HANDS UP!
Dir. Jerzy Skolimowski | Poland | 1967/81 | 80 min | Polish | subtitles in English, Lithuanian
May 6th, 18:00 @Muzeoteka
Five friends reunite after a long time and reminisce about their student years, recalling an incident when they accidentally ruined a poster of Stalin and got into trouble with the authorities. Even then, there was no solidarity among them, each one cowardly trying to avoid personal responsibility. Today, they are successful doctors who refer to each other by the names of the car brands they own: Opel Rekord, Alfa, Romeo, and Wartburg. This generation of thirty-somethings no longer wants to change the world or fight the system. They are content with relative stability and the consumerist pleasures it brings. Their journey in a cattle wagon becomes a kind of theatrical psychotherapy session.
Such a critical reflection of contemporary reality was not welcomed by the authorities, and the distorted portrait of Stalin was the final straw that led to the film being banned in 1967. After discussions with censors, Skolimowski decided to emigrate. Fourteen years later, in 1981, permission was granted to screen the film, but the director refused to show it in its original form. Instead, Skolimowski cut 20 minutes from the film and added a newly shot first part, in which he reflects on censorship and creating art in exile.
