The Hourglass Sanatorium(Sanatorium Pod Klepsydra)

A man arrives at a remote Polish sanatorium to see his ailing father, only to find the facility falling apart and time shifting back and forth. So begins the labyrinthine mind warp of Wojciech Has’ lavishly staged opus. Entering a dreamlike state, the new arrival stumbles through bizarre encounters and memories, and reconnects with his parents, a past flame and his once vibrant Jewish community. Has drew on the work of Polish Jewish writer Bruno Schulz, then tied in the Holocaust and Poland’s 1968 antisemitic purge. Authorities sensing allegory blocked the film from entering the 1973 Cannes Film Festival, but Has snuck it in and scored the Jury Award for hissurrealist tour de force.

Cannes Film Festival: Jury Prize