Exhibits or Stories from the Castle

The website of the historic Slovak town of Stupava boasts a lively cultural calendar. Yet inside the gates of a Renaissance palace now used as a home for the infirm, time stands still. Its inhabitants make up the “exhibits” on display in this gently good-natured documentary. An eccentric and sometimes confused lot, they unselfconsciously relate their stories. There’s an incoherent philosopher and a legless man imprisoned for years for killing a cop. There’s a woman who collects pigeon feathers and one who sees aliens. There’s a devoted couple with six children who don’t visit, happy to just be together. Some set challenges for themselves; some sit in wheelchairs in the gardens and watch the world go by. Life ticks by at a lethargic pace, punctuated by the occasional sound of race cars or trains whistling through. The sun comes out periodically over the EXHIBITS OR STORIES FROM THE CASTLE, and the film’s humor never comes at the expense of its subjects. (In Slovak with subtitles) —B.B.