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f i l m Rece do gory (Hands Up!) PLOT SYNOPSIS from the All-Movie Guide: "Polish filmmaker Jerzy Skolimowski directed Hands Up! in 1967; he also wrote it, handled the art direction, and played a leading role. Skolimowski portrays Andrzej Leszcyzc, one of several doctors attending a medical school reunion in a sealed-up railway carriage. Between drinks, the disenchanted medicos ruminate over the effect that communism (particularly the Stalinist brand) has had on their profession. Never mind that Russia has just gone through an extensive de-Stalinization program; the Polish authorities found Skolimowski's message offensive, and banned Hands Up! outright, compelling the director to seek out creative freedom in other countries. The film was not released until 1981--just in time for martial law to once more rear its ugly head in Poland." The film begins with a director's note saying that Rece do gory was made in 1967 and suppressed by government censors. In 1981 it was suggested that the film could be released; Skolimowski reworked the contents somewhat and presented it as a sort of diary, reflecting on who he was, and what life was, 14 years before. Much of the imagery and action are the director's response to the violence and destruction of the times, with tentacles reaching back, in one haunting scene, to the WWII death camps. Skolimowski also explores how we are defined by our past, and how we can break free (one of the classmates is literally encased in clay and is eventually freed in a sort of rebirth). In addition to acting in the film, Skolimowski appears in 1981 section as himself, directing a film. From reading the credits, it was clear that Alan Bates would have a very minor role in the film: he was not named. (He and a handful of other familiar actors, including Jane Asher, appear in brief, non-speaking cameos, are onscreen for moments, and are credited at the end of the film.) Bates, wearing a white jumpsuit and black shirt, is seen briefly as an artist (above, posing a model). He then appears in an art gallery, emerging from behind a large painting. He carries it down a spiral staircase and, back turned to us, lets it fall with a thud that startles guests in the room. As the painting (which shows a woman - a victim - falllen and twisted) drops, the scene cuts to a body, covered and bleeding, in the street). The cameos are part of the 80's commentary on the earlier film. (Skolimowski directed Bates in The Shout in 1978.) The film's distinguished score was composed by Krzysztof Penderecki. PUBLISHED: New York, N.Y.: Contal International, Inc., 1988 (78 min.) In Polish with English subtitles. Videocassette release of a 1981 motion picture by Film Polski, made in 1967. Director: Jerzy Skolimowski.

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