The Indescribable Beauty of Andrzej Zulawski: Complete Works

Even the most avid cinephile often takes considerable time to work their way through an entire master's filmography. Often, there are several titles of every great director that are out of print or inaccessible. Until 2012, this was true for a few titles from master filmmaker Andrzej Zulawski, the Polish genius, director of 12 remarkable titles unlike anything ever done by any other filmmaker. He's still alive and well, though he hasn't directed anything since his divorce from French actress Sophie Marceau. In March of 2012, the first US retrospectives of his work concurrently took place in Los Angeles in NYC. Hopefully, he will be able to secure funding due to a renewed interest in his work, and, if wishes come true, he will be to direct at least one more beautiful monster for us.

I first discovered Zulawski in 2003 through his most infamous and well known title, the schizo/horror/divorce allegory, Possession (1981), featuring one of the most visceral performances ever committed to film by the beautiful Isabelle Adjani (who won Best Actress at Cannes that year). Denounced as one of the nefarious video nasties of the early 80's, I was able to rent a weatherworn VHS copy after ravaging the stacks of a Hollywood Video in Minneapolis, MN. Unfortunately, the quality of the tape was a definite impediment to the film, with a terrible audio track and murky visials. Then, in 2007, I purchased a Region 2 copy of the film from Spain, the artwork featuring the voluptuously stunning French artwork of a Medusa with a snake strand biting the woman's bosom, a stunningly sensual, serpentine, and cannibalistic image. Finally, I was able to witness this utterly strange and fascinating film, hosting a memorable movie night in celebration.

While the rest of Zulawski's titles were equally as hard to track down, the retrospective afforded me the opportunity to watch two of his rarest titles, The Blue Note (1991), and his film version of a Hungarian opera, Boris Godunov (1989), which had never been screened before in the US. Divisive, intelligent, confoundingly emotional, undoubtedly impressive, Andrzej Zulawski may very well stand as my favorite director of all time. There isn't a filmmaker that comes close to capturing such consuming emotion on screen. Here's my list of his films, from best to least favorite (not including two shorts he directed in the late 1960s), but all are extraordinary pieces of filmmaking and worth your time.

12. Boris Godunov (1989)
11. The Public Woman (1984)
10. La Fidelite (2000)
9. The Devil (1972)
8. L'amour Braque (1985)
7. My Nights Are More Beautiful Than Your Days (1989)
6. On the Silver Globe (1988)
5. The Blue Note (1991)
4. The Third Part of the Night (1971)
3. Szamanka (1996)
2. The Important Thing Is To Love (1975)
1. Possession (1981)