Skolimowski’s melancholy and visually-striking feature debut follows a day and a half in the life of a restless former ichthyology student faced with the specter of the compulsory military service he has until now assiduously avoided. A twenty-five-year-old Skolimowski wrote the film’s partially autobiographical script and cast himself in the role of the restless young man reexamining his aimless life and loves and weighing a momentous decision. Rysopis’ instant critical and popular success in Poland and abroad transformed Skolimowski into a spokesman of sorts for the emerging generation of postwar filmmakers and announced his talents as an energetic visual stylist. Made while he was enrolled at Lódz, Skolimowski subverted the school’s rigid apprenticeship system by carefully using each of his annual allotments of film stock, strictly designated for assigned projects, to direct Rysopis in four carefully planned segments. – HG