THE HOURGLASS SANATORIUM
Title
THE HOURGLASS SANATORIUM
SKU
5698998
Catalogue No.
RAD184UHDLE
UPC
5060974683659
Label
Genres
Release Date
Jul 20, 2026
Format
2x4KUHD/Blu-ray
Packaging
2 x 4K UHD/Blu-ray
No. of Discs
2
Region Coding
Region Free
TV Standard
2160p
Aspect Ratio
1.85:1
Running Time
119
Weight
0.428
Price
$54 inc. GST
Ships From
Melbourne, AU
A young man, Jozef (Jan Nowicki, O-Bi, O-Ba: The End of Civilization), takes a train into the middle of nowhere to visit his dying father, who he understands is residing in a sanatorium. On arrival he discovers a giant building crumbling into ruin, with the patients seemingly left to their own devices, and time itself behaving in strange, non-linear ways. A doctor then informs him that his father is both alive and not-alive, beginning an epic hypnagogic journey through the hospital and his own mind, with each room unlocking its own sinister, hallucinatory world. Adapted to the screen from a book of Bruno Schulz short stories by visionary director Wojciech Has (The Saragossa Manuscript), the film overcame fear and scepticism from the Polish authorities when Has smuggled the film out of the country to premiere it at Cannes, where it would go on to win the Jury Prize. The Hourglass Sanatorium has come to be regarded as one of the greatest Polish films of all time, with its surreal structure and staggering feats of production design proving hugely influential on arthouse and fantasy filmmakers alike.
4K UHD & BLU-RAY DUAL FORMAT SPECIAL FEATURES
New 4K restoration from the original camera negative, presented in Dolby Vision HDR
4K UHD and Blu-ray presentation of the feature; world premiere on 4K UHD
Uncompressed mono PCM audio
New audio commentary by Polish film expert Michael Brooke (2026)
Archival interview with production designer Jerzy Skarzynski by filmmaker Jerzy Wojcik (1997)
Accordion - acclaimed early short film from Wojciech Has (1947)
Newly improved English subtitle translation
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by critic Ela Bittencourt
Limited edition of 5000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
A young Jewish man journeys to a mysterious sanatorium to visit his dying father, only to find himself in a surreal realm where time does not behave normally. The protagonist experiences a dreamlike progression through childhood memories and strange encounters, while the film weaves in reflections on the Holocaust.
