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The Hourglass Sanatorium

Original title: Sanatorium pod Klepsydra
  • 1973
  • 2h 4m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
4.6K
YOUR RATING
The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973)
DramaFantasyHorror

Józef visits his dying father at a remote mental institution, where time itself doesn't seem to exist, and the line between dreams and memories becomes indistinguishable.Józef visits his dying father at a remote mental institution, where time itself doesn't seem to exist, and the line between dreams and memories becomes indistinguishable.Józef visits his dying father at a remote mental institution, where time itself doesn't seem to exist, and the line between dreams and memories becomes indistinguishable.

  • Director
    • Wojciech Has
  • Writers
    • Wojciech Has
    • Bruno Schulz
  • Stars
    • Jan Nowicki
    • Tadeusz Kondrat
    • Irena Orska
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.5/10
    4.6K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Wojciech Has
    • Writers
      • Wojciech Has
      • Bruno Schulz
    • Stars
      • Jan Nowicki
      • Tadeusz Kondrat
      • Irena Orska
    • 26User reviews
    • 33Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 wins & 1 nomination

    Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 0:58
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    Photos56

    The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973)
    The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973)
    The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973)
    The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973)
    The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973)
    The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973)
    The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973)
    The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973)
    The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973)
    The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973)
    The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973)
    Jan Nowicki in The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Jan Nowicki
    Jan Nowicki
    • Józef
    Tadeusz Kondrat
    Tadeusz Kondrat
    • Jakub - Józef's father
    Irena Orska
    Irena Orska
    • Józef's mother
    Halina Kowalska
    Halina Kowalska
    • Adela
    Gustaw Holoubek
    Gustaw Holoubek
    • Dr. Gotard
    Mieczyslaw Voit
    Mieczyslaw Voit
    • Blind Conductor
    Bozena Adamek
    Bozena Adamek
    • Bianka
    Ludwik Benoit
    Ludwik Benoit
    • Szloma
    Henryk Boukolowski
    Henryk Boukolowski
    • Fireman
    Seweryn Dalecki
    • Teodor
    Julian Jabczynski
    • Dignitary
    Jerzy Przybylski
    Jerzy Przybylski
    • Mr. de Voss
    Wiktor Sadecki
    Wiktor Sadecki
    • Dignitary
    Janina Sokolowska
    • Nurse
    Wojciech Standello
    • Jew Interlocutor in Restaurant
    Tadeusz Schmidt
    Tadeusz Schmidt
    • Officer
    Szymon Szurmiej
    Szymon Szurmiej
    • Jewish Man Reciting False Qoheleth's Verses
    Jan Szurmiej
    Jan Szurmiej
    • Instructive Jewish Man
    • Director
      • Wojciech Has
    • Writers
      • Wojciech Has
      • Bruno Schulz
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      Despite the communist authorities' ban on the film, it was in secret sent to Cannes in film cans with false inscriptions on them. Because of this incident, Has couldn't make any movie for the next 8 years.

    User reviews26

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    6/10
    Hallucinatory
    This is a film that will either absorb or exasperate, depending on one's temper. It mostly exasperated me, but many of its images have stayed with me, and I think viewers who have the patience for, say, Strindberg's "Dream Play" will enjoy its corkscrew narrative. Many may be amused, as I was, by the highly shadowed, highly colored Gothic decor but may have difficulty, as I did, staying the course. The synopsis above is slightly misleading on one count: The old man in the sanatorium is or would be dead in the real world, but his death would be financially inconvenient to the family and so his son is paying to have him kept in the enclosed world of the sanatorium, where time moves more slowly and he can stay alive indefinitely. The film begins like a horror movie, with the protagonist taking an eerily populated train to the ruined sanatorium. But once he's taken care of his business there both he and the story wander into a series of absurdist-picaresque adventures, set in scenes from his memory and imagination (apparently: some are quasi-historical, and his father appears in one of them as a young man). They grow and flower and intertwine with one another as they would in a dream or a reverie, until at last the protagonist arrives back where he started and finds out his fate after all. That seemed arbitrary to me; and why the place should have led him where it did, literally or symbolically, I don't really know; and to my taste the film is so boldly stated as to be a little cheap. But it still has a way of floating around inside the head for a long time after. And if enough people were interested enough by it, the process of identifying and interpreting its cornucopia of allusions and symbols could fuel a semester's worth of late-night discussions.
    helpful•29
    15
    • galensaysyes
    • Aug 22, 2000

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 12, 1973 (Poland)
    • Country of origin
      • Poland
    • Official site
      • Mr Bongo Films
    • Languages
      • Polish
      • Yiddish
      • Hebrew
      • Latin
    • Also known as
      • The Sandglass
    • Filming locations
      • Drohiczyn, Podlaskie, Poland
    • Production company
      • Zespól Filmowy "Silesia"
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 4 minutes
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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