The Devil (1972)

During the Prussian army's invasion to Poland in 1793, a young Polish nobleman Jakub is saved from the imprisonment by a stranger who wants in return to obtain a list of Jakub's fellow ... See full summary »

Director:

Andrzej Zulawski

Writer:

Andrzej Zulawski

Stars:

Wojciech Pszoniak, Leszek Teleszynski, Malgorzata Braunek

Cast

Cast overview:
Wojciech Pszoniak	...	nieznajomy - Diabel
Leszek Teleszynski	...	Jakub
Malgorzata Braunek	...	Narzeczona
Iga Mayr	...	matka Jakuba
Wiktor Sadecki	...	Herz
Michal Grudzinski	...	Ezechiel
Maciej Englert	...	Hrabia - pan mlody
Monika Niemczyk	...	Zakonnica
Bozena Miefiodow	...	Turczynka
Marian Zdenicki	...	Karzel
Anna Parzonka	...	siostra Jakuba
Lukasz Zulawski	...	Aktor
Jerzy Zygmunt Nowak	...	Kamerdyner
Eugeniusz Priwieziencew	...	Kompan

Storyline

During the Prussian army's invasion to Poland in 1793, a young Polish nobleman Jakub is saved from the imprisonment by a stranger who wants in return to obtain a list of Jakub's fellow conspirators. Following his mysterious saviour across the country, Jakub sees the overall chaos and moral corruption including his father's death and his girlfriend's betrayal. Being apparently demented by what he has seen, he commits a number of seemingly motiveless and gory killings.

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Plot Keywords:

poland | 1790s | stranger | death | written by director | 

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Genres:

Drama | History | Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Poland

Language:

Polish

Release Date:

1972 (Poland)

Also Known As:

The Devil

Filming Locations:

Bagno, Dolnoslaskie, Poland

Company Credits

Production Co:

Zespól Filmowy "X"

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Brows Held High: Häxan (2012)

User Reviews

A whole lot of screaming and pushing....and nothing else.

I thought "Possession" was a brilliant feat of surreality, the absolutely dis-harmonic atmosphere in that film was amazing. So what about Diabel then? Does it deserve being lauded with praise? In my humble opinion, not at all. First of all, the story the filmmaker is trying to tell here is inanely boring in itself ( who f**king cares about the plight of the polish unless you happen to be polish yourself? ). Second it does not help masking it up in code and symbolic speech, does not make it more interesting to watch, just more pretentious. Third, the actors felt like no more than empty props, vacant carriers existing only as receptacles for the underlying message, spouting a pompous, quasi-philosophical dialog, displaying a never ending theatrical behavior which was nauseating. Last, but by no means least, the so called violence on display here was meek, nothing to write home about. In short, if you want an absolute bore-fest; a whole lot of screaming and pushing, flailing of arms and legs, and violence that your Christian grandmother safely could watch, then this is the film for you. What a bucket full of pretentious p**s!!!