The Hour-Glass Sanatorium

The Hour-Glass Sanatorium is the English title for Sanatorium Pod Klepsydr?, a film released in 1973, directed by Wojciech Has.

Related Topics:
Film - 1973 - Wojciech Has

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Has adopted the novel Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass (Sanatorium Pod Klepsydr?) by Bruno Schulz for the screenplay of this demanding film. The film presents a poetic, visually refined "journey through the convolutions of time" as experienced by the protagonist, Jozef (Gustaw Holoubek). The young Jozef finds himself travelling through a dream-like world, taking a train to visit his dying father in a sanatorium. When he arrives at the hospital, he finds the entire facility is going to ruin and no one seems to be in charge, or even caring for the patients. In a series of dream sequences, Jozef recalls memories of the past with his father, is arrested by a mysterious unit of soldiers from the past and reflects on the girls he knew in his boyhood.

Related Topics:
Novel - Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass - Bruno Schulz - Sanatorium

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In transferring the literary source to film, Has also added a series of reflections on the Holocaust that were not present in the original novel, reading Schulz's prose through the prism of the author's tragic death during World War II and the demise of the world he described. This approach has been considered an excessive indulgence by some critics. The film won the Jury Prize at Cannes in 1973.

Related Topics:
Holocaust - World War II

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~