IDENTIFICATION MARKS & HANDS UP!
Two films by Jerzy Skolimowski
BFI 2-disc Blu-ray release on 24 April 2023
See a clip from Hands Up below.
Blu-ray review discs available this week
Presented on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK, these two early features by Jerzy Skolimowski (EO, Deep End) offer a rare insight into the cinematic origins and evolution of one of Europe’s most significant filmmakers.
Skolimowksi himself stars in his 1965 film IDENTIFICATION MARKS: NONE, charting a day in the life of a student, Andrzej Leszczyc, as he prepares for army service. But as Andrzej tries to straighten out his life before his departure, he encounters Barbara. Is she the woman he’s been waiting for?
The fourth in the series of works featuring his celluloid alter ego Andrzej, HANDS UP! finds Skolimowski once again on screen. The film was made in 1967 but banned for 14 years under Poland’s communist regime. Skolimowski later revisited HANDS UP! and added a sequence that explains why it was originally blocked by the censors.
The release of this double disc set follows that of Skolimowski’s most recent film, the Oscar-nominated EO, released on BFI Blu-ray/DVD and on BFI Player as a Subscription Exclusive on 3 April.
A BFI Southbank season dedicated to the director, OUTSIDERS AND EXILES: THE FILMS OF JERZY SKOLIMOWSKI, presented in partnership with the Kinoteka Polish Film Festival, takes place from 27 March – 29 April. It features screenings of films, including DEEP END (1970) (available on BFI Blu- ray/DVD), some of which the director will introduce himself and includes an ‘In Conversation with Jerzy Skolimowski’. In addition to EO, Skolimowski’s films DEEP END, LE DÉPART (1967) and ESSENTIAL KILLING (2010) will also be available on BFI Player from 3 April.
Special features
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Newly recorded audio commentaries on both films by critic and scholar Michał Oleszczyk (2023)
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The Boxing Ichthyologist (2023, 32 mins): writer Michael Brooke introduces us to the early Polish films of Jerzy Skolimowski in this newly commissioned video essay
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Archive interview with Jerzy Skolimowski (1983, audio only, 43 mins): the director discusses his early work in an interview recorded at the BFI’s National Film Theatre
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Stills galleries
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***First pressing only*** illustrated booklet with new essays by Ewa Mazierska and David Thompson; 10 films that left their mark on Skolimowski; credits and notes on the special features
Product details
RRP: £29.99 / Cat. no. BFIB1485/ 15
Poland / 1965, 1981 / black and white, colour / 65 minutes, 80 minutes / Polish with optional English language subtitles / original aspect ratios 1.85:1, 1.66:1 // 2 x BD50: 1080p, 24fps, LPCM 2.0 mono audio (48kHz/24-bit)
Pre-order IDENTIFICATION MARKS & HANDS UP! from the BFI Shop: https://shop.bfi.org.uk/identification-marks-none-hands-up-blu-ray.html
BFI Blu-ray/DVD releases can be ordered from home entertainment online retailers or from the BFI Shop at https://shop.bfi.org.uk/
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