Szamanka

Szamanka (ʂaˈmaŋka) is a 1996 erotic drama film directed by Andrzej Żuławski and adapted from a screenplay by Manuela Gretkowska. The film, which was controversial upon its release in Poland, follows the obsessive relationship between an anthropology professor and a strange young woman only known as the "Italian". The title is the feminine form of the word "shaman" in Polish. In Warsaw, a student only known as "the Italian" (Polish: Włoszka), played by :pl:Iwona Petry, is on the search for an apartment. The Italian, a beautiful and free spirit, is originally from the countryside. During her search, she meets anthropology professor Michał (Bogusław Linda), who agrees to rent to her an apartment that was occupied by his brother. The business is concluded by a violent sex scene between the two in the empty apartment. Michał is engaged with Anna (Agnieszka Wagner), an architect and the daughter of his boss. During excavations with his students and his younger colleague Juliuz (Paweł Deląg), they find the well-conserved, more than two thousand years old corpse of a shaman. In the laboratory, they study the mummified body, which is covered in mystical tattoos and is found to have a pouch of hallucinogenic mushrooms. They try to determine the cause of the shaman's death, which does not seem to be natural since the back of his skull has been crushed. They speculate the act was perhaps done to release his spirit after death. Michał's life is turned upside down by the discovery of the shaman's body and his increasingly obsessive love affair with the Italian. He breaks up with his fiancée Anna and his friends. He tries to tame the Italian, but she resists his attempts at domination. In the laboratory, the researchers consume the shaman's mushrooms, and in a delirium attempt to bring him back to life. In a moment of illumination, Michał speaks with the spirit of the shaman who reveals that he was killed by a woman who wanted to capture his magic power. Michał, who now regards himself as free and lucid, breaks up with the Italian.