I saw this Roman Polanksi short on the Criterion collection DVD set, and it's definitely one of my favorites of his. It shares a lot with silent comedy, but it's a little more peculiar within its own conventional quirkiness. It's all about two men, and a wardrobe, as the title all too blatantly makes clear. But what ends up being surprising, funny, and even touching to an extent is where the wardrobe gets taken around to. They can't seem to get it really anywhere, and the destination of the wardrobe seems to be undetermined. It's really all a big excuse to showcase a mixture of silent-film comedy with an underlying message that could be read into. What's it like to bring along something or someone that is just very out of place? This becomes all the more evident as the two men try to rest it down at some places, only to find they have to take it back up again and keep walking. I loved the bits of business that happened, but even just as much the light whimsy that's given to such a strange scene. What's more surreal than two men carrying a wardrobe along a beach? And the music by the great composer (who's best work is in Knife in the Water) Komeda, gives the picture just that perfect quality that lends itself to being memorable still. It's 14 minutes of cinematic bliss for Polanski fans, and for a student film it's got a genuine lot of creativity, humor, and a point that is not lost amid the tact of entertaining to no end.
Review of Two Men and a Wardrobe
