Der Tag eines Spinners

Even though I've lived in Poland for over a year now, I generally don't watch many Polish movies, especially newer ones, which I've found to be very derivative of American and British films. This movie however is a true gem. A rare film that makes you take stock of your own choices in life. The movie focuses on a day (though actually it has to be more than one day) in the life of Adas, a 49 year old high school teacher from Warsaw who's first words to us are "I'm afraid of waking up", and we soon learn thats not all he's afraid of. Adas is deeply dissatisfied with every aspect of his life. From his noisy neighbors, to his broken family, to the Polish government, to his own inability to climb out of his personal hell. Told mostly through narration voice-over which clues us in to Adas's thought process, the film explores the turmoil of middle age with an honesty and poignancy rare in film. While certainly hilarious in moments, this movie serves up an equal (or greater) amount of melancholy as well, balancing the two aspect, delicately. As Adas passes from compulsion to depression, to denial, to rage, we learn more about him, and come to empathize with him. The most striking feature of this movie for me, was the universality of Adas, and the relate-ability to him. Yes he is Polish, with some uniquely Polish complaints and problems, but he could easily be any middle aged man in any western society. While he's a wacko in his own way, what the movie says is, "aren't we all?", "aren't we all this man in some way?" This movie did for me, what hardly any movies do anymore; it made me think and reflect about my own life and my own choices, and any movie that can do that, deserves praise in my book.

I'm not sure what some get so uptight about nitpicking some small details and missing the whole big picture and the wonderfull moments of the film. I also left Poland as a child in 1979 and one thing I had to live through is bad Hollywood films:P This movie can be crude, but why shouldnt it be. If your life turned out like this you would be extremely unhappy and likelly using rather colorfull words when you reached the boiling point as the main character has. The film is simply art, it had no typical pre-fabricated way of telling the story, it was simply a day in life of an angry man with a life time of regrets and love that he yearned for. It also had some critisisms of Poles in general and I have to agree, sometimes there was to many "me me me" when I have visited insted of "we". I think the prayer at the end summoned it up. Most of all it is a satire, it is taken to extreme in places, thats what satires do, so dont take this to literally, just enjoy and try to understand that it is not you regular moron proof hollywood movie where everything is laid out in front of you and overexplained so the dimmer amongst us dont ask to many questions. To me its one of the best films I have seen in the last ten years, a pleasant surprise.

The film does not consist only of flat humor as of vulgar speech and behave of the protagonist but has a very deep social critic (as for example the popping up of 3rd world scenes or showing how neighbors treat each other or in general how people talk to each other). The protagonist appears as a freak but compared to the rest of the world he is the most normal one, it is the behave of the society which leads him to his abnormality. An other strong critical emphasis is put on the consume-society of our world. TV advertisements are shown totally ridiculously and the products they advertise are totally non-sense. It may appear quite funny, but if we think about this fact it is shown like it is in reality. Profit and consume dominate about rationality and humanity. It is one of the best movies I've seen in the last year, the humor is not typical American slapstick or "Al Bundy -like" but the vulgar talking of the protagonist calms the pathetic style and makes it easier to watch and also very funny. A+!!!

DAY OF THE WACKO, directed by Marek Koterski, is a rather droll comedy about the daily life of an eccentric and depressed Polish high-school teacher. He's angry, lonely, underpaid, unappreciated, and can envision no end to his predicament. Imagine a film in which the ambient spirit of Eleanor Rigby is reconfigured as a very frustrated Polish, middle-aged nerd, and you come close to the tone of this dark farce. There are some scenes which are very funny, and others are just plain odd. Yet, overall, the film is worth a look. When the hero visits the beach to relax and unwind, he meets some of the craziest and bizarre characters that one could imagine. A few of these scenes are flat-out hysterical. Bonus Features are all in Polish without sub-titles.

I don't watch foreign movies very often. Day of the Wacko was an exception. But I was glad I saw it. Would not have missed it.

The title of the movie contains exactly what the film is all about. A day of the life of a real wacko. Watch this strange man, doing everything in his own careful way. As he has been doing his whole life. The man tries to escape from his town, his habits.. his life. Will he manage to do this?

A strange movie. But really good. And with some clear messages for all of us. If you get a chance to see this one, be sure to watch it.

You will not be disappointed.

It's a shame that this film isn't available on dvd in Europe.