Movies like Hands Up!
If you like "Hands Up!" you are looking for philosophical, experimental and avant garde movies about / with surrealism, communism, memory, renaissance, trauma, politics and medical profession themes of Drama genre shot in Poland.
Find your next favorite and similar movies in two steps:
1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below).
2. Look for them in the presented list.
Hands Up! (1981)
501
Original name: Ręce do góry
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 80 min.
Story:
Beginning with a sci-fi prologue before finding itself with several doctors attending a medical school reunion in a sealed-up railway carriage. Between drinks, the disenchanted medicos ruminate over the effect that communism (particularly the Stalinist brand) has had on their profession. Originally banned in 1967 and finally released in 1981 after Skolimowski shot new sequences, the 76 minute 1981 version was the only one ever officially released.
Style:
philosophical, experimental, avant garde, allegory, dark comedy, black and white, political, black humor
Plot:
surrealism, communism, memory, renaissance, trauma, politics, medical profession, post-apocalyptic future, student, minimalism, electronic music, self discovery, revolt, sadness, young man, desperation, female protagonist, alienation, police station, male protagonist, polish, satire, entrapment, stalinism, van ...
Time:
70s
Place:
poland, eastern europe
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to Hands Up!
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out melancholic, art house, existential and bleak films with plots about alienation, renaissance, surrealism, character study, minimalism, death and identity crisis mostly in Drama, Comedy and Sport genres. Some movies like Hands Up!: Barrier (1966), 30 Door Key (1991), Walkover (1965), Man of Marble (1977), Moonlighting (1982). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
608
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Country: Poland
Duration: 77 min.
Story:
A dream-like meditation on post-industrial life in Communist Poland.
Style:
art house, existential, meditative, melancholic, experimental
Plot:
surrealism, coming of age, rebellion, generation gap, alienation, nonconformity, individualism, youth, identity crisis, social class, symbolism, social isolation ...
Time:
60s, year 1966, 20th century
Place:
poland, eastern europe, europe, central europe
Similarity:
95%
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland, UK, France
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
A young writer in 1939 Warsaw faces the conflict of acting his age or relapsing into childhood during the brink of World War II. Based on the famous novel Ferdydurke by Witold Gombrowicz.
Style:
thought provoking, art house, dark comedy, tragicomedy, avant garde ...
Plot:
renaissance, identity crisis, literary, surrealism, satire, coming of age, loss of innocence, alienation, isolation, existentialism, teacher, boarding school ...
Time:
1930s
Place:
warsaw poland, eastern europe, poland
Similarity:
90%
583
Genre: Drama, Sport
Country: Poland
Duration: 77 min.
Story:
Walkover, the autobiographical second feature by Polish enfant terrible Jerzy Skolimowski echoes the French nouvelle vague in its extraordinarily stylized tale of a prizefighter who ducks a fight to romance a beautiful blonde.
Style:
black and white
Plot:
boxing, renaissance, male female relationship, male protagonist, 30 year old, cultural conflict, graduate, dead girl, duel, ex girlfriend, old friend, boxer ...
Time:
60s
Place:
poland, eastern europe
Similarity:
75%
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 160 min.
Story:
Man of Marble is a Polish film about a student making a film about a bricklayer who was once idolized. She interviews people who knew him and finds old footage that lead to an unfolding mystery that causes her producer to cancel the project.
Style:
emotional, meditative, compassionate, talky, disturbing ...
Plot:
politics, terrorist, visceral, communism, friendship, working class, honest, eviction, renaissance, heroes, journalism, father daughter relationship ...
Time:
70s, 1950s, year 1976, year 1977, 20th century ...
Place:
poland, eastern europe, europe, canada, japan ...
Similarity:
47%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 97 min.
Story:
A Polish contractor, Nowak, leads a group of workmen to London so they can provide cheap labor for a government official based there. Nowak (Irons) has to manage the project and the men as they encounter the tempations of the West and loneliness and ...
Style:
political, realistic, tense, bleak, dark comedy ...
Audience:
girls' night
Plot:
renaissance, culture clash, worker, survival, adaptation, polish, construction worker, state affairs, misfit, society, boss and employee, workplace ...
Time:
year 1982, 80s
Place:
london, poland, eastern europe, england, europe ...
Similarity:
47%
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
Wajda's homage to Zbigniew Cybulski, the "Polish James Dean" who starred in the director's ASHES AND DIAMONDS and died young. The movie follows the tribulations of a director attempting to make a movie with a Cybulski-like star ...
Style:
meta, art house, poignant, melancholic, philosophical ...
Plot:
renaissance, film set, respect, behind the scenes, tribute, loss, tragedy, nostalgia, memory, mourning, grief, film history ...
Time:
60s, year 1969
Place:
eastern europe, poland
Similarity:
44%
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
A metaphysical mystery involving a university student's camera getting stolen, and the thief then committing suicide. Looking back upon the event, the situation comes to be questioned if it happened at all.
Style:
touching, psychological, black and white, black comedy, intellectual ...
Plot:
surrealism, revolt, communist, exploitation, university, thief, man on the run, cinema, ideology, male protagonist, naked man, anti hero ...
Place:
tokyo
Similarity:
44%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 75 min.
Story:
This film consists of 75 minutes and 6 seconds of blue screen.
Style:
avant garde, experimental, captivating, disturbing, psychological ...
Plot:
abstract art, surrealism, minimalism, entrapment, absurdism, weirdo, eccentric, hypnotic, cult
Similarity:
43%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 87 min.
Story:
The main character in this effective, convincing drama is Witold (Tadeusz Bradecki) who is high in what later would be termed the "emotional quotient" or the ability to bounce back from adverse, tragic circumstances. Witold has been ...
Style:
existential, melancholic, bleak, intellectual, tragic
Plot:
corruption, grief, character study, moral dilemma, family drama, existential crisis, bureaucracy, frustration, social realism, betrayal, class struggle, anti hero ...
Time:
year 1980
Place:
eastern europe, poland, himalaya
Similarity:
42%
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 73 min.
Story:
Kieślowski’s study of a political strike, controversially told from the viewpoint of a Communist functionary trying to keep order.
Style:
historical drama, period piece, serious, intense, educational ...
Plot:
working class, violence, civil unrest, character study, cold war era, social realism, ethical dilemma, bureaucracy, renaissance, political party, government, clerk ...
Time:
70s
Place:
poland, eastern europe
Similarity:
41%
Genre: Drama
Country: Belgium, France
Duration: 52 min.
Story:
Professor Taranne, a conceited university Professor, is subject to several absurd and disquieting incidents from the world surrounding him. He is being accused of things he couldn't have been doing. He starts doubting himself - a self that ...
Style:
psychological thriller, mind bending, philosophical, dark comedy, creepy ...
Plot:
absurdism, identity crisis, accusation, surrealism, paranoia, existentialism, character study, mistaken identity, mental breakdown, satire, unsettling, alienation ...
Place:
belgium
Similarity:
41%
Genre: Drama
Country: France, Tunisia
Duration: 77 min.
Story:
In this French tour-de-force a young student decides to have no more interaction with the world than is needed to minimally sustain life. His increasingly automaton-like behavior is coupled with a strange clarity of insight about the world around ...
Style:
experimental, art house, artsy, existential, contemplative ...
Plot:
nihilism, existentialism, depression, loneliness, minimalism, introspection, existential loneliness, boredom, loser, time travel, lsd, trauma ...
Time:
70s, 20th century
Place:
paris france, france
Similarity:
41%
Genre: Drama
Country: France, Switzerland
Duration: 80 min.
Story:
Jean-Luc Godard's poetic meditation on war, violence and defeat. The film is structured in three parts. The three segments are "Hell", "Purgatory", and "Heaven". The first segment is a montage of war images from ...
Style:
philosophical, meditative, atmospheric, serious, political ...
Plot:
politics, life philosophy, existentialism, religion, self discovery, greed, anti war, memory, journalist, poetry, death, trauma ...
Time:
year 2004, 90s, 21st century
Place:
middle east, sarajevo, europe, former yugoslavia, bosnia ...
Similarity:
36%
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 60 min.
Story:
Made in 1983, shelved for four years. A chilling tale about kids playing in a bombed-out Warsaw courtyard on the day of Stalin's death, while their parents are away at the church or a memorial procession.
Style:
grim, bleak, period piece
Plot:
bullying, stalinism, communism, childhood, innocence lost, cruelty, totalitarianism, post war, fear, irony, oppression, anti semitism ...
Time:
1950s, 50s
Place:
warsaw poland, poland, eastern europe
Similarity:
34%
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 85 min.
Story:
Hanka is a young woman who suddenly abandons her stable life for no obvious reason, and undertakes a trip without any clear destination, meeting strangers on her way. At the same time, her boyfriend desperately tries to find her.
Style:
melancholic, existential
Plot:
road trip, self discovery, female protagonist, identity crisis, missing person, loneliness, escape, uncertainty, character study, alienation, coming of age, female empowerment ...
Similarity:
34%
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
A middle-aged man sets out on a symbolic journey through past, present, and future to learn why an old friend committed suicide, and learns much about his own life along the way.
Style:
reflective, existential, melancholic, bleak, philosophical ...
Plot:
suicide, memory, existential crisis, symbolism, loss, midlife crisis, self discovery, guilt, flashback, mature, regret, isolation ...
Place:
poland
Similarity:
34%
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
After discussions and dishonest negotiations, a decision is taken as to where a large new chemical factory is to be built and Bednarz, an honest Party man, is put in charge of the construction. He used to live in the small town where the factory is ...
Style:
thought provoking, captivating, bleak, sincere, emotional ...
Plot:
communist, factory, small town, innocence lost, introspection, politics, moral dilemma, society, human nature, state affairs, social relations, small town life ...
Time:
70s
Place:
poland
Similarity:
33%
Genre: Drama
Country: Mexico
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
Portrays the universe of an eternal being that exists within a lifecycle filled with disappointments and hopelessness. It's the chronicle about the search for love and the fight against oblivion.
Style:
existential, reflective, melancholic, emotional, dramatic ...
Plot:
loneliness, character study, loss, hopelessness, memory, frustration, identity crisis, alienation, intimate, lgbt, gay, redemption ...
Similarity:
33%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
Set in 1952, the story follows events around the "Peace Run", a propaganda 3-day marathon for peace. The winner is to be presented with a new motorcycle by the country's president. Chief organizer is a ruthless manipulator who will ...
Style:
historical drama, tense, grim, poignant, satirical
Plot:
race, manipulation, propaganda, oppression, power struggle, marathon, betrayal, corruption, irony, moral ambiguity, cold war era, sabotage ...
Time:
1950s, 50s
Place:
poland, eastern europe
Similarity:
32%
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland, France
Duration: 108 min.
Story:
Mika arrives in Poland to pay a hospital visit to her father, who is suffering from severe brain injury and memory loss. It's the first time they have met in many years, yet her father thinks they still live together and she's a teenager. ...
Style:
psychological, captivating, thrilling, melancholic, art film ...
Plot:
memory, father daughter relationship, memory loss, dementia, family relations, relationships, introspection, amnesiac, family life, estrangement, alienation, dysfunctional family ...
Place:
poland, eastern europe
Similarity:
31%
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
The first motion picture film by Agnieszka Holland about loneliness, longing for affection, and misfortune. Irena, a postal delivery worker, is struggling with a inadequate housing, a drunk neighbor who wants to take her place, and a heartless boss, ...
Style:
bleak
Plot:
loneliness, poverty, alienation, isolation, social realism, female protagonist, single mother, theft, tragic romance, working class, melancholy, desperation ...
Time:
80s
Place:
eastern europe, west berlin west germany, poland
Similarity:
31%
Genre: Drama
Country: Sweden
Duration: 72 min.
Story:
Poetic, experimental and different, Container is described by Lukas Moodysson as "a black and white silent movie with sound" and with the following words; "A woman in a man's body. A man in a woman's body. Jesus in ...
Style:
experimental, black and white, avant garde, art film, poetic ...
Plot:
desire for fame, identity crisis, minimalism, intimate, metaphysics, human relationship, darkness
Similarity:
31%
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 86 min.
Story:
The life of a grumpy 40-year-old man living with his wife in a high-rise block. Every day is like the other - quarrel over dinner, garbage, neighbours, elevators, lost socks. He hates everybody, especially his wife. Not even sexual fantasies are an ...
Style:
existential, cynical, bleak, psychological, art house ...
Plot:
character study, neighbor, resentment, marital strife, midlife crisis, domestic drama, alienation, routine, slice of life, awkwardness, sexual frustration, isolation ...
Place:
poland
Similarity:
31%
Movie in collections
254
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 114 min.
Story:
Bearing traces of the old Anton Chekhov play The Wedding, The Contract is set during an "arranged" ceremony. The bride and groom barely know each other, but this matters not at all to their tradition-bound families. At the last minute, the ...
Style:
family saga, tense, melancholic
Plot:
wedding, corruption, hypocrisy, character study, emotional breakdown, suicide attempt, arranged marriage, satire, ballerina, villa, bureaucracy, intimate ...
Time:
year 1980
Place:
eastern europe
Similarity:
29%
180
Genre: Drama
Country: Greece
Duration: 88 min.
Story:
Greece nowadays. Seven different stories about seven persons who have already reached their limits and finally fall apart. Despite their seemingly obvious connection they are simultaneously connected through a common desperate action: the last phone ...
Style:
melancholic, realistic, bleak, tragicomedy, avant garde ...
Plot:
social realism, multiple storylines, loneliness, isolation, mental health, hopelessness, alienation, desperation, resilience, slow burn, moral ambiguity, survival ...
Similarity:
29%
Genre: Drama
Country: Yugoslavia
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
Peter is the dark brooding type. Leading a vacuous, shapeless life, he longs for the ideal woman, while at the same time, half heartedly continuing with his habitual girlfriend, Marusa , who is considerably older, a fact that Peter is quick to point ...
Style:
melancholic, psychological, romantic drama, black and white, existential ...
Plot:
character study, loneliness, identity crisis, bittersweet, desperation, alienation, frustration, obsession, small town, minimalism, slow burn, social realism ...
Place:
eastern europe, slovenia
Similarity:
29%
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 91 min.
Story:
Krzysztof Zanussi's groundbreaking film chronicles a decade in the life of a young physics student whose absolute faith in the primacy of rationality and science is shaken by tragedy and affairs of the heart.
Style:
philosophical, poetic, existential
Plot:
psychological manipulation, mental disorder, identity, unrequited love, love letter, disorder, renaissance, meaning of life, psychology, monkey, mountain climbing, physicist ...
Time:
year 1973, 60s
Place:
eastern europe, poland
Similarity:
28%
Genre: Drama
Country: France, USA
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
After being heralded by Jean-Luc Godard as the great hope of the New American Cinema, Peter Emanuel Goldman relocated to Paris just in time for 1968. Social dissolution permeates WHEEL OF ASHES, a stripped-down account of a young man's ...
Style:
existential, avant garde, art film, philosophical, art house ...
Plot:
existential crisis, alienation, introspection, religion, hallucination, surrealism, symbolism, isolation, a vision, psychological torment, male protagonist, urban ...
Time:
60s
Place:
paris france
Similarity:
28%
Genre: Drama
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 102 min.
Story:
Five short stories with contemporary settings. In New York, people are indifferent to derelicts sleeping on sidewalks, to a woman's assault in front of an apartment building, and to a couple injured in a car crash. A man, stripped of his ...
Style:
anthology, art house, thought provoking, political, experimental ...
Plot:
indifference, class struggle, alienation, innocence lost, political intrigue, revolution, moral ambiguity, frustration, satire, violence, urban decay, existentialism ...
Time:
60s
Place:
new york, cuba
Similarity:
28%
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 84 min.
Story:
Twelve-year-old Simone feels painfully disconnected from the world after witnessing the brutal death of her mother. Simone, a solitary multimedia artist in her twenties, is struggling to control her crushing panic attacks and keep her day job in an ...
Style:
psychological, mindfuck, atmospheric, art house, experimental ...
Plot:
trauma, grief, female protagonist, manipulation, memory, alienation, identity crisis, mental illness, haunting, violent death, rehearsal, coming of age ...
Similarity:
28%
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