The twenty-one-minute-film is set in a men's public rest room and recounts the day to day existence of an elderly woman who serves as an attendant in the lavatory. As an endless procession of men pass before her, relieving themselves in the urinals, the attendant escapes her reality by daydreaming about the past and the soldier she once loved and the child she bore him.
Direction
Polanski's student film already shows his gift for unease.
Acting
Polanski himself as the old woman — committed, bizarre, unforgettable.
Director
Roman Polanski
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Polanski's diploma film at Łódź Film School — he reportedly failed his first attempt, making this his second shot at graduation.
The film adapts a short story by Stanisław Drogołęcki, but Polanski added the framing device of the public restroom — transforming literary interiority into physical imprisonment.
PL
