ALEX FARBA

by Alex Deleon-Pewny

Jan Nowicki, a major Polish actor of stage and screen  since 1966,

was the trophy guest star of the 2019 Yerevan film festival.  Mr. Nowicki was here to introduce his most famous film, The Hourglass Sanatorium  (Sanatorium pod klepsydrą) 1973, a vast symbolic epic directed by Wojciech Has. On this occasion Nowicki was presented with a special career award. Nowicki, wearing a fireman's helmet for large portions of this film, is one of the iconic images of Polish cinema. At the age of eighty Mr. Nowicki continues working steadily. He has a new film just out in Poland and a new book of his personal authorship is about to appear.

Jan Nowicki, memorable in "Sanatorium under the Hourglass"

We spoke of his work in this landmark film and he told me that Has was an exceedingly  demanding director.  Has was constantly dissatisfied with the work of the actors and demanded extreme precision of every gesture and all body language. To say that he was a perfectionist would be an understatement.  He insisted that every single word of dialogue as written by fastidious writer Bruno Shultz of the highly symbolic stories on which the film is based must be delivered precisely as written with no deviations. With a motion of his hands Nowicki  indicated that "we had to work from a stack of scenario pages about two feet high".  The shoot took six months on incredible sets built in Łódż and the Jewish fantasy scenes were shot in a small town near Krakow.  The result is a unique landmark not only of Polish, but international cinema as well with a remarkable performance by Jan Nowicki in the central role, in nearly every single shot.   In the picture Nowicki runs the gamut from a shy bewildered visitor to this strange sanatarium where time is reversed, to an aggressive leader of an historical battle charge with saber in hand.  A mind bending motion picture today as it was when first released.

Below, journalist Alex Deleon-Pewny Chatting with Jan Nowicki and talking over old times in Krakow, at the Ani Plaza hotel in Yerevan