Post by Bonobo on Oct 29, 2016 20:30:42 GMT 1
Yes, when he made his comedies, critics and other directors considered Stanisław Bareja a low-class director.
Today his films, especially the last ones in which he struggled with communist censorship and often won, has become cult and still function in general opinion. While most of his critics are long forgotten.
I saw his best film Teddy Bear in 1981 when Solidarity was strong so the communist regime allowed its screening, although earlier censors had tried to cut 1/3 of the film due to anti-communist content. Although I didn`t understand some issues in the plot, I took to the film at first sight
and still like to watch it from time to time. A lot of quotes from the film have been adopted into the Polish culture.
Teddy Bear is the English title of Miś, a 1980 cult Polish film directed by Stanisław Bareja.
Teddy Bear, along with The Cruise (Rejs), was a reflection of contemporary Polish society using surreal humor to somehow get past the censorship at the time.
Plot
Rysiek (Stanisław Tym, who also wrote the screenplay), the shrewd manager of a state-sponsored sports club, has to get to London before his ex-wife Irena (Barbara Burska) does to collect an enormous sum of money from a savings account the two used to share in happier days.
But getting out of a communist country is never easy, even for a well-connected operator like Rysiek. It seems that Irena has destroyed Rysiek's hard-won passport to strand him in Warsaw while she's off to London, forcing him to craft a Byzantine scheme which involves the production of a movie with his friend. He uses this as an opportunity to track down his look-alike "borrowing" his passport to stop his wife.
Hilarity ensues as Bareja gives the audience a guided tour of the corruption, absurd bureaucracy, pervasive bribery and flourishing black market that pervaded socialism in the People's Republic of Poland.
Unfortunately, the English subtitled film is currently not available.
But at least watch this scene in a popular bar. The director exaggerated a lot, but if he hadn`t, it wouldn`t be so funny.
Today his films, especially the last ones in which he struggled with communist censorship and often won, has become cult and still function in general opinion. While most of his critics are long forgotten.
I saw his best film Teddy Bear in 1981 when Solidarity was strong so the communist regime allowed its screening, although earlier censors had tried to cut 1/3 of the film due to anti-communist content. Although I didn`t understand some issues in the plot, I took to the film at first sight
and still like to watch it from time to time. A lot of quotes from the film have been adopted into the Polish culture. Teddy Bear is the English title of Miś, a 1980 cult Polish film directed by Stanisław Bareja.
Teddy Bear, along with The Cruise (Rejs), was a reflection of contemporary Polish society using surreal humor to somehow get past the censorship at the time.
Plot
Rysiek (Stanisław Tym, who also wrote the screenplay), the shrewd manager of a state-sponsored sports club, has to get to London before his ex-wife Irena (Barbara Burska) does to collect an enormous sum of money from a savings account the two used to share in happier days.
But getting out of a communist country is never easy, even for a well-connected operator like Rysiek. It seems that Irena has destroyed Rysiek's hard-won passport to strand him in Warsaw while she's off to London, forcing him to craft a Byzantine scheme which involves the production of a movie with his friend. He uses this as an opportunity to track down his look-alike "borrowing" his passport to stop his wife.
Hilarity ensues as Bareja gives the audience a guided tour of the corruption, absurd bureaucracy, pervasive bribery and flourishing black market that pervaded socialism in the People's Republic of Poland.
Unfortunately, the English subtitled film is currently not available.
But at least watch this scene in a popular bar. The director exaggerated a lot, but if he hadn`t, it wouldn`t be so funny.