but I sure hope it isn't.

Sam Neill so good in possession. Really like to think the character Is Sam Neill, adds a little something.

Really dislike the slant reviews of him. Possession review in particular is a wonderful example of the reductiveness of interpretation when ascribing thematic meaning, whatev. to horror / fantastical elements in film.

The guy writing the slant reviews seems very sharp - it's a little frustrating to see someone who's a little removed from the films making a point of systematically reviewing them all, but at least he realizes there's something important going on. and I liked his bird interview: http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/tag/andrzej-zulawski/

wallpapertastic: http://withhiddennoise.net/2010/02/21/on-the-silver-globe/

zulawski talks abt on the commetary to la femme publique that they were gonna use two bowie songs but they became big hits and cost way too much. anyone know which ones? id guess lets dance is one...

i keep thinking about "possession." it sort of freaked me out when i saw it, but now, like six months later, it seems like one of the more exciting movies i've seen. sort of like the slimy underbelly of makavejev's wr. i need to track down his other movies, obviously. are the newish dvd releases i'm seeing on amazon alright?

if you mean the mondo vision releases, yea, theyre fab. i wish theyd hurry up on the next batch

my friend loaned me the Japanese cut of Possession (which i'm told is missing a few minutes of sex stuff), but I haven't watched it yet.

"The Important Thing Is To Love" is killer.

the whole sched of the bam retrospective is up

http://www.bam.org/view.aspx?pid=4072

cool!

had not heard of these two shorts:

Pavoncello
(1967) 27min, 35mm
In 1912, a sick old man takes his philandering wife to Italy in the hopes that she might give him an heir—and young violinist Pavoncello is only too happy to offer his services. Zulawski's debut short, shot in black and white and produced for Polish television, prefigures his later thematic preoccupation with the messy relationships between men and women.

The Song of Triumphant Love (Piesn triumfujacej milosci)
(1969) 27min, 35mm
Zulawski's second short for Polish television (after a stint as Andrzej Wajda's assistant) was the first project over which he exercised complete creative control. Based on a Turgenev short story, this macabre romance details an all-consuming passion that transcends the material realm—a conceit Zulawski would take to new extremes nearly a decade later in Possession.

LA retrospective starting this week

first time I saw Possession I loved it but didn't take it for a 'good' film, too many moments seemed gratuitous or simply thrown in. but the second time I saw it, every last overdone moment seemed perfect and it became one of my favorite films

Just got back from seeing it for the first time and this sums up how I am feeling quite well. "Overdone" is certainly the word. It doesn't help that I associate Cinefamily (where it was showing) with irony-fests and audience participation. But I did love the film, no mistake, particularly some of the exteriors - the apartment building by the Wall where Adjani keeps "the Beast" was especially haunting. Also that miscarriage scene is some kind of all-time.

This was simultaneously something like what I was expecting and nothing at all like I was expecting. I see why he has become associated with b-movies but there is actually very little here that is sensational in terms of "traditional" sex & violence. While the performances were of course full-on, there was actually little else gratuitous about it.

is the v proggy bit @ the end of 'the 3rd part of the night' & over the credits avail anywhere? im sure no one knows but just me posting abt it is also a self-reminder to look for it in the future, tbh

I am very upset that LA and NYC get full Zulawski festivals and SF just gets one 7pm screening of Possession. Which I'll probably go see again, but c'mon

Good article: http://www.laweekly.com/2012-03-08/film-tv/Andrzej-Zulawski-Cinefamily/

He also perfected a device that I'm not sure has ever been given a formal name, which is the exact opposite of a shock cut — that is, cutting from something harrowing (an ongoing act of violence, a character in midhowl) to mundane placidity, not as a cheap contrast but as an odd sort of reassurance that such moments are just part of the natural order.

It doesn't help that I associate Cinefamily (where it was showing) with irony-fests and audience participation.

srsly can't stand the cinefamily audience, which is a shame because they have such interesting programming

after we saw 'possession' last night we spent a good 20 minutes talking about it outside the theater and even our commentary got slightly crazed the more we talked about it

definitely going to see 'on the silver globe' on sunday

so Cinefamily audience = Film Forum audience?

I can't imagine going to many of these in the space of a week or two. I guess I will see Possession on the weekend.

well, FF is a mix of cranky senior citizens and snarky young folks, whereas cinefamily is mostly just the latter

yeah our cranky seniors go to LACMA or matinees of Bela Tarr films in Pasadena

the Cinefamily trailer that strings together all the freakout money shots from his various films didn't rub me the right way -- reduced them to non sequiturs and also had a lot of spoilers (you really want the climactic scene of Possession to be a total visual surprise)

As the DVD of 'On The Silver Globe' is terrible, it might be worth it to catch the quality print of it while you have the chance. even if it's one of the more demanding of his films to watch, it's also the most ambitious and if it'd been finished, it'd regularly be mentioned along with Holy Mountain / Stalker / Sweet Movie.

'La Femme Publique' is one of the more dynamic & accessible ones and has Vierny's cinematography going for it, so even with the remastered DVD available this one would be a lot of fun to see on a big screen.

But I'm around the bend, if I lived in town I would probably be trying to catch at least 75% of these, every single one of them has something great going for it

The two I haven't seen yet are 'Blue Note' & 'Boris Godounov'.

oh why not post this here too

definitely want to recommend 'On The Silver Globe', though it could easily go in the 80's poll -- 90% of the footage was shot in the 70's, but the polish government aborted the film before the special effects were completed, so the director cut in very strange 80's footage of polish citizens & commuters wandering around while describing what the SFX space travel & alien battle scenes would have been like

if it had been completed, it'd be mentioned in company with 'Holy Mountain' and 'Sweet Movie'. the shots are beautiful, the plot is beyond ambitious. the editing is strange, the first half of the film is basically presented as an in-camera document shot by three survivors of a ship that crash lands on the moon, and who repopulate an entire incestuous colony who eventually come under attack from a horde of horrible bird creatures. for most shots, any pause of more than two seconds is edited out, so the film more disorienting than most modern reality television. many shots feature hundreds of extras swarming around beaches and caves, orgies, incomprehensible rituals, well it is the moon they're on. it's not for everyone, every line by every actor is delivered in abject histrionic wails with long monologues like 'what aren't you in what exists, nothing? the human soul justifies my deeds, delicate souls... but they are ridiculous! but the ridiculous are strong... the icy space within myself merged in hateful vision, is this the END? AAAAARRGH!' etc. etc.

in short, kind of a trial but I've already watched it twice

― Milton Parker, Thursday, April 17, 2008 5:56 AM (3 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

every line by every actor is delivered in abject histrionic wails with long monologues like 'what aren't you in what exists, nothing? the human soul justifies my deeds, delicate souls... but they are ridiculous! but the ridiculous are strong... the icy space within myself merged in hateful vision, is this the END? AAAAARRGH!'

this just makes me want to see it more

if I were including stage directions, it would be: 'the human soul justifies my deeds, delicate souls... (gestures to the procession of bird creatures slowly marching behind him on the beach) but they are RIDICULOUS! but the ridiculous are strong...'

looks like i can make "The Important Thing Is To Love" + shorts tonight

...and I like the shorts pretty well.

Romy Schneider had some startling Jeanne Moreau-like moments in "The Important Thing Is To Love" -- but sorry, it's kinda endless, and I really hate dithering will-we-fuck plots.

Well you can definitely skip La Fidėlitė then (which was a better version of the same film, but shot with a woman who had been his wife for 15 years)

Most Important Thing is a critical film for him; he got a career defining performance out of Schneider, who up until that time had just been a beloved idol. So that alone endeared him to people, and the fact that he turned in a film that dialed down the histrionics just enough to seem civil -- well, this is his 'mature' film. Plus: truly incredible scenes with prime era Kinski. But having seen it twice, I know I never need to see the last 30 minutes again, it goes on auto-pilot at the end right at the point where most of his other films go into orbit

That being said; I'll bet you anything scenes of this film keep coming back to you; kinski's bar fight & Shakespeare performance, the false mirror orgy, the scene where he meets his lover's first husband in his library, they are not screaming at the top of their lungs but it's still zulawski

Looking forward to seeing the shorts

yeah. I'm assuming he never made a full-out farce (should've).

film comment interview & why he didnt come to bam:

http://www.filmlinc.com/blog/entry/film-comment-interview-andrzej-zulawski

I’m curious to hear what you think of this retrospective of your films that’s going to be here in New York at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The title of the retrospective, it’s very catchy, but it’s called “Hysterical Excess”—

Do you want me to tell you the truth?

Yes.

This is the exact reason I am here in Warsaw and not in New York. I hated it so profoundly, it sounded so base—and I thank you for asking. On the other hand, I understand that these nice good people want to have something catchy. But I’m totally, totally aghast. I’m against this, and this is the reason I never came.

I need a producer! Please! Tomorrow!

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/movies/hysterical-excess-andrzej-zulawski-films-at-bamcinematek.html

only five instead of all twelve, but I'll take it

http://ybca.org/whisper-scream-discovering-andrzej-zulawski

ok ok, you can watch them on youtube now

Pavoncello

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49ExFyZrxYI&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PLB8CADB3C63D4103B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpHNrU_64w4&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PLB8CADB3C63D4103B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHaN_sXYR_w&feature=relmfu

Song of Triumphant Love

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlx-TVgUPSc&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PLB9AB0FBCAA7903B3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_T2B484oUmo&feature=BFa&list=PLB9AB0FBCAA7903B3&lf=results_main
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlTTmcqG5R0&feature=BFa&list=PLB9AB0FBCAA7903B3&lf=results_main

Kudos to Zulawski in that Film Comment interview. I don't blame him one bit for his distaste towards the name.

Really wish I could've attended this, though. I'd love to see more of his stuff, and I'd particularly love to see Possession on a big screen.

http://mubi.com/notebook/posts/beginnings-are-useless-a-conversation-with-andrzej-zulawski

I'm impresssed/amused that he loves Vivien Leigh in GWTW so much.

Saw the 35mm prints of Third Part Of The Night, The Devil & On The Silver Globe at Yerba Buena this last week. The Devil really came into focus as his all time masterpiece this time, but Third also made a lot more sense the second time around; there's just enough information to see through the hallucinations to the reality. And the 35mm print of Globe blew the DVD print away; it's going to look amazing once Mondo releases their version

Full reviews of the NYC screenings: http://theobscenemirror.blogspot.com/2012/03/stunned-by-flood-of-andrzej-zulawksi.html

http://www.quietearth.us/articles/2012/08/EXCLUSIVE-Andrzej-Zulawski-Returns-With-Metaphysical-Noir-DARK-MATTER

Every one of his films

Such sad news. A truly original filmmaker.

mini-retro this weekend at the Film Comment series in NYC

https://www.fandor.com/keyframe/daily-andrzej-zulawski-1940-2016

http://www.filmlinc.org/festivals/film-comment-selects/#films

looking over assorted opinions including Milton posts, i think if i have to pick only one of Third Part Of The Night, The Devil & On The Silver Globe this weekend it'll be The Devil.

Kino Lorber announced a summer release of Cosmosthe other day.

Definitely the Devil first. Silver Globe is an endurance test, but really something unique. If it'd been finished you can only imagine.

I've seen the usual ones (possession, Devil, Third Part and Silver Globe), though I think I only have Third Part and possession on DVD. Might see if I can make anyone watch them with me over the next few days.

“To please the majority is the requirement of the Planet Cinema,” he once said, responding to criticisms of “Possession.” “As far as I’m concerned, I don’t make a concession to viewers, these victims of life, who think that a film is made only for their enjoyment, and who know nothing about their own existence.”

<3

^ could be kiiiind of an asshole, huh

it's been a rough few months on the obit page for beloved European filmmakers i'm not crazy about.

It's cool. There's enough of us who give a shit.

oh i give a shit, just not going Full Jesus on him.

Anyone who goes "Full Jesus" on anyone needs to get out more. No problem admiring someone for their life's work, though, whether they're alive or dead. Sorry - a few drinks tonight so not coherent but I don't see the need to constantly reiterate you don't like/"get"/care about something or someone. Say it once and we get it. Then move on to something you *do* enjoy.

even Spielberg? who is among Hillary Clinton's alltime top 10 donors btw. ;)

you have to wonder what in the world Zulawski & Marceau's relationship was like

I somehow missed that they had been a couple until the NYT obit, and that he wrote 4 books about her after their breakup. Guess he and Arthur Miller are having a few cold ones right now.

was in the men's room line behind composer Andrzej Korzynski today. (didn't know he had worked with Wajda as well)

Good overview (I've not seen a film of his for the reason of lameness) - his last view has an UK distrib. http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/comment/obituaries/andrzej-zulawski-1940-2016?utm_content=buffer7a97a&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitterbfi&utm_campaign=buffer

there's a screening of possession tonight a 15 minute walk from my place some friends organized... but there's also a freezing rainstorm going on outside. hmmm

i ended up going, and enjoyed it very much, particularly the first half. the heinrich scenes crack me up. can someone explain the ending to me though? did at the ppl the job he quits in the first scene implant the devil in his wife so that she could feed that flesh monster and clone him? what's up with the pink socks guy?

His last is about to open in NY, and i suspect my personal reaction would fall closer to "utterly exhausting."

http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/cosmos

weird movie but there's a lightness in the performances and general approach that kept it from being exhausting.

he was really pushing it with formlessness / plotlessness this time around, and I just didn't like the pretensions of most of the main male characters. unlike so many of his other films, all the screaming felt like acting. a beautiful eye for the portuguese scenery, and some strange unraveling saved for the last 10 minutes; the editing & sound mixing is enjoyably wrong, and victoria guerra definitely fits as the lead actress in a zulawski film; wish the film was more about her than genet's character.

maybe some of my criticism was self-consciousness over the idea that this will be many people's second zulawski film, but in the q&a with his son iggy afterwards it was clear there was a community of deep fans in the audience. it feels like he was just getting started again, but it comes to us as a summary.

Getting a Region 2 BluRay release later this year:

http://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/shop/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=854

A screening of 'On the Silver Globe' tomorrow. Looks intriguing:

https://www.ica.art/whats-on/kinoteka-and-ica-present-silver-globe-qa

I'm 5 films in and Possession is still the place to start, but On The Silver Globe would be mentioned in the same breath as Sweet Movie, Stalker & Holy Mountain if it's budget hadn't been sabotaged

If you're around Milton what version of this did you see?

Sorry just went through this thread and you went through a couple of versions.

You should def go, xyzzzz

Yeah, looks great.

Such a bizarre experience with the narration of the un-made script.

Less makavejev, more Game of Thrones (ok I have not seen more than 5 secs of this) though. Some amazing, manic stuff here.

Retro in Deptford:

http://deptfordcinema.org/new-events/?view=list&category=Andrzej%20Zulawski

His film of Boris Godounov is on mubi right now. is it worth watching?

It's remarkable from what I can remember. Watch!

It's not great but it's Godounov.

(Sorry. Sorry about that.)

lol

But the pun is still correct, it's a good opera, and he doesn't fuck it up. Definitely worth watching.

After seeing Possession in maybe 2006 or 2007 I tried to track down everything and I wasn't enthused by most of them and gave up. Possession, Cosmos, Devil and On The Silver Globe were the ones I liked more. But I just watched Boris Godounov and I'm really impressed, the bluray looks amazing, like it was filmed yesterday.

Fingers crossed for La Femme Publique

Keep thinking of that old drunk guy singing in the woods, he sounded so good

I've seen L’amour braque and Cosmos, and I doubt that 60 consecutive seconds went by in either movie without me getting irritated or fed up. I'm a fan of Godard's 80s and 90s work, but these felt like someone trying to emulate them at a triple speed pace, with everyone overacting gratuitously. I'll admit he seems to have perfect control over what he's trying to do; so far, I've just hated what he's trying to do.
Possession was in the All-Time Film poll, so I mean to see that, but my hopes aren't high. Is there a worthy "Zulawski for people who don't like Zulawski"?

If frantic pace & gratuitous overacting irk you then Possession is probably not going to be the one to change your mind.

I enjoy it as over-the-top grand guignol popcorn spectacle, like Fury Road but with humans instead of cars (I think I induced some eyerolls by calling it "dumb fun" on the all time poll thread), but I find it impossible to take seriously. Various factors seem to have caused it to become the consensus Zulawski, but if youve put your time in with Braque and Cosmos idk if Possession will change your mind.

with everyone overacting gratuitously

haha hahahaaahaha

I haven’t seen those two but I think Possession might work for you, it’s definitely got a pretty solid core inside all the chaos. I felt like a novice for my inability to get through On the Silver Globe, but Christ, those scenes of people incoherently ranting on a beach seemed to last forever.

with everyone overacting gratuitously

haha hahahaaahaha

I guess it's not gratuitous if you regard it as the point of his work...?

...and I guess I mean overacting in comparison to the more-or-less deadpan acting in something like Detective.

Fingers crossed for La Femme Publique

La Femme Publique is a highlight of his filmography IMO- shot by Sacha Vierny (Resnais, Greenaway et al), absolutely gorgeous and works phenomenally well with the kind of dynamic camera movement and blocking Zulawski favors

Wonder why after Possession's growing popularity and solidified canon position, it hasn't made his films much easier to find

I'm not sure how the rights are worked out, honestly? IDK if the recurrent interest in his work started with screening series or restorations (I forget who did the previous Possession repertory screenings 10~ish years ago that were my gateway in), but the home video releases have primarily been through Mondo Vision, which is a tiny, uncommunicative company that works at an absolutely glacial pace, to the extent that nobody's really sure if their "Polish Trilogy" release (Third Part of the Night, The Devil and on the Silver Globe) is even still happening. A lot of that work has been Daniel Bird's passion project and involved a lot of cooperation from Zulawski, so his death certainly set them back, but we haven't really heard a peep since the release of La Note Bleue and since then other companies have started putting out US blu-rays of titles that were SD only from Mondo Vision (L'Amour Braque from Kino, L'Important C'est D'aimer from Film Movement).

Yeah, I think Possession is a far easier commercial proposition than the rest of Zulawski's films - two name stars, tentacle monsters, reputation as a video nasty in the UK. The excellent Second Run released Third Part of the Night on region 2 DVD, but they haven't rushed to bring out a blu-ray upgrade, and they've never released any other Zulawski films. Arrow, who have relatively deep pockets as far as these things go, did bring out Cosmos on blu-ray, but again they've not released anything else by Zulawski.