Cinema
The Third Part of the Night
Trzecia część nocy
Andrzej Żuławski · 1971
Synopsis
Under the occupation, Michał sees his mother, his wife Helena and his little boy killed by German soldiers in the country house where the family had taken refuge. He makes his way to Lwów and joins the resistance. Fleeing a round-up, he finds himself witness to a childbirth: the young mother, Marta, looks exactly like his dead wife, and her husband has been taken in her place. To keep her alive with the child, he takes a job as a lice feeder at Professor Weigl's institute, which is preparing a vaccine against typhus.
Context
The screenplay, written by the director with his father, Mirosław Żuławski, draws on the latter's experience of feeding the lice in Rudolf Weigl's laboratory in Lwów with his blood under the occupation. Produced by the Wektor group, photographed by Witold Sobociński to music by Andrzej Korzyński, the film has Małgorzata Braunek play both roles, Helena and Marta. It opens and closes with a reading from the Apocalypse, from which its title comes, and was at first poorly received in Poland.
Who it is for
About a hundred minutes, in colour; a feverish and violent tale, constructed like a hallucination.
Prizes and reception
Andrzej Munk Prize in 1971, grand prize at the Koszalin festival, and added in 2025 to the list of Polish cinematic heritage.
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