Rysopis ends as it began—in a void. It is a film with a question mark in every sentence, and the idea of the quest is given physical expression by Skolimowski's skilful subjective camerawork, leading his audience down staircases, through gigantic scrapyards, and along crowded streets that heighten the feeling of dislocation.

Rysopis may owe something to Godard in terms of technique and incident …; but it is both too dour and too bitter to be French, and Skolimowski's own performance in the role of Andrzej carefully avoids magniloquent gestures and makes no appeal to sentimentality.

In Walkover, the personality of Andrzej is more clearly defined. The intelligent, rather sad face tucked truculently into the shoulders; a listener more than a talker; a disconsolate, reflective fighter. (p. 234)

Barrier is an obtuse fantasy that questions contemporary Polish society, championing the young student outsider at the expense of the generation that...