Mother Joan of the Angels

  • February 16, 2014 / 18:00
  • February 23, 2014 / 16:00

Director: Jerzy Kawalerowicz
Cast: Lucyna Winnicka, Mieczyslaw Voit, Anna Ciepielewska
Poland, 112’, 1961, black and white

Latin and Polish with Turkish subtitles

Taking the infamous and documented 'demonic possession' of a group of nuns in Loudun, France in 1634 as his starting point (events subsequently also adapted by Ken Russell for his notorious film The Devils), director Jerzy Kawalerowicz created an intensely provocative and visually astonishing film. Aided by an extraordinary performance by Lucyna Winnicka as Mother Joan, the possessed Mother Superior of the convent, and Mieczysław Voit as the troubled priest Father Józef Suryn, Kawalerowicz's masterpiece is a profoundly disturbing exploration of faith, repression, fanaticism and sexuality.

Canal

Canal

Ashes and Diamonds

Ashes and Diamonds

Night Train

Night Train

Mother Joan of the Angels

Mother Joan of the Angels

Innocent Sorcerers

Innocent Sorcerers

Knife in the Water

Knife in the Water

The Saragossa Manuscript

The Saragossa Manuscript

Trailer

Mother Joan of the Angels

From Cypresses to Turkish Landscapes

From Cypresses to Turkish Landscapes

Among the most interesting themes in the oeuvre of Prassinos are cypresses, trees, and Turkish landscapes. The cypress woods in Üsküdar he saw every time he stepped out on the terrace of their house in İstanbul or the trees in Petits Champs must have been strong images of childhood for Prassinos. 

Dancing on Architecture

Dancing on Architecture

I think it was Frank Zappa – though others claim it was Laurie Anderson – who said in an interview that ‘writing on music is much like dancing on architecture’. 

Return from Vienna

Return from Vienna

Józef Brandt harboured a fascination for the history of 17th century Poland, and his favourite themes included ballistic scenes and genre scenes before and after the battle proper –all and sundry marches, returns, supply trains, billets and encampments, patrols, and similar motifs illustrating the drudgery of warfare outside of its culminating moments.