Tod eines Taxifahrers

I watched "Ostatni kurs" (The Last Fare) as a kid and quite recently, enjoying different aspects of it both times. While working on the film, the director Jan Batory was inspired by classic British crime stories, in which suspense and even the macabre are often softened by an appropriate dose of humor (usually black). The script was written by Maciej Slomczynski (whose pen name was Joe Alex), a regular author of action television shows ("Cobra") and detective novels in the 1960s. The critics praised "The Last Fare" as innovative and well thought out, with a fast-paced and engaging plot. I agree with the critics, and to me, the additional assets of the film are a couple of nice songs and the participation of many popular actors. I also think that this film is one of the manifestations of the breakthrough in Polish society and culture in the early 1960s. At that time, a new intelligentsia had already emerged, educated in the post-war period, which clearly wanted a culture based on Western models. The communist authorities had to understand this and take it into account, especially since there were few hardliners and more opportunists in the communist party itself. They were often intelligent and flexible people who simply wanted to make careers, and their excuse was that the Soviet bear would not allow a democratic Poland anyway. So I think that at the point of the creation of "The Last Fare" communism as an ideology was already dead for the Polish intelligentsia.