Allegory, symbolism, fantasy, and surrealism are often the refuge of artists working under the oppressive thumb of authoritarian regimes. Usually, it works, thanks to the average censor being unable to process art on any but the most literal of levels. ...
Read More »Everything Gets Boring: Grappling with Disappointment in Deep End
This is part of a series of features exploring British cinema and culture as reflected by the releases in the BFI Flipside series. There’s a song by Peggy Lee called “Is That All There Is,” in which she wearily reflects ...
Read More »An Andrzej Zuławski Retrospective: Szamanka
Zuławski spent the majority of the ‘80s making films in France that focused on the nature of performance and centered on unusual, if compelling female protagonists — La femme publique (1984), L’amour braque (1985), and Mes nuits sont plus belles ...
Read More »Cosmos: Lena and the Void
“You are just a face, a mask, an object, a thing— behind it, there’s nothing. The void.” Cosmos (2015) is radiant, among director Andrzej Żuławski’s warmest films, favoring the fervor of ecstasy over that of despair. But did Żuławski’s final ...
Read More »An Andrzej Żuławski Retrospective: Possession
As I’ve been slowly making my way through Andrzej Żuławski’s catalogue for Diabolique, I think the title I’ve dreaded writing about most is the director’s only English-language film and his most well-known, Possession (1981). Made in the wake of his ...
Read More »An Andrzej Zuławski Retrospective: The Short Films
About a month ago, I began what was supposed to be a short retrospective on the recently restored early Polish films of Andrzej Zuławski – The Third Part of the Night, The Devil, and On the Silver Globe, followed by ...
Read More »An Interview with Daniel Bird
This is the concluding entry in a four part series on director Andrzej Żuławski’s recently restored early Polish films — Trzecia częśc nocy (1971) aka The Third Part of the Night, Diabel (1972) aka The Devil, and Na srebrnym globie (1988) aka ...
Read More »An Andrzej Żuławski Retrospective: On the Silver Globe
This is the third entry in a four part series on director Andrzej Żuławski’s recently restored early Polish films — Trzecia częśc nocy (1971) aka The Third Part of the Night, Diabel (1972) aka The Devil, and Na srebrnym globie ...
Read More »An Andrzej Żuławski Retrospective: The Devil
This is the second entry in a four part series on director Andrzej Żuławski’s recently restored early Polish films — Trzecia częśc nocy (1971) aka The Third Part of the Night, Diabel (1972) aka The Devil, and Na srebrnym globie ...
Read More »An Andrzej Żuławski Retrospective: The Third Part of the Night
This February — coincidentally just a few days after his passing — the Lincoln Center in New York was home to a celebration of director Andrzej Żuławski’s recently restored early Polish films: Trzecia częśc nocy (1971) aka The Third Part ...
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