BRANNAVAN GNANALINGAM reports from the Wellington Film Society. This week: Lech Majewski, round three.

THIS frankly marvelous film by Polish/American director Lech Majewski concerns a real-life cult of Polish working-class painters who were given three Fátima-like prophecies upon the death of their spiritual leader in the thirties – upcoming were a great war, a red plague and a death ray from Saturn that would destroy the earth. Their behaviour in response results in all sorts of shenanigans. Angelus hasn’t achieved much international coverage since its release in 2000, but it’s unclear why this hilarious, loving tribute to human folly and ambition was so ignored. A revelation that only a Film Society can dredge up, Angelus reveals Majewski’s painterly visual touch, and his wry sense of humour.

BRANNAVAN GNANALINGAM reports from the Wellington Film Society. This week: Lech Majewski, round two.

The Gospel According to Harry was the film which helped establish Lech Majewski’s art-film credentials. Produced by David Lynch’s production company, and starring a then-unknown Viggo Mortensen, the apocalyptic, sci-fi arthouse flick was an absurdist stab at social satire. The title is a reference of sorts to Pasolini’s Gospel According to St. Matthew, and Majewski seems to share Pasolini’s quest in that film for spirituality in a cruel, secular world. And while this is more humorous than resonant, The Gospel According to Harry is a solid entry point into the strange and wonderful worldview of Majewski.

BRANNAVAN GNANALINGAM reports from the Wellington Film Society. This week: Lech Majewski, round one.

The Garden of Earthly Delights takes its name from Hieronymus Bosch’s epic painting (c1503-4). That triptych painting featured Adam and Eve in paradise, alongside an earthly garden and at the far extreme, a scathing picture of Hell. The painting has provoked a wide number of reactions from art critics, from a vicious attack on humanity’s failings to a celebration of an earthly paradise (in spite of what went on in the biblical Eden). The film by Polish/American filmmaker (a former painter and poet who frequently makes films about painters and poets) Lech Majewski uses the painting as its backdrop to look at a couple, Claudine and Chris, who hide themselves in amongst Venice and Bosch while Claudine dies of throat cancer. In the process, Majewski creates an intimate, moving depiction of a mortality, and makes a plea for seeing the world as a place full of beauty and joy.

BRANNAVAN GNANALINGAM reports from the Wellington Film Society. This week: the odd couple.

THE Wellington Film Society kicked off with a special preview screening of a film about to hit general release. And it was one helluva freakshow. It’s hard to get into plot details of this American documentary without revealing too much of its main narrative thrust. Needless to say, if you intend on watching this, frankly, headshakingly bizarre relationship play out, try and do as little research beforehand. If you haven’t heard of Burt Pugach and Linda Riss, then Crazy Love is a compelling recreation of their life-paths. However, I wouldn’t recommend this film to would-be psychopaths trying to get a girl/boy’s attention.