Directed by Andrzej Zulawksi, Poland/France/Switzerland. I love to see hubris skewered. Which is why I like to see films which are so self-consiously “intellectual” and “profound” turn out to be shallow, abject failures. This unintentionally hilarious mess is a good example. It’s like a pastiche of arthouse cliches: no storyline, uninteresting characters, lots of boring sex, and an overall “intensity” intended to make viewers with no sense of critical discrimination stroke their chins and nod, as though they’re witnessing something really meaningful. In truth, of course, it’s not meaningful in any way whatsoever. It’s dull, horribly old-fashioned, empty, and actually quite embarrassing. Unfortunately, I know people who would probably like this because it’s a “foreign language” film, as though that by itself makes it worthy of special attention. Sad, really. 1/5.
MOVIES THAT DIE SCREAMING 