I’ve got some serious viewing for this week. Golem by #PiotrSzulkin, psyched. #PolishCinema

The Mind-body problem -- this well worn, philosophical quandary is #KrzyszstofZanussi's theme in #Iluminacja. Using archival science lab footage, he examines the life of a bookish fella Franciszek as he enters college deciding on studying Physics, because it's studying something concrete. But he finds out that life is nothing but. During mountain hiking trip, he encounters death first-hand. During the same trip, he falls in love too with a fellow student. The girl he falls in love with gets pregnant and Frank needs to drop out of college to support his new family. He gets into existential crisis, seldom coming home to domestic life. He has a change of mind about what he wants to study if he ever got back to academia- biology. He even visits a monastery to seek some answers. Iluminacja is, as the narration says in the beginning, quite different from temporary ecstasy or trance. It's the true understanding of life. Too bad we only realize it past our prime, always. #polishcinema

The Saragossa Manuscript was my introduction back in 2015 to the work of our director Wojciech Has. This unique and funny costume drama has a beautiful dreamlike quality and features many of the best Polish actors. You can now watch it free, with subs and legally here https://35mm.online/en/vod/feature-films/the-saragossa-manuscript-p-1 #film #drama #surrealism #Polishcinema #cinema

As usually the case with other Zulawski's obsessive love stories, the carnal desire & its profundity wins over the intellect. Iwona Petry's raw, unpolished performance brings another dimension to already towering Zulawski heroine mould. His jab at catholicism and visual metaphors are sometimes too unsubtle, but at the same time gives us some of the most striking images. Simple and honest, it might be the most thematically uncluttered Zulawski film I've seen so far. #andrejzulawski #polishcinema