Cosmos (2015) - Andrzej Zulawski

Stepping behind the camera for the first time in 15 years, Andrzej Zulawski's return to directing sees the enigmatic filmmaker tackle equally ambiguous source material with Witold Grombrowicz' Cosmos, a challenging text known for its various narrative deviations and verbal invention.   The story of Cosmos is centered around Witold, a young man who has just failed the bar, who along with his friend Fuchs, who has just quit the fashion industry, are staying at a quaint guesthouse run by Madam Woytis.  Upon entering this quaint space, Wilfod begins to become obsessed with Mada Woytis daughter, Lena, sending the young man spiraling down a path of illogical thought, surrealistic imagery, and foreboding omens as he struggles to both comprehend and suppress his intense passion for this young, married woman.  Enigmatic, frustrating, and ultimately profound, Cosmos is frantic exploration of emotion and desire, which finds Zulawski once again attempting to comprehend the uncomprehendable in human emotion, more specifically the powerful emotions of love of and desire.  Full of the filmmaker's trademark frenectism, Cosmos explores the disconnect between passion and intellect, presenting a manic portrait of one man's love for another that personifies the detachment which can exist between emotion and intellect.  Cosmos is a film featuring imagery that could be described as both seductive and repulsive, with Zulawski blurring the line between these two preconceived constructs as a way to comment on both the negatives and positives of desire and love.  To Zulawkski, Love and desire are extremely powerful forces that are not void of darkness or ugliness when harnassed incorrectly, and perhaps Cosmos most compelling aspect is simply its ability to capture the raw power and messiness which desire has on the human psyche.  Cosmos is a film that suggests love, desire, and emotion as a whole are resistant to simple human explanation, with Zulawki's frantic direction defiantly expressing this belief through surrealistic logic and stunning imagery.  A challenging experience that puts way more emphasis on emotion than plot or story, Zulawski's final film, Cosmos, is worthy send-off, featuring the filmmaker's frantic, intoxicating style and penchant for challenging the personal constructs of how we as humans perceive and define our world.  

---