The Third Part of the Night

The world as reflected in a nightmare...Through throbbing cinematography and oddly elegant editing, Zulawski express the main character's agony and confusion. He may overwhelm us with an image of a hopeless world, but the thoughtful, poignant - and very artificial - dialogue imply a search for something. This is not a film for those who dislike "theatrical" dialogue and narrative vertigo, but rewarding for fans of roaring existentialism with creative, energetic direction and menacing surrealism.

A truly brave debut, this is a frantic ride that has so many twists and turns, both in terms of camera movement and the very confusing narrative, that it is really hard to follow or make any sense of. Modern expressionist cinema that reflects a fucked up view of a fucked up world, or something like that.

A film so remarkably dense I had to pause it in places to simply sort out the director's intent, which I (am reaching to) think is the Problem of God in a world full of Evil. Filled with surreal ellipses, bizarrely conscious dialogue and unsexy images full of blood, shit and lice, I should like this more than I do. It's brave, but feels the slight sting of its own self-ordained self-importance.

A war film done very differently. It is quite depressing and bleak, just visually alone, and typically for Zulawski features stream-of-consciousness philosophical ramblings for most of the dialogue, as well as some pretty out-there nightmarish moments.

The simple premise of the film is obfuscated by the over-the-top script, turning it into sort of a bad dream. The only problem with this is it detached me from the story and some things just came off as silly. Still, it's never boring and the visuals are very good.

A paranoid nightmare of a film - doppelgangers, typhus infected lice, nazis executing people in the streets. There's even a dynamic urgency to much of the camerawork. There are a lot of similarities to Possession, but TTPOTN rarely if ever escalates to the same histrionics.

The movie starts with a quotation of the Book of Revelation and this sets the apocalyptic mood. It's interesting to see how much of the stuff that made Zulawski unique is already here. Crazy dialogues, close-ups of crazy looking people, wild camera movements, the fear of loosing one's individuality and identity and so on, but it all felt a little too jarring like Zulawski didn't know yet what he really wanted. It's confusing but not in a good way like his later works.

A Terça Parte da Noite estreava há 50 anos no Festival de Veneza. Zulawski já chega chegando como era de se esperar, usando de mecanismos para a proteção da psique na mesma proporção que transmite o horror da guerra de maneira engenhosa me pergunto porque estou dando apenas 4 estrelas para esse filme. BlurayRip no MakingOff.

It was like a nightmare on film. The directing of the actors was top notch and the camera movements and editing were superb. Really good. Also features arguably the best unibrow in film history.

A film which very much captures what a nightmare feels like; The film does a superb job of really immersing you into the moody and horrifying world and sends you on a confusing 'adventure' alongside Michal. It features some really amazing camera work, some of the best I have seen. But a lot of the religious and philosophical dialogue and themes just didn't click with me, and at times it can seem rather 'silly'. And the ending music seems almost insulting, like "look, we gotcha!" (Cue cool rock)

Apart from cirular tendencies and a vast sense of self-importance, this is still a nice take on the whole nightmare logic schtick, exploring new ways to illuminate the horrors of war.