The Hourglass Sanatorium
1973
119
minutes
Drama, Fantasy
★★★★★
★★★★★
3.8
Directed By:
Wojciech Jerzy Has
A young man named Josef visits a dilapidated Sanatorium to see his father Jakob. On his arrival, a sinister doctor informs him that his father had stopped breathing but hasn't died yet, perhaps due to Josef's arrival which may have halted time in the sanatorium. Josef undertakes a strange journey through the many rooms of the sanatorium, each which conjures worlds composed of his memories, dreams and nightmares.
Language
Polish
Release Date
December 12, 1973
Cannes Film Festival
Jury Prize
Cast
Jan Nowicki
Józef
Tadeusz Kondrat
Jakub
Filip Zylber
Rudolf
Halina Kowalska
Adela
Irena Orska
Józef's Mother
Gustaw Holoubek
Dr. Gotard
Mieczysław Voit
Blind Conductor
Bożena Adamek
Bianka
Ludwik Benoit
Szloma
Henryk Boukołowski
Fireman
Seweryn Dalecki
Teodor
Jerzy Przybylski
Mr. de Voss
Julian Jabczyński
Dignitary
Wiktor Sadecki
Dignitary
Janina Sokołowska
Nurse
Tadeusz Schmidt
Officer
Szymon Szurmiej
Jewish Man Reciting False Qoheleth's Verses
Jan Szurmiej
Instructive Jewish Man
Michał Szwejlich
Jewish Man by the Ladder
Paweł Unrug
Ornithologist
Marek Barbasiewicz
Waiter
Jerzy Bekker
Wax Figure of Napoleon III
Jerzy Braszka
Wax Figure of Leatherstocking
Zofia Bajuk
Wax Figure of Queen Elizabeth
Emir Buczacki
Wax Figure of Benito Juarez
Romuald Drobaczyński
Andrzej Herder
Wax Figure of Buffalo Bill
Jolanta Hanisz
Bianka's Mother
J. Jablonski
Jerzy Janeczek
Wax Figure of Luigi Lucheni
Marek Jasiński
Elżbieta Kijowska
Leszek Kowalewski
Wax Figure of a Young Genius
Mirosława Lombardo
Wax Figure of Queen Draga
Irena Malkiewicz
Lady in Black
Bolesław Mierzejewski
Wax Figure of Franz Joseph I
Włodzimierz Nowak
Wax Figure of Archduke Maximilian
Barbara Okonska-Kozlowska
Tluja
Stanisław Olczyk
Wax Figure of Victor Emmanuel
Józef Łodyński
Majordomo in Panopticon
Czesław Piaskowski
Wax Figure of Otto von Bismarck
P. Podgórski
Wax Figure of Maximilien de Robespierre
Edward Radulski
Barbara Rogalska
W. Rutecki
Wladyslaw Sitko
Wax Figure of Alfred Dreyfus
Waldemar Gawlik
Nameless Man (uncredited)
Jolanta Jackowska
Wax Figure of Charlotte Corday (uncredited)
Alicja Kluba
Wax Figure of George Sand (uncredited)
Leopold Rene Nowak
Rudy / Ptak (uncredited)
Jerzy Trela
Wesolek (uncredited)
Stanisław Tylczyński
Wax Figure of Thomas Edison (uncredited)
Wojciech Standełło
Jew Interlocutor in Restaurant
Stefania Staszewska
Jewish Woman (uncredited)
Gołda Tencer
Jewish Woman (uncredited)
Irena Izykowska
Bearded Woman at Final Party (uncredited)
Show Full Crew
Writing
Wojciech Jerzy Has
Writer
Anatol Stern
Script Consultant
Bruno Schulz
Original Story
Roman Pytel
Script Consultant
Directing
Wojciech Jerzy Has
Director
Halina Garus
First Assistant Director
Alicja Kluba
Second Assistant Director
W. Pawlowski
Second Assistant Director
Andrzej Reiter
Second Assistant Director
Costume & Make-Up
Anna Śmiech
Makeup Artist
Lidia Skarżyńska
Costume Designer
Halina Ber
Makeup Artist
Jerzy Skarżyński
Costume Designer
Alicja Ptaszyńska
Wardrobe Supervisor
Alicja Kozłowska
Assistant Makeup Artist
Jolanta Jackowska
Wardrobe Supervisor
Roman Mazanek
Wardrobe Supervisor
Art
Kazimierz Kutz
Art Department Manager
Andrzej Płocki
Production Design
Andrzej Haliński
Art Direction
Piotr Dudzinski
Production Design
Jerzy Skarżyński
Production Design
Maciej Maria Putowski
Set Decoration
Stefan Filipiak
Construction Coordinator
Stanislaw Pysklak
Construction Coordinator
Production
Leopold Rene Nowak
Researcher
Zygmunt Wójcik
Production Assistant
Urszula Orczykowska
Production Manager
Waldemar Król
Production Assistant
Andrzej Zielonka
Production Assistant
Lighting
Crew
Editing
Camera
Witold Sobociński
Director of Photography
Jan Mogilnicki
Camera Operator
Wacław Dybowski
Camera Operator
Jerzy Bialek
Assistant Camera
Janusz Kalicinski
Still Photographer
Sound