Complete credited cast: | |||
Piotr Dejmek | ... | Stefan | |
Jerzy Binczycki | ... | Engineer Andrzej Nowacki | |
Henryk Bista | ... | Dr. Kauters | |
Ewa Dalkowska | ... | Dr. Nosilewska | |
Gustaw Holoubek | ... | Writer Zygmunt Sekulowski | |
Zygmunt Hübner | ... | Dr. Pajaczkowski (as Zygmunt Hubner) | |
Ryszard Kotys | ... | Józef | |
![]() |
Klaus Piontek | ... | SS Officer Thiesdorf |
Wojciech Pszoniak | ... | Dr. Marglewski | |
Zbigniew Zapasiewicz | ... | Dr. Rygier | |
Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
![]() |
Katarzyna Ejmont | ... | Patient |
![]() |
Adam Gessler | ... | Patient |
Anna Jaraczówna | ... | Patient | |
Elzbieta Karkoszka | ... | Patient | |
Wladyslaw Kowalski | ... | Patient |
The film is set in 1943 in a mental asylum in the country. But this is an unusual hospital: there are several incurable schizophrenic cases, staff is bit strange and a writer has voluntarily entered the clinic because he is "peculiar" and a drug addict. Then the German Gestapo arrives. The commandant asks for the list of patients, sorts out the "Aryan" doctors from the others on a return trip, and herds everyone into trucks for evacuation to the extermination camps. A young doctor momentarily escapes by covering himself under a pile of laundry in the basement, and then escapes to the woods just as the Nazi soldiers appear. Written by Polish Cinema Database <http://info.fuw.edu.pl/Filmy/>
The Lem's novel has nothing to do with this movie. It is a deeply philosophical piece even surprising for a young man he was while writing this novel. Of course, a person such as Lem matures quickly during the war. I agree that the movie is dull - too bad it's come to be closely associated with the novel by many people who either don't read much or don't have access to a good translation. Contrary to the movie, the mental ward and its patients in the novel are not the main topic - it is an illustration to the madness of the humanity in general. The novel might be considered as a dialog of the author with himself, which is typical for Lem: his characters are often imbued with his own personality.