Rysopis (1965)

"Rysopis" (1965) means "description", according to one computer translator. Is it too much of a stretch to say that the film describes one day in the life of a student who has quit school, lost his deferments and must enter the army? Or to say that the film describes the progress in artistry of a film maker, Jerzy Skolimowski? It does both. The film is quite enjoyable, quite free in the way it's done. It shows the writer-director using the techniques and language of a movie with a great deal of skill, doing it his way and the way he wants to do it.

To like the film, you may have to empathize some with its maker. I felt some rapport because in the 60s, it was common to avoid military service by staying in college. (I am 3 years the junior of Skolimowski.) One might even be in a program that one did not especially care for (here ichthyology). Mine was chemistry. This was an anti-war time, a time for freedom, a time when one's future was very uncertain, and a time when existentialism was popular. Another common element is jazz.

I love the interaction that Andrzej in the film has with his draft board. It's a great sequence.

The film opens in darkness at about 5 in the morning. Andrzej lights a match in bed and moves the clock's alarm. As director, he's playing with light already. The very next scene again plays with night, as he faces a grid. It's panels of frosted glass in two big doors, as to a major building, which is his apartment house where he owes rent. He learns that there's a rabies epidemic from the landlord and his dog may catch it. All this in darkness with a center spotlight from outside. On the street, there is a noir-lit scene in which he casts a giant shadow on a building wall as the trolley train passes. It's like "The Third Man". Our young film maker is displaying remarkable skills, and not only that he's got an original "story", such as it is, that consists of interesting components. The tone is one of amusing distance from the society's seriousness. Youth was searching at that time. There are times when youth searches more than others and questions; and other times when it simply goes along quietly.

The movie goes on in a personal vein, with some amazing camera shots at times. One of these is a rapid descent of apartment house steps in one long take, and the camera is remarkably steady. This is 10 years before the Steady Cam. Another follows him down a street, from across the street, as he passes store fronts.

This is a movie where there is no attempt to make you like the principal or the movie, no attempt to generate sympathy. I didn't find Andrzej especially likable or enlightening. I felt more respect for the movie-maker and for the documentation of what a young man was going through. It seemed clear, however, that making movies was the path of direction for Skolimowski and something he was very good at. He's asking us to take his art on his terms. There's a lot of ego in Andrzej. But it's a good thing in context. It's his independence that's driving this and that persists even when he faces military service.