I don't know what the story is behind this obscure feature, but it seems likely it was an old script of Skolimowski's that got produced because he was making more commercial films in Western Europe at the time, and the Polish film industry figured his name might sell it. Perhaps if he'd directed, this odd but not terribly interesting story would have carried more symbolic weight, had more compelling style, or something. As is, it's too much like too many other films of the era (and earlier), without distinctive characteristics or impact.
Another handsome but otherwise vaguely defined Angry Young Man, a photographer, is having having a carefree country weekend with his just-met new squeeze, a nurse. But on their way back to Warsaw the idyll is spoiled when they witness a hit-and-run accident that leaves a child dead. After this (and finding out that the hero takes nudie shots of his other paramours), she's not that interested in carrying on their affair. But apparently to impress her, he attempts various schemes including trying to blackmail a passing driver he entraps in a (fake) second hit-and-run incident.
"A Slip-Up," like its protagonist, has a lot of energy but signifies nothing in particular. There's a big finish (involving another accident), yet it makes no sense psychologically. We're presumably meant to be rooting for the leads' romance, but despite OK performances, there's no great chemistry, and in fact our hero seems a callow sort whom she'd be better off abandoning after their fling. There's no evidence why (or even if) he might really feel differently about her than he does about the numerous other girls he's apparently played around with. (Having seen a number of Eastern European movies from this period lately, it's a funny running motif that their antiheroes always seem to have a "girl in every port"--a peurile fantasy that undercuts the otherwise realistic settings.)
Admittedly, I may not have seen this little-remembered feature under ideal circumstances, in a worn TV print that probably didn't flatter whatever visual flair it originally had. But this is a minor footnote to Skolimowski's career that's only really interesting as a curio. I'm guessing he did not have a very successful track record with narrative features, since the actual director Jan Lomnicki seems to have spent most of his career (before and after) on TV series and documentaries, which latter he was much more esteemed for.
Another handsome but otherwise vaguely defined Angry Young Man, a photographer, is having having a carefree country weekend with his just-met new squeeze, a nurse. But on their way back to Warsaw the idyll is spoiled when they witness a hit-and-run accident that leaves a child dead. After this (and finding out that the hero takes nudie shots of his other paramours), she's not that interested in carrying on their affair. But apparently to impress her, he attempts various schemes including trying to blackmail a passing driver he entraps in a (fake) second hit-and-run incident.
"A Slip-Up," like its protagonist, has a lot of energy but signifies nothing in particular. There's a big finish (involving another accident), yet it makes no sense psychologically. We're presumably meant to be rooting for the leads' romance, but despite OK performances, there's no great chemistry, and in fact our hero seems a callow sort whom she'd be better off abandoning after their fling. There's no evidence why (or even if) he might really feel differently about her than he does about the numerous other girls he's apparently played around with. (Having seen a number of Eastern European movies from this period lately, it's a funny running motif that their antiheroes always seem to have a "girl in every port"--a peurile fantasy that undercuts the otherwise realistic settings.)
Admittedly, I may not have seen this little-remembered feature under ideal circumstances, in a worn TV print that probably didn't flatter whatever visual flair it originally had. But this is a minor footnote to Skolimowski's career that's only really interesting as a curio. I'm guessing he did not have a very successful track record with narrative features, since the actual director Jan Lomnicki seems to have spent most of his career (before and after) on TV series and documentaries, which latter he was much more esteemed for.
