The University of Colorado’s International Film Series is mining the series Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema on Wednesday nights this fall, and this evening’s screening of Krzysztof Zanussi’s 1972 flick The Illumination fits right into Polish film’s experimental mold.
Outwardly the story of a physics student waylaid in his studies by the intimate vagaries of life, the film is a fiction deconstructed through quick-cut documentary sequences, including the insertion of statistics that scientifically chart the protagonist’s actions, splices of educational films and interview footage with actual professors discussing the complexities of living meaningful lives as both scholars and human beings. That Zanussi himself started out a student of physics himself before turning to a long career as a filmmaker only adds to the strange authenticity of the plot.
The Illumination screens at 7:30 p.m. in Muenzinger Auditorium, located on the University of Colorado’s Boulder campus; admission is $7 to $8 at the door. For more information about the IFS fall schedule, visit internationalfilmseries.com.
Wed., Nov. 5, 7:30 p.m., 2014
