The Hourglass Sanatorium

The Hourglass Sanatorium Polish Sanatorium pod klepsydr is a 1973 Polish film directed by Wojciech Jerzy Has, starring Jan Nowicki, Tadeusz Kondrat, Mieczysaw Voit, Halina Kowalska and Gustaw Holoubek. It is also known as The Sandglass in English speaking countries. The story follows a man who visits his father in a mystical sanatorium where time does not behave normally. The film is an adaptation of Bruno Schulzs story collection Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass. It won the Jury Prize at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival.

Though Joseph is always shown as an adult, his behavior and the people around often depict him as a child. He befriends Rudolf, a young boy who owns a postage stamp album. The names of the stamps trigger a wealth of association and adventure in Joseph. Among the many occurrences in this visually potent phantasmagoria include Joseph reentering childhood episodes with his wildly eccentric father who lives with birds in an attic, being arrested by a mysterious unit of soldiers for having a dream that was severely criticized in high places, reflecting on a girl he fantasized about in his boyhood and commandeering a group of historic wax mannequins. Throughout his strange journey, an ominous blind train conductor reappears like a death figure.Has also adds a series of reflections on the Holocaust that were not present in the original texts, reading Schulzs prose through the prism of the authors death during World War II and the demise of the world he described. ........

Source: Wikipedia