Przekładaniec

''Przekładaniec'' is a 1968 short science fiction comedy film directed by Andrzej Wajda based on the screenplay 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, ''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'' 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 (and the associated legal rights) 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 Lem's original 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.

Harry Jones has a series of grave accidents. After each accident, Cybernetics Company adds prostheses 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. However, it turns out the latter is in the same predicament after the plane crash.

Film version

This version is framed in the domain of transplantology.

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. However, 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 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 - Mrs. Fox
* Jerzy Zelnik - Dr. Burton
* - Dr. Benglow, psychoanalyst
* Tadeusz Pluciński - pastor
*Ryszard Filipski - lawyer
* Gerard Wilk – insurance company spokesman
* Witold Dederko – organ seller
* Wojciech Rajewski – man with a dog
*Rock band Niebiesko-CzarniJanina 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, Spain

Other adaptations

''Roly Poly''

''Roly Poly'' is also the title of a 1969 TV play from the BBC Television ''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 – 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'' () based on Lem's screenplay.

Cast

* Viktor Rakov - Mr. Jones
* Владимир Белоусов - lawyer
* Татьяна Рылеева - lawyer's secretary
* Марина Трошина - insurance agent
* - wife of Mr. Jones
* - psychoanalyst
* Sergey Stepanchenko - priest

Stage play

Polish puppet master and director staged a play entitled "Czy Pan istnieje, Mr Johnes?", which 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 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, which involves gradually changing one thing until it turns into a different thing
* Ship of Theseus, 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
Fiction about organ transplantation
BBC television dramas
Films based on works by Stanisław Lem
Fiction about prosthetics
Polish radio dramas
1955 radio dramas
1968 comedy films