• Surrealist Visions of Wojciech Has

      Multi-award winning Polish director Wojciech Has (1925 – 2000) is renowned as one of Poland’s most adventurous and visionary film-makers, known for works such as THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT and THE HOUR-GLASS SANATORIUM. Spanning an impressive 40 year career his often surrealistic and avant-garde style of filming drew from literature, contemporary politics and art. In the 90s he ran the famous Lodz Film School, where he had studied 50 years previously. He has had a major influence on the work of filmmakers like David Lynch and was embraced by other high profile admirers including Luis Bunuel, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia.

      All the titles presented in this retrospective are newly restored prints giving audiences an opportunity to rediscover five of Has’ key works. Featured are his debut, NOOSE a Kafkaesque-style tale of alcoholic paranoia; two stories set against the backdrop of Post-WWII Poland looking at the emotional casualties of war – the nostalgic FAREWELLS and the tragic tale of crossed lovers in HOW TO BE LOVED. In addition we screen his Surrealist fantasies, the cult classic THE SARAGOSSA

      MANUSCRIPT and his oft-referenced, dazzling masterpiece, THE HOUR-GLASS SANATORIUM. The retrospective is complemented by a new installation by the Quay Brothers, inspired by the work of Has. The piece has been commissioned by The Polish Cultural Institute and can been seen at the University of Brighton, Grand Parade.

      The Has retrospective is organised by the Polish Cultural Institute and has been made possible with the kind support of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of POLSKA!YEAR (a year long celebration of the very best of Polish culture at venues across the UK).

      Picture 2

    • THE HOUR GLASS SANITORIUM (Sanatorium Pod Klepsydra)

      Sat 21 Nov 1.30pm

      Duke of York’s Picturehouse

      DIRECTOR: Wojciech Has. Poland 1973. 124 mins. Polish with English subtitles

      HourglassSanat3

      Jozef travels on a strange, almost ghostly train to visit his ailing father in a sanatorium, which he discovers exists in a microcosm of warped time where his father might actually recover from approaching death. At the crumbling hospital, Jozef is invited to rest and finds himself sliding through the portals of fantasy and the unconscious and exploring the mazes of his own mind to confront the people and experiences who made him. Based on the short story collection by Bruno Schulz and winner of the Special Jury Award at Cannes in 1973, HOUR-GLASS … is a fascinating penetration of the human psyche.

    • THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT (Rekopis Znaleziony W Saragossie)

      Sun 22 Nov 1.00pm

      Duke of York’s Picturehouse

      DIRECTOR: Wojciech Has. With Zbigniew Cybulski, Iga Cembrzynska. Poland 1965. 177mins. Polish with English Subtitles.

      SARAGOSSA004

      Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and Luis Bunuel have all named Has’ surreal masterpiece as their favourite film; it is certainly one of the most weird and wonderful films ever made. Creating a magical, sometimes disturbing, world of the supernatural it became a counterculture classic and was so beloved by Scorsese and Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, they helped fund its restoration. A kind of ARABIAN NIGHTS set during the Napoleonic wars complete with harems, duels and folkloric beasties, there are all kinds of surreal set-pieces and intriguing stylistic flourishes set against the beautiful soundtrack from Krzysztof Penderecki. “Simultaneously horrific, erotic and funny … this is one mother of a film” DAVID LYNCH

      “Simultaneously horrific, erotic and funny … this is one mother of a film” DAVID LYNCH

    • Double Bill: THE NOOSE (Petla) + FAREWELLS (Pozegnania)

      Sun 29 Nov  11.30am

      Duke of York’s Picturehouse

      THE NOOSE (Petla)

      DIRECTOR: Wojciech Has. Poland 1958. 96 mins. Polish with English subtitles. With Gustav Holoubek, Aleksandra Slaska.

      NOOSE1

      An alcoholic’s last day teems with images of anxiety and Kafkaesque paranoia. Adapted from Marek Hlasko’s novel The First Step in the Clouds, Has’ feature debut is cinematic delirium tremens, as young man Kuba Kowalski escapes his cramped flat to wander from bar to bar through the dark streets of Krakow. The metaphorical noose tightens as Kuba, nearly saved by the love of a good woman, dives deeper into hallucinatory intoxication.

      FARE WELLS (Pozegnania)

      DIRECTOR: Wojciech Has. Poland 1958. 97 mins. Polish with English subtitles. With tadeus z Janczar, Maria Wachowiak.

      FAREWELL1

      When rebellious student Pawel falls in love with cynical dancer Lidka, the mismatched pair find short-lived happiness during a countryside idyll before they are separated by WWII. Pawel spends horrific years in Auschwitz and Lidka marries a richer man through bitterness, yet when they meet again a second happiness together looks possible. Has suffuses FAREWELLS with nostalgia for a lost way of life and the lyricism of love’s long journey.

    • HOW TO BE LOVED (Jak Byc Kochana)

      Sun 6 Dec 11.00am

      Duke of York’s Picturehouse

      DIRECTOR: Wojciech Has. Poland 1963. 100 mins. Polish with English subtitles. With Bara Kraftowna, Zbigniew Cybulski.

      JAK_BYC_KOCHANA_005

      On a plane to Paris in 1963, famous actress Felicja (Bara Krafftówna) recalls the night in 1939 when she was to debut as Ophelia with the man she loved playing Hamlet (the legendary Zbigniew Cybulski). The production is aborted by the start of WWII, and Felicja takes a waitress job to avoid acting on a German stage, giving her lover sanctuary when he is accused of killing a collaborator.

      After the war, Wiktor leaves to pursue his own fame, yet when Wiktor and Felicja are reunited years later, the tables have turned….