322

In his debut film, Slovakian director Dušan Hanák tells the story of slaughterhouse employer Jozef Lauko, who learns of his cancer diagnosis via the number “322” and sees it as punishment for his past deeds. In his efforts to make peace with the past, he meets a barrier of indifference and is forced to cope with his illness and his life alone. Influenced by both the French and the Czech New Waves, the film doesn’t place its focus on exploring Lauko’s fate, but rather on how he sees the world around him: it’s not just the individual who is sick, but society as a whole. The print from the Arsenal archive is the only non-censored version of 322 and comes from the collection of the Mannheim Film Festival, where the film received a prize in 1969.