Malgorzata Szumowska – Body #Berlinale

February 21, 2015

Malgorzata Szumowska - Body #Berlinale fredfilmradio

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Malgorzata Szumowska – director – Body

This is an extract from the 65th Berlin International Film Festival press conference of Malgorzata Szumowska‘s film “Body”.

For this film, Malgorzata Szumowska won the Silver Bear for best directing at the 65th Berlinale. Here, she discusses the concepts of body and soul and how they are relevant in her film.

Plot: Janusz is not a man to be easily shocked. As coroner he undertakes precise research, analysing the crime scene in minute detail. Despite the extreme situations he comes up against, he works hard. Perhaps too hard. Yet when faced with his anorexic daughter Olga, still grieving for her dead mother, he feels helpless. Fearing that she might kill herself, he commits her to a clinic where Anna, a psychologist, carries out her duties. Years before, Anna lost her baby to cot-death and now sequesters herself and her big dog in a heavily barricaded flat and conjures up spirits who communicate with the living from beyond the grave … Malgorzata Szumowska works with elements of black comedy to tell of the difficulties people encounter when struggling to cope with the loss of loved ones. The film explores the fear of and yet longing for intimacy, self-harm due to mental anguish and escaping into the esoteric. A complex meditation on the loneliness of the heart and the conflict between the rational and belief in a supernatural universe.

Written by: fredfilmradio

Competition Polish cinema