Innocent Sorcerers

In the mid-1950s, director Andrzej Wajda made a trilogy of films about Polish life during and after World War II—A Generation, Kanal and Ashes and Diamonds—that were influential in creating a “Polish school” of filmmaking. 1960’s Innocent Sorcerers is lighter fare, giving a stream-of-consciousness view of Polish young adults over the course of a long night. A charming doctor in training has grown tired of female attentions, until a pickup prank leads a sly but innocent gamine up to his apartment, where the two discuss morality and verbally dance around the subject of sex. The film is essentially a proto-Linklater talkfest, but with greater emphasis on allegory, non sequitur and striking photography. It’s mystifying but oddly sweet and marred only by the DVD’s unreliable subtitles.