Sanatorium Under The Sign Of Hourglass: Review. By Simon Thompson.

Sanatorium Under The Sign Of Hourglass,a stop-motion adaptation of the novel of the same name by Bruno Schulz directed by the Quay Brothers, is a hypnotic, yet also a frustrating and puzzling viewing experience, that will leave you in awe of the animation on display whilst scratching your head at the same time. 

Before viewing the movie, I thought that the plot sounded pretty familiar then I realised that I had seen another adaptation of Schulz’s novel, directed by esteemed Polish filmmaker Wojech Has, from the 1970s. Given that Has’s adaptation is one of the most well regarded Polish films of all time, in what has been termed a golden age for the country’s cinema, the Quay Brother’s adaptation has a lot to live up to.

While I don’t think this adaptation of Schulz’s novel quite hits the heights of Has’s movie, this is still an arresting and different take on the same story, with the Quay Brother’s willingness to experiment with both a classic film and an established Polish literary classic something to be commended rather than criticised. 

The plot of Sanatorium Under The Sign Of Hourglass follows Jozef, a man visiting his dead father whose body is resting at a remote sanatorium. When Jozef arrives at the sanatorium he finds it to be run by a shady doctor, who reveals that his father is alive because the sanatorium exists within a world between sleep and wakefulness and that time within the structure can’t be measured in any form whatsoever.  

The black and white cinematography that the Quay Brothers employ for the film is absolutely striking to look at, and when combined with the FW Murnau style shadow, the use of intense close ups, the unconventional camera angles that play with the audience’s sense of perspective, creates a lasting effect. These elements both give the movie roots in German expressionism but also in the works of Eastern European animation greats such as Jan Svankmajer whose style seems to have highly influenced the Quay Brothers.

With a taut 1 hour and 15 minute runtime, this adaptation of Schulz’s novel isn’t as plot heavy as the Wojciech Has version, but through the medium of animation adds a new dimension to the surrealism in Schulz’s writing. If you’re a fan of both stop motion animation and the Quay Brothers, Sanatorium Under The Sign Of Hourglass is well worth a watch simply on the strength of its visual choices alone. 

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