The Essentials: The 5 Best Andrzej Zulawski Films

No other filmmaker fuses hysteria and contemplation like Andrzej Zulawski. The director is most often represented by his 1981 film "Possession," an emotionally fraught breakup movie in which a tentacled monster is part of a love triangle. That film has recently enjoyed a critical upswing after years as a cult favorite. He made only twelve features between 1971 and 2000, but those movies are remarkably consistent explorations of a core set of ideas about love, honestly and responsibility, the interrelated nature of personal and political lives, and the many transcendent and often terrifying ways in which emotions burst through any barrier as lives collide.

WATCH: New Trailer For 'Cosmos,' Andrzej Zulawski's First Film In 15 Years

Just hours after the announcement that "Cosmos," his thirteenth feature and his first in fifteen years, had secured U.S. distribution, Andrzej Zulawski died due to a battle with cancer. He was 75. What was briefly a reason to...