Identification Marks: None

Jerzy Skolimowski
1965-11-18


6.371
71 min

The footloose ennui of Poland’s postwar generation is captured to perfection in this jazzy chronicle of a draft-dodger’s final day of freedom. A slacker before there was a word for it, Andrzej (played by Skolimowski himself) drifts through a series of open-ended encounters with women following a wake-up argument with his pouting wife, and a long-delayed military physical (the film’s title derives from one of the questions). Skolimowski hoarded four years’ worth of the annual film footage allotment from his Lódz film school in order to create this first feature marked by compositional bravado and a trademark air of the absurd. -Barbara Scharres, Gene Siskel Film Center

Cast

Name Character Team
Jerzy Skolimowski Andrzej Leszczyc Unowned
Elżbieta Czyżewska Teresa / Barbara / Leszczyc's wife Unowned
Tadeusz Minc Unowned
Jacek Szczęk Mundek Unowned
Andrzej Żarnecki Raymond Unowned
Juliusz Lubicz-Lisowski Man in the phone booth (uncredited) Unowned
Czesław Piaskowski Resistance member picking up bottles (uncredited) Unowned
Marek Piwowski Man at the draft board (uncredited) Unowned
Leon Niemczyk Radio speaker (voice) (uncredited) Unowned
Janusz Kłosiński Resistance member picking up bottles (voice) (uncredited) Unowned