Szamanka

Released by: Mondo Vision
Released on: 12/15/2010
Director: Andrezj Zulawski
Cast: Iwona Petry, Boguslaw Linda
Year: 1996
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The Movie:

Andrezj Zulawski's Szamanka, one of only two films the director has made in the last twenty years, is, like many of his films, a challenging mix of arthouse sensibility, shocking horror tinged elements, character driven drama and bizarre sexual trappings. With censorship in his country having become more relaxed in the nineties he was free to push the envelope a bit and make a film without having to concern himself with political backlash.

Written by Manuela Gretkowska, the film introduces us to a beautiful young woman who is never referred to by her name but tells us is known as 'The Italian' (Iwona Petry). We know from the moment we meet her that she's a very busy woman, running through the bustling train station and immediately snapping up a flyer posted advertising a room for rent. The man who posted it, an anthropology professor named Michael (Boguslaw Linda), takes her back to the place and almost immediately molests her. She's frigid at first but soon takes a liking to his advances and before you know it, the two are having a torrid affair. This takes place in spite of the fact that she has a boyfriend (one who she cannot get off with) and he has a fiancé named Anna (Agnieszka Wagner), who just so happens to be his boss' daughter.

As their affair continues, Michael becomes increasingly obsessed with the preserved body of a two thousand year old shaman that his students have dug up. He and his students try to determine the cause of the death and as he becomes more obsessed with this, so too does be become more obsessed with his love affair. He becomes increasingly dominant with her, but she pushes back more than once. As his life becomes intertwined with the shaman's his affair and his very life come crashing down around him.

Similar, thematically at least, to his earlier La Femme Publique, Szamanka throws in supernatural elements to give it a completely different feel. While both films revolve around a sexualized female lead and how her sexual proclivity changes her life, this later picture uses mystical allegory to paint an entirely different picture. Ripe with symbolism, be it in the form of pounding phallic industrial machinery or rats being tossed into a meat grinder, Szamanka is a film that'll keep you guessing and which will reward you as you pay close attention. There are some surrealist elements thrown in and much religious symbolism contrasts with the decadent sexual behavior playing out against it just as the industrial backdrop contrasts with the human element that populates it. Visually the film is, like so many of Zulawski's other pictures, beautiful and horrifying, liable to spend as much time lingering on Petry's body or statuesque facial features as on a corpse laying on a laboratory table. Performance wise both Petry and Linda are seemingly completely dedicated to their respective roles, giving their characters believable passion, anger and depth.

As Zulawski lets all of this play out on the screen, sexual politics sway back and forth with almost pendulous rhythm as science and industry do battle with archaic religion and supernatural elements. We're asked to question the organized church and its validity as an institution and to question the worth of science and more specifically anthropology. It's a heavy film, one that will weigh on your mind some time after it's finished, and it's not always a pleasant one but those who appreciate challenging cinema will certainly find much of worth in this film.

Video/Audio/Extras:

Mondo Vision presents Szamanka in a nicely restored 1.66.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. The restoration demo included in the extra features shows a side by side comparison between this newly restored version and the unrestored version and the differences are pretty obvious. The picture has been cleaned up quite nicely but not at the expense of detail or texture. The film isn't a particularly colorful one, having been shot in and around various industrial buildings and what not, but color reproduction does look quite natural as do flesh tones. All in all this is quite a good looking picture we're left with here.

Audio options are offered in the film's original Polish or in a dubbed French track, both in Dolby Digital Mono format with optional English subtitles (in your choice of white or yellow). The original Polish track suits the film better but both tracks sound fine. The levels are properly balanced so that the dialogue is clear over top of the score and there are no problems to complain about in regards to any noticeable hiss or distortion.

Extra features start off with an audio commentary courtesy of author Daniel Bird and moderator David A. Mackenzie. This is a pretty interesting dissection of the film, with Bird discussing his attempts to interview Zulawski in Europe in 1996 when this film was released. The pair discuss the ongoing themes presents in Zulawski's cinema and many of the techniques he uses to deal with them, and they cover most of the standard bases such as locations, biographical information on the performers and what not. Bird also does quite a good job of explaining some of the more obtuse moments in the film and discussing much of its symbolism, so those looking for clarity in regards to this picture will find this aspect of the talk quite rewarding.

From there check out the brand new video interview with Andrzej Zulawski entitled A Film Without Masks (22:00). While it would have been ideal to have him involved in the commentary, this interview lets the director talk about the film in his typically upfront manner. He details some of the issues he had with his cast, noting that Linda was drunk on set a lot and that he pushed Petry past her breaking point and he also discusses much of the controversy that surrounded this film in Europe when it was released theatrically. A second interview with screenwriter Manuela Gretkowska (10:00) makes it quite clear that Zulawski took some liberties with the original script and changed things around quite a bit.

Rounding out the extras on the disc is a Restoration Feature (1:20) that shows the results of Mondo Vision's restorative efforts, a still gallery, menus and chapter selection. Included inside the typically lavish Mondo Vision slip case packaging is a 24-page full color booklet that contains a brand new essay on the film by Daniel Bird. Well worth the read, this piece puts much of the film's ideas into context, discusses the director's concept of the 'naked soul' and talks about the shamanistic side of the picture. Archived interviews are also included and it's quite a nice addition to an already very impressive set.

The Final Word:

A fantastic release of an intensely interesting and captivating film, Szamanka from Mondo Vision's strong A/V presentation and an excellent array of extras.