When Angels Fall (1959)

A church bell chimes. An old woman stops to feed pidgins on her way to work in the men's lavatory in the basement of a public building. She sits all day by the lavatory door as little ... See full summary »

Director:

Roman Polanski

Writer:

Roman Polanski (scenario)

Stars:

Barbara Lass, Roman Polanski, Henryk Kluba

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Barbara Lass	...	(as Barbara Kwiatkowski)
Roman Polanski	...	Old woman
Henryk Kluba
Andrzej Kondratiuk	...	(as Andrzej Kondratiuk)

Storyline

A church bell chimes. An old woman stops to feed pidgins on her way to work in the men's lavatory in the basement of a public building. She sits all day by the lavatory door as little dramas play out -- of illness, assignation, and routine -- a few tips her only acknowledgment. The sound of footsteps on the floor above her brings a reverie of her youth, when she was a beauty, the day a platoon of soldiers marched into her valley. As the day in the basement proceeds, she completes a set of memories that takes her from passion to maternal love to rejection and tragedy. Could there be more awaiting her on this day of remembering the fruit of her womb?

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Plot Keywords:

lavatory | bell | love | memory | old woman | 

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Genres:

Short | Drama

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Details

Country:

Poland

Language:

Polish

Release Date:

1959 (UK)

Also Known As:

When Angels Fall

Company Credits

Production Co:

Panstwowa Wyzsza Szkola Filmowa, Telewizyjna i Teatralna (PWSFTviT)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

21 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The idea for Roman Polanski's short movie (his diploma piece from Lodz Szkola Filmowa and his first one in color) was taken from a short story "Klozet Babcia", written by Leszek Szymanski and published weekly "Kierunki" in Warsaw, Poland.

User Reviews

Depressing but great.

This short film made me really depressed. So sad so sad. This is one of the greatest short movies I have seen for a long time.

The only thing she wanted was to be loved. But never was. A film about intolerance. It shows the intolerance of homeless, gays and different believers. And like a lot of his short movies do, it gives us a good impression of the big hate he had to the communist system.

The visual was impressive. The miniature town was ugly though, but gave a good effect, even in his young days Roman Polanski managed the art of visualising. The movie must have cost some money because of the war scenes, the costumes was not near the real thing, but did the job well.

I loved the picture where you see the young main character making her way down to the town. Beautiful picture.

Watch and enjoy ;)