Hands up! (1967)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Hands up! |
| Original title | Ręce do góry |
| Country of production | Poland |
| original language | Polish |
| Publishing year | 1967 / 1981 |
| length | 76 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Jerzy Skolimowski |
| script |
Jerzy Skolimowski Andrzej Kostenko |
| music |
Krzysztof Komeda (1967) Józef Skrzek (1981) |
| camera |
Witold Sobociński (1967) Andrzej Kostenko (1981) |
| cut |
Zenon Piórecki (1967) Grażyna Jasińska (1981) |
| occupation | |
| |
Hands up! is a Polish feature film from 1967. The film was banned in Poland until 1981. Author Jerzy Skolimowski shot a prologue and new credits after the film was released in 1981 .
action
prolog
While Jerzy Skolimowski was playing a leading role in Volker Schlöndorff's Die Fälschung alongside Bruno Ganz , he received the news that his film Hands up in Poland will have the opportunity to be shown after 14 years. The shooting takes place in Beirut and Skolimowski tells the story of the ban on his film with the images of the ruins, the city destroyed by the civil war. The change in his home country Poland suddenly made it possible in early 1981 that his film could be shown without a civil war and without a violent uprising. His memories wander back to the Warsaw Uprising in 1944 and keep coming back to the decisive turning point in his life: the conversation about the ban on his film in room 209 of the censorship authority in Warsaw . Surreal images alternate with images of the shooting with Schlöndorff and images of demonstrations in London for a free Poland. In addition to Schlöndorff, Bruno Ganz, Alan Bates , Jane Asher and David Essex appear in this film .
Hands up
Years later, there is a meeting of medical college graduates. A doctor is missing, however. He sends a letter that will be read out during the banquet. It is an invitation to the former fellow students to visit him in his village. Four former students accept the invitation. However, you miss the passenger train and travel in a freight car. During the trip, they talk about personal wishes and ideals that made them take up the profession of doctor. They remember their studies and realize that their ambitions could not be realized. Your self-worth is only represented by materialistic things. Everyone gets the name of the car they drive. Alfa is traveling with her husband Romeo. A successful doctor is now called Opel Rekord , a second Wartburg and the vet Andrzej calls himself Zastawa . The four share a central story from their student days. They hung a gigantic portrait of Stalin. However, Stalin has two pairs of eyes in this picture. This was taken as a political provocation and the four students went to court. Only Zastawa had the courage to face the confrontation with power and is expelled from the university. It is suspected that Zastawa wrote the invitation to the former students. The next morning the train stops at the same place where they left. It turns out that the freight car was just being shunted. The doctors get into their cars, which are parked in a row in front of the freight car.
Credits
The credits show the protagonists of the film, but in 1981. Only Bogumił Kobiela is shown with his back only. The actor died in a car accident in 1969.
background
Hands up! was the last film Jerzy Skolimowski made in Poland until 1991. In the same year he won the Golden Bear at the 1967 Berlinale for the Belgian-French film Der Start . After the film was banned, he left Poland in 1970. The prologue, filmed in 1981, shows what influence this ban had on the further course of his life. The film premiered with this prologue at the Polish Film Festival in 1981 . However, the film was only released in Polish cinemas in 1985, but was shown in the theatrical version without the prologue, as martial law had meanwhile been imposed on Poland and the prologue was too critical of the system.