A student abandons his way of life and wanders, suitcase in hand, seeking a place in life, literally and metaphorically. Two attitudes clash in this character – resignation and a readiness to adjust to life according to the generally accepted pattern (“little stabilization”), and the remnants of youthful rebellion, refusal to accept a boring life centred around making money. (Awards: 1966 – Bergamo, International Art Film Festival – Grand Prix; 1968 – Valladolid, IFF – Jury Special Prize).Read More »
PLOT: HANDS UP! is a Polish drama film directed by Jerzy Skolimowski. It is the fourth of a series of semi-autobiographical films in which Skolimowski himself plays his alter ego, Andrzej Leszczyc. The film was originally made in 1967 in monochrome. In a twenty minute section (filmed in colour) added by Skolimowski in 1981 he explains how the original was withheld by Polish censors of the time, and that this was a principal cause of his leaving his country; however following liberalisation in Poland, he was invited to resuscitate it. The introduction includes, apart from some fictional apocalyptic passages, shots of Beirut ruined by the civil wars of the 1970s, where Skolimowski is working as an actor on Volker Schloendorff’s German film CIRCLE OF DECEIT, and also shots of London featuring demonstrations in favour of Solidarnosc, Speaker’s Corner, and an exhibition of Skolimowski’s own paintings. These sections include cameo roles by Bruno Ganz, David Essex, Mike Sarne and others. Some of the music in this introduction is from the 1970 choral work « Kosmogonia » by the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki.Read More »
SYNOPSIS:
This film is an experiment. One dialogue, three filmmakers, three stories. Jerzy Skolimowski (Polish), Peter Solan (Slovak), and Zbynek Brynych (Czech) created their variations of the same conversation. Focusing on couples in their twenties, forties, and sixties, these three inventive sketches illustrate the emotional interaction between a man and a woman.Read More »
