I have watched into the void and it's filled with lice. The Third Part of the Night has been described as many things, but HORROR is the one word that makes justice to it. The one thing mostly remotely like it are the Silent Hills games and Come and See. At first I could not tell that the film was set in WWII, but when it became apparent to me, the riddle of the film also became apparent. Most of the film is actually a rather straightforward film, but the way the events are realized it becomes a surreal vision of the end of the world. I have trouble describing it other than a disturbing nightmare about the end of time. A furious debut of a filmmaker, possessed by the Gods of film, who summon a town beyond space, time and hope.

The film jumps between time-lines and characters in a somewhat confusing manner with dead figures re-appearing throughout the film, so trying to give a detailed story-line is somewhat pointless. The dialogue is extreme and sometimes absurd, but that only adds to the atmosphere of a character being eaten by lice and perhaps in a fever. The lice thing is based on fact - Polish resistance fighters were happy to put themselves forward for scientific experimentation with lice (in an effort to eradicate typhoid), as no German soldiers would go near them if their cards said that they were involved in the programme. The lice in any case are a symbol of war - people sucking the blood out of each other etc. A chaotic and incoherent film, but amazing first-time direction from Zuwavski. It is all filmed in hand-held camera (usual stuff now, but extremely unusual back in the early 70's), so there is a lot of movement. The film was made in Krakow and the city looks nothing like is now - an empty desolate filthy city of dilapidated grey building. Very Kafka-esque indeed, with stark bleak colours. I liked the film for atmosphere and cinematics, but many will not if they concentrate on the story and often somewhat obscure dialogue.The film was a big thing when it came out in Poland with huge queues to see it by the public - it has lost its relevance today and looks VERY dated (ie. as does all Polish 1970s cinema), but is still an interesting view.

Andrzej Zulawski's first feature film, "The Third Part of the Night", is not as talky as his later films, but is just as impenetrable. It features a man whose family is murdered by Nazis at the beginning of the movie, who then runs away, helps deliver a baby in a graphic sequence, apparently poses (or actually becomes) an insurance salesman, haunts a hospital where he has strange talks with an obscure nurse, and ends up volunteering for a program where he is vaccinated against typhus and is munched on by lice to help doctors find a cure.

I really lost the plot after that, but the ending does have him finding himself, or a doppelganger, in a hospital bed.

We are used to dialogue to provide exposition and reveal aspects of character. The dialogue in this movie only confuses the watcher further. The movie feels rough and wild, with violence and ugliness and insanity coming out of nowhere. It was also revolutionary for its use of hand-held camera, putting you in this world, and making you feel even more disorientated.