🎬 The Devil / Diabel (1972)

Andrzej Żuławski | 1972 | Poland | 125’ | EN subtitles

The most dangerous form of depravity is when one stops to protest. The highest form is passive allowance.

Through the lens of on of the most controversial and esoteric Polish filmmakers, Andrzej Żuławski, The Devil was born as an allegory of the contemporary political situation in Poland. Once finalised, it was censored for 16 years by the Polish government. It is considered one of the preeminent artistic portraits of the Republic's downfall and the nation's spiritual crisis.

The Devil is a hedonistic philosophical treatise about the condition of a society martyred in a romantic hysterical madness. As a film that embraces the notion of rooted evil in humans, it was reviewed as “taboo-shattering debauchery”. It follows the young nobleman, Jakub, who is freed from captivity by a stranger in the year of 1793 when the Prussian army starts to invade Greater Poland. In return for freedom, the stranger demands that Jakub should cleanse the world of evil, which grows into a never-ending crime and lunacy.

To sum up, Żuławski crafts a uniquely singular political costume drama, while his trademark, staggering depictions of madness once again shine through, mirroring the sheer intensity of critically acclaimed Possession.