NOOSE [1957]
year:
- 1957
release date:
- 20 I 1958
runtime:
- 96 min
directed by:
- Wojciech Jerzy Has
written by:
- Marek Hłasko, Wojciech Jerzy Has
director of photography:
- Mieczysław Jahoda
cast:
- Gustaw Holoubek [Kuba Kowalski], Aleksandra Śląska [Krystyna], Teresa Szmigielówna [former love of Kuba], Tadeusz Fijewski [Władek, an alcoholic], Stanisław Milski [Rybicki], Władysław Dewoyno [Władek, an electrician], Tadeusz Gwiazdowski [Zenek, a caretaker], Juliusz Grabowski [a waiter], Marian Jastrzębski [a tailor, Kuba’s neighbor], Emil Karewicz [Gienek, a waiter], Roman Kłosowski [Janek, an electrician], Ignacy Machowski [sergeant at the station], Helena Makowska-Fijewska [a barmaid], Igor Przegrodzki [friend of Kuba’s met in the street], Zygmunt Zintel [Poldek, an accordeonist]
edited by:
- Zofia Dwornik
music by:
- Tadeusz Baird
production design:
- Roman Wołyniec
produced by:
- Zespół Filmowy „Iluzjon”
executive producer:
- Tadeusz Karwański
About the film
The hero’s alcoholism became for Has a pretext to portray a man who cannot see any sense in living and is unable to connect with anyone. One of the most visually evocative and subjective worlds in Polish cinema.
Battling his alcohol addiction, Kuba lives in an apartment filled with strange objects. The film is an account of one breakthrough day in his life: in the afternoon he is to go with Krystyna, his fiancée, to the doctor who will give him medicine for his battle with addiction. Kuba is tired of waiting alone, receiving many phone calls from curious friends; he decides to go out. Wandering in the streets, he meets an old flame and gets involved in a street brawl, ending up at the police station. Upset, he goes to a bar, where, accompanied by a drunk saxophonist, he drinks several shots of vodka, listening to the pessimistic predictions of a man emaciated by alcohol.
Kuba, thrown out of the bar by the waiters, is driven home by a neighbour. Krystyna, who is waiting for him, reacts as usual with forced tolerance and makes arrangements with Kuba for the next day. In the morning, Kuba empties off half a bottle of vodka, and realising that he cannot beat the addiction, hangs himself on the chandelier.
Jan Słodowski, Leksykon polskich filmów fabularnych, Warszawa 1996
