CONVERSATIONS WITH A CUPBOARD MAN is a strange yet compelling film about loneliness and isolation, and their effects. Charles is not a particularly fragile boy, but his mother guards him jealously, keeping him away from school and other children. She feeds him, washes him, and is his only companion. For the first 20 of his life, he stays in their small apartment, and spends most of his time in an attic closet. One day, his mother meets a man. Suddenly, Charles becomes an impediment to her new life, and so she sets him free. To Charles, who has never bought anything in a store, taken a bus, or even talked to a stranger, his new-found freedom is bewildering and frightening.
Director: Mariusz Grzegorzek. AKA Conversation With A Cupboard Man.
Writers: Mariusz Grzegorzek, Ian McEwan (story).
Stars: Bozena Adamek, Rafal Olbrychski, Karol Cieslar, Maciej Wilk, Adam Ferency, Marek Walczewski, Stanislawa Celinska, Leon Niemczyk, Ewa Frackiewicz, Marek Siudym, Piotr Pawlowski, Wieslawa Mazurkiewicz, Katarzyna Bargielowska, Alicja Cichecka, Zofia Kopacz.
1993 Venice Film Festival – Nominated for the Golden Lion.
The helpless feeling of having a screen in between yourself and the main character…