The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973) review

Józef (Jan Nowicki) journeys by train to visit his father Jakub (Tadeusz Kondrat) who's staying in a run-down mental institution and, while there, is informed by Dr. Gotard (Gustaw Holoubek) that his old man is neither living nor deceased and the concept of "time" isn't "fixed" - he then has an encounter his mother (Irena Orska), who still thinks he's a child, as well as a precocious little boy named Rudolf (Filip Zylber) and repeatedly sees Bianka (Bożena Adamek), a flirtatious (but fickle) young woman.  Even though the sets are quite remarkable - everything is in a state of decay, surfaces are coated with cobwebs and one building appears as if it's being lifted out of the earth - it once again shows that surrealism is difficult to make work in cinematic form and when it fails - which unfortunately is the case here - it feels like a loose assemblage of random scenes that don't resonate emotionally or intellectually.  It's possible to create a stunning film out of an unorthodox text - Welles' adaptation of Franz Kafka's The Trial is a prime example - but Has doesn't do Polish writer Bruno Schulz (who was killed by the Gestapo) any real favors (the overacting is also an issue), so you might want to read the source novel instead ... and while you're at it, snag Street of Crocodiles too.