Przekładaniec
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''Przekładaniec'' is a 1968
short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
directed by
Andrzej Wajda Andrzej Witold Wajda (; 6 March 1926 – 9 October 2016) was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of the ...
based on the
screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...
by Stanisław Lem, which was a loose adaptation of Lem's 1955 short story turned into a radio play ''Czy pan istnieje, Mr. Johns?'' (Translated into English as ''Are you there, Mr. Jones?''). The title of the film was variously translated into English as ''Layer Cake'' (literal meaning),
Peter Swirski Peter Swirski is a Canadian scholar and literary critic featured in '' Canadian Who's Who''. As a specialist in American literature and American Studies, he is the author of many books, including the prize-winning ''Ars Americana, Ars Politica'' ...
, ''The Art and Science of Stanislaw Lem''
p. 160
/ref> ''Hodge Podge'', or ''Roly Poly''. The first print of Lem's short story was in ''
Przekrój ''Przekrój'' (; ''Cross-section'') was the oldest Polish weekly newsmagazine in operation, established in 1945 in Kraków. After temporary closure in 2013, it was bought by photographer Tomasz Niewiadomski and subsequently relaunched in December ...
'' in 1955. Translated as ''Are you there, Mr. Jones?'' it appeared in a British-Australian science fiction magazine ''Vision of Tomorrow'' in 1969.Stanisław Lem, "Are you there, Mr. Jones?", trans. by Peter Roberts, ''Vision of Tomorrow'', August 1969, vol. 1, no 1, pp. 55-57
Internet Archive
According to the introduction to the story in the magazine, it was the first work of Lem translated into English. The central idea of the film concerns the problems related to organ transplantation, namely, what is the
legal identity In law, a legal person is any person or 'thing' (less ambiguously, any legal entity) that can do the things a human person is usually able to do in law – such as enter into contracts, sue and be sued, own property, and so on. The reason for ...
(and the associated
legal rights Some philosophers distinguish two types of rights, natural rights and legal rights. * Natural rights are those that are not dependent on the laws or customs of any particular culture or government, and so are ''universal'', ''fundamental'' and ...
) of a person whose body includes many transplants and that of a person whose body was used for many transplants?Janina Falkowska, ''Andrzej Wajda: History, Politics, and Nostalgia in Polish Cinema''
pp.105, 106
/ref> The film is a rare example when Lem was pleased with an adaptation of his work. Lem wrote that Wajda's film was the only adaptation of his works which had satisfied him (Lem) completely. Lem even confessed that he had found the course of the events in the film to make more sense than in the short story.


Plots

Wajda's film is the story of two brothers, Richard Fox, rally racer, and his brother Thomas, who had terrible car accidents.Jerzy Janiuk
"Stanisława Lema związki z medycyną"
''Medycyna Nowożytna'', 2006, Vol 13, issue 1-2, pp. 35-78
In the original Lem's work they were Harry Jones, a racer after series of car accidents, and his unnamed brother, who suffered a plane crash.


Radio-play version

In this version, the dilemma is posed in the domain of advanced prosthetics bordering with
robotics Robotics is an interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist humans. Robotics integrat ...
. Harry Jones has a series of grave accidents, after each of which Cybernetics Company adds
prostheses In medicine, a prosthesis (plural: prostheses; from grc, πρόσθεσις, prósthesis, addition, application, attachment), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through trau ...
to his body until virtually all his body, including a half of his brain, becomes artificial and Jones accumulates a huge debt to the company. The company sues him for return of all prostheses, but the lower court rejected the claim because it would be equivalent of killing Jones. The company tricked him into replacing the remaining half-brain and then sued with the demand to acquire Jones as its property in lieu of debt. The court is confronted with the dilemma: if Jones is machine, he/it cannot be sued, otherwise, if he is still a person, he cannot become company's property. Harry called his brother as evidence, but it turns out the latter one after plane crash is in the same predicament...


Film version

This version is framed in the domain of
transplantology Organ transplantation is a medical procedure in which an organ is removed from one body and placed in the body of a recipient, to replace a damaged or missing organ. The donor and recipient may be at the same location, or organs may be transpo ...
. Richard Fox badly hits his brother during a race. The surgeon transplants 48.5% of Toms' body into Richard, and a tragicomedy starts. The life insurance company refuses to pay off Tom's benefits, because he is "incompletely deceased". Tom's wife demands Richard either pay for Tom or recognize himself as Tom and "rejoin the family". Richard's lawyer is not helpful. At the next rally Richard smashes into his sister-in-law, two more women and a dog... After the third catastrophic rally the lawyer tries to tell Fox that he did not manage to do anything yet, but it turns out that Fox is no longer Fox, but his survived co-driver full of transplants from Fox's body parts...


Wajda's film

The film premiered on 17 August 1968 on Polish Television. The film was Wajda's first comedy film, first TV production, and the only science fiction work.Małgorzata Bugaj
"Wajda autoironicznie: Lem i ''Przekładaniec''"
''Pleograf. Kwartalnik Akademii Polskiego Filmu'', issue 3, 2018. :The article was based on the earlier author's article "Wajda meets Lem: ''Przekładaniec/Roly'' Poly (1968) as an example of early Polish science-fiction cinema", ''Studies in Eastern European Cinema'', 8, issue 2, 2017


Cast

* Bogumił Kobiela - Richard Fox *Marek Kobiela- Thomas Fox *
Anna Prucnal Anna Prucnal (born 17 December 1940) is a Polish actress in both cinema and theatre, as well as a singer. Prucnal was born in Warsaw, Poland. After her father, a surgeon, was killed by the Nazis during World War II, Anna and her sister were rai ...
- Mrs. Fox *
Jerzy Zelnik Jerzy Zelnik (born 14 September 1945) is a Polish actor. He has appeared in more than 60 films and television shows since 1963. He was awarded the Badge of Merit in Culture (1997) and Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2007). Sel ...
- Dr. Burton * - Dr. Benglow, psychoanalyst * Tadeusz Pluciński - pastor * Ryszard Filipski - lawyer *
Gerard Wilk Gerard Wilk (12 January 1944, Gliwice - 28 August 1995, Paris) – Polish dancer, the soloist of Warsaw Grand Theatre ballet from 1966 to 1970, member of Ballet of the 20th Century. Life Early life He was born in Gliwice to Jadwiga and Jan/ ...
– insurance company spokesman *
Witold Dederko Witold may refer to: *Vytautas the Great Vytautas (c. 135027 October 1430), also known as Vytautas the Great ( Lithuanian: ', be, Вітаўт, ''Vitaŭt'', pl, Witold Kiejstutowicz, ''Witold Aleksander'' or ''Witold Wielki'' Ruthenian: ' ...
– organ seller *
Wojciech Rajewski Wojciech () is a Polish name, equivalent to Czech Vojtěch , Slovak Vojtech, and German Woitke. The name is formed from two components in archaic Polish: * ''wój'' (Slavic: ''voj''), a root pertaining to war. It also forms words like ''wojownik ...
– man with a dog *Rock band
Niebiesko-Czarni Niebiesko-Czarni (Blue-Blacks) were one of the most popular Polish big-beat and rock groups of the 1960s and early 1970s. The band was founded by Franciszek Walicki. Czesław Niemen Czesław Niemen (; February 16, 1939 – January 17, 2004), ...
Janina Falkowska
p. 311
/ref>


Awards

*"Golden Screen" Award (Złoty Ekran) by Ekran magazine *Polish Radion and Television Committee awards for director (Wajda) and screenwriter (Lem) *Special recognition at the 1970
Sitges Film Festival The Sitges Film Festival ( ca, Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, links=no) is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Spain, specialized in fantasy and horror films, of which it is considered one of the world's foremost in ...
, Spain


Other adaptations


''Roly Poly''

''Roly Poly'' is also the title of a 1969 TV play from the
BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...
'' Thirty-Minute Theatre'' adapted from Lem's screenplay. It was aired on 15 May 1969, in Series 4, cycle ''The Victims''. The episode recording is missing from the archives. It was adapted by Derek Hoddinott and directed by Michael Hart.


Cast

* John Alderton – Richard Fox * Thorley Walters – Marcus Sedden, lawyer *
Dudley Foster Frank Dudley Foster (7 August 1924 – 8 January 1973) was an English actor who regularly appeared in television roles. Foster was born in Brighouse, West Riding of Yorkshire. His family had established links with the theatre and a brother an ...
– Dr. Burton * Hugh Latimer – Dr. Banglos, psychoanalyst * Terence Brady – Mr. Travers, insurance agent * Elizabeth Bennett – Miss Land


''Sandwich''

In 1989 Soviet film director shot a TV play ''Sandwich'' (russian: Бутерброд) based on Lem's screenplay.


Cast

*
Viktor Rakov Viktor Viktorovich Rakov (russian: Виктор Викторович Раков; born February 5, 1962) is a Soviet and Russian film and theater actor. People's Artist of Russia (2003). Biography Was born February 5, 1962, in Moscow. In 1984 he ...
- Mr. Jones * Владимир Белоусов - lawyer * Татьяна Рылеева - lawyer's secretary * Марина Трошина - insurance agent * - wife of Mr. Jones * - psychoanalyst *
Sergey Stepanchenko Sergei Yuryevich Stepanchenko (russian: Серге́й Ю́рьевич Степа́нченко; born June 18, 1959 in Tatarsk, Novosibirsk Oblast) is a Soviet and Russian theater and film actor, film director. People's Artist of the Russian Fed ...
- priest


Stage play

Polish puppet master and director staged a play "Czy Pan istnieje, Mr Johnes?", premiered in the on 5 December 2014, The grotesque story was cast into a grotesque show, enhanced by multimedia effects, weird masks and costumes of the actors, lights, and music. Actor Michał Jarmoszuk rendered the metamorphoses of the protagonist well, with multiple personalities, multigenderness, and even the multi-
species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
body of Mr. Jones.


Publication history

Lem's screenplay was first published in 1968 in film magazine ' and included into Lem's 1971 short story collection . The original radio play was published in the 2000 collection of Lem's scenarios. Both the screenplay and film plot were translated several times into Russian. The first, abridged, translation of the play (titled "Существуете ли вы, мистер Джонс?") was in 1957, the first full one was in 1958. The plot was translated under several titles: "Слоеный пирог" Layered Cake"(1972, 1979), "Мозаика" Mosaic"(1973), "Бутерброд" Sandwich"(1973)Переводы произведений Станислава Лема на русский язык (1955—1986)
ranslations of Works of Stanislaw Lem in Russian (1955-1986) by Konstantin Dushenko, ''НЛО'', issue 6, 2006


See also

*
Paradox of the heap The sorites paradox (; sometimes known as the paradox of the heap) is a paradox that results from vagueness, vague Predicate (grammar), predicates. A typical formulation involves a heap of sand, from which grains are removed individually. With the ...
, which involves gradually changing one thing until it turns into a different thing *
Ship of Theseus The Ship of Theseus is a thought experiment about whether an object that has had all of its original components replaced remains the same object. According to legend, Theseus, the mythical Greek founder-king of Athens, had rescued the children of ...
, a thought experiment that raises the question of whether an object that has had all of its components replaced remains fundamentally the same object


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Przekladaniec Films directed by Andrzej Wajda Works by Stanisław Lem Polish science fiction comedy films 1968 films 1960s Polish-language films 1960s science fiction comedy films Organ transplantation in fiction BBC television dramas Films based on works by Stanisław Lem Prosthetics in fiction Polish radio dramas 1955 radio dramas 1968 comedy films