Directed by Walerian Borowczyk • 1964 • France

Perhaps the most concentrated achievement in Borowczyk’s singular career, Les jeux des anges, otherwise known as Angels’ Games, is a 12-minute masterpiece of surrealist horror. Constructed from a series of abstract paintings that recall the likes of Magritte and Bacon, the film allegorises both the Nazi death camps and the Soviet gulag in its depiction of innocence deconstructed. The film also marked the beginning of Borowczyk’s collaboration with composer Bernard Parmegiani, whose electro-acoustic score only adds to the stripped-back power of the director’s visual imagination.

LES JEUX DES ANGES
Written and directed by Walerian Borowczyk
Cinematography by Francis Pronier and Gerard Cox
Music by Bernard Parmegiani