The Polish expatriate filmmaker Andrzej Zulawski is one of the cinema’s most insane filmmakers, and this is one of his wildest films, an unapologetically grotesque and over-the-top 18th Century-set study of madness and anarchy. For those who can stomach it, this is a fascinating viewing.
The Package
Although it may seem
difficult to believe, this frenzied gorefest was in fact a
serious political drama made under the auspices of filmmaker
Andrzej Wajda, the creator of acclaimed politically-minded
dramas like MAN OF IRON and DANTON (and who later had his name
removed from the credits). DIABEL (THE DEVIL in English, but as
there are so many films with that particular title, we’ll stick
with DIABEL) was intended by writer/director Andrzej Zulawski as
a commentary on a particular late-60’s incident. Sometime
during the heady days of 1968, Communist authorities provoked a
group of naive Polish students into staging a series of
anti-censorship protests, then used the event as an excuse for a
wave of repression during which many were jailed. Since he
couldn’t make a film about the event with the Polish
government’s money, Zulawski, whose second film DIABEL was, set
it in the 18th Century, in an atmosphere of total moral
disintegration precipitated by the Prussian invasion of Poland.
The title character, a mysterious figure who goads the
protagonist into committing a series of outrageous murders, is
the apparent stand-in for the Communist government.
According to Zulawski, it was the film’s political
aspect rather than the sex and violence that got it banned for
15 years. Polish authorities apparently told the Soviet
Union’s minister of culture (as recounted by Zulawski): “We
suspect that this is something not really about the 18th
Century, but we are not so sure.” As a result, DIABEL,
completed in 1972, was shelved by the Communist Ministry of
Culture and wasn’t released until 1987--and even then given only
extremely sporadic distribution.
The Story
The opening scenes, set
in a debauched convent teeming with orgies and insanity, pretty
much set the tone. Jakub, a young lunatic imprisoned for
conspiring against the king, is unexpectedly freed by a
mysterious stranger. Together with an insane nun, Jakub
sets out across a nightmarish snow-bound landscape teeming with
senseless violence. Returning home, he finds that his fiancé has
shacked up with his best friend, his father has committed
suicide and his mother is a prostitute (whom Jakub nearly has
sex with on at least two occasions). Meanwhile, the
mysterious, perhaps supernatural stranger seems to be shadowing
Jakub’s every move, as absolute chaos engulfs the land and the
latter descends further into madness (fitting right in with the
world around him!). He embarks on a gory killing spree,
with the stranger always there to help out, at one point even
placing the murder instrument, a straight razor, in Jakub’s
hand. A violent showdown between the two is inevitable,
leading to a gruesome ending and a totally out-of-left-field
twist.
The Direction
With echoes of Fellini
and Jodorowski, Andrzej Zulawski has created a frenzied and
bizarre film both puzzling and strangely exhilarating.
Spastic camerawork and convulsive performances (the actors often
seem to be undergoing epileptic fits) flawlessly convey a
degenerating society overtaken by madness, enhanced by
unflinching gore and lots of soft-core sex. Anyone who’s
seen subsequent Zulawski films like the nutzoid humping cucumber
monster classic POSSESSION (1980) and the near-indescribable
SZAMANKA (1996) should have some idea what to expect.
Needless to say, however, this undeniably impressive but
ultra-horrific film is NOT for everybody!
Vital Statistics
DIABEL (THE DEVIL)
Zespol Filmowy X
Director: Andrzej Zulawski
Producer: Andrzej Wajda
Screenplay: Andrzej Zulawski
Cinematography: Maciej Kijowski
Editor: Krzysztof Osiecki
Cast: Leszek Teleszynski, Wojciech Pszoniak, Malgorzata Braunek,
Iga Mayr, Wiktor Sadecki, Michal Grudzinski, Monika Niemczyk