Przekladaniec [Roly Poly]

fot: Renata Pajchel

Even while the making of Everything for Sale continued, I had to start a new film which I had promised to make for Television: a screen adaptation of Stanislaw Lem's famous short story, Przekladaniec [Roly Poly].

Bobek Kobiela was to play the unlucky racing driver who is deprived of the greater part of his inner organs in successive surgical operations. Moreover, haunted by bad luck, he can never earn enough money to cover his debts to the donors of the missing parts. One of the donors is Anna Prucnal whose sung reaction to the imminent danger of the car race brings to mind Fellini's City of Women of several years later, where she repeated the trick. Ryszard Filipski proved a successful addition to our cast: he was most effective and funny as the lawyer who deals with the whole complicated case.

Stanislaw Lem saw the film and wrote in a letter to me:

Krakow, 20 August, 1968

Dear Sir,

Two days ago I watched the film Roly Poly on television. Both yours and the actors' work, as well as the set decorations, seemed very good to me. The lawyer's part was especially well played, the surgeon was extremely likeable, not to mention Kobiela who needs no special praise.

If I had any formal doubts, they concerned the high speed of narration; does it not make the entire thing hard to comprehend for the average viewer? Still, I cannot judge this as I am familiar with the screenplay.

The imminent, indefinite "future" has been very cleverly constructed, especially considering the scant means you had at your disposal.