Un homme prend le train vers un sanatorium sans nom où son père vient de décéder. Le temps est aboli, les repères se brouillent à l’intérieur d’un univers à la fois étrange et familier.
Somewhere deep in the Carpathian Mountains, there is a place which seems predestined to strangeness due to its remote location. Time seems to have no meaning here. Or perhaps it’s the other way round – time plays a crucial role; it just follows a different set of rules. And thanks to that, this place is one of encounters that couldn’t happen anywhere else.
In their third feature film, the Quay brothers tell a surreal story inspired by the work of Bruno Schulz, a Polish writer from the first half of the 20th century. It follows young Jozef, who is visiting his dying father. But the sanatorium where he spends his last moments doesn’t bring much comfort or hope. Together with Jozef, we peek through keyholes into dark rooms and wander through dim corridors, trying to understand, until we succumb to a reality bordering upon dreams. The rich and almost tangible visual style of this seven-chapter film pulls the audience into its hard-to-decipher story filled with mysterious characters and their deep traumas. In combination with a disturbing score, it guarantees an extraordinary experience. The spectral train ride to the Karpaty Sanatorium is a magical step into an impalpable world. But returning from this world doesn’t necessarily mean returning to a place we know.
