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 | Fantasy | War

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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

3 Polanski shorts

When Angels Fall (1959)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

An elderly woman works a lousy job but she's capable of seeing things like no other. This short from Polanski has a lot of good moments but it really doesn't work well enough for the running time. The use of color was nicely done and the war scenes were very good.

Lamp, The (1959)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Surreal film from Roman Polanski about a doll maker. There's really no "story" here but instead we get various strange images. The images are nice but overall the film somewhat drags.

Fat and the Lean, The (1961)

** (out of 4)

Another Polanski short has him playing "Lean", a servant to the "Fat" man. I guess this thing was trying to be funny but it certainly wasn't. Some nice camera-work however.

Details

Country:

Poland

Language:

Polish

Release Date:

1959 (UK)

Also Known As:

When Angels Fall

Filming Locations:

Poland

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