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Product Description ------------------- ANDRZEJ ZULAWSKI’S adaptation of Manuela Gretkowska's provocative and hugely successful novel reaches new extremes in the depiction of brutality, sex, and passion as it tells the story of a young(ish) anthropologist driven by the mystery surrounding the death of a recently discovered shaman; and his growing obsession with an enigmatic yet violently perverse beauty known as "The Italian".SZAMANKA (She-Shaman) is a film ‘without brakes’. Above all else, it is a ‘demonic’ film where characters are battlegrounds in the war between devils and angels, where angels are agents of God and devils are those of the Devil. This pulpy, sexually charged tale with its deranged erotic futurism underlines Zulawski's commitment to stretch the limits of aesthetic expression by exploring themes beyond the pale in conventional cinema. Violence, exuberance and sexuality are its key ingredients. Through hysteria, possession and hallucination we see what the Polish writer Stanislaw Przybyszewski called ‘naked soul’. AWARDS: Venice Film Festival, Official Selection (1996) DVD CONTENTS: MONDO VISION presents the first ever proper release of Andrzej Zulawski's 11th film SZAMANKA (She-Shaman, 1996) in a gorgeous new transfer UNCUT & Fully Uncensored with all new English Subtitles Supervised By Director Andrzej Zulawski. * Digitally Restored High Definition Transfer Mastered For Progressive Scan (Approved by Director Andrzej Zulawski) * Feature Length Audio Commentary With Film Writer Daniel Bird Moderated by David A. Mackenzie * Exclusive New Video Interview With Andrzej Zulawski: “A Film Without s” [22:00] * Exclusive New Video Interview With Screenwriter Manuela Gretkowska [10:00] * Restoration Feature [1:20] * Image Gallery * 24-page Booklet Featuring a Newly-Written Essay by Daniel Bird TECHNICAL NOTES: SZAMANKA is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1 and original Mono Polish soundtrack as intended by Andrzej Zulawski. This Dual Layer disc has been transferred and encoded using a high-frequency process which preserves as much of the detail and texture from the original film as is possible on the NTSC DVD format. Audio: * Original Polish Mono * French Dub (Optional) Subtitles: English (Optional) Available in White & Yellow Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Anamorphic Widescreen UPC: 837654697559 Catalog#: MVSE004 Case Type: Digipak with Hardcover Slipcase. Review ------ ''In execution, Szamanka is unmistakably a Zulawski film: vital, operatic, careening, emotionally raw and violent, flamboyantly naked, rich in poignant peripheral detail, and ultimately apocalyptic.'' --Tim Lucas, Video Watchdog ''Szamanka: On one level, it's simple, if very intense, love story; a drama about how romantic obsession is both benign and potentially very destructive. The lunatic, the lover and the poet are of imagination all compact, Shakespeare wrote in A Midsummer Night s Dream. Zulawski s lyrical, morbid tale suggests that sentiment still has some currency.'' --Geoffrey Macnab, Filmfestivals.com