Der Tag eines Spinners

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.

I think it definitely is. Recently Polish films were pretty much always with Olaf Lubaszenko and Cezary Pazura. A decent director/actor pair but nothing special. Their films like "E=mc2" and "Chlopaki nie placza" were funny but rather mundane, just vulgar humor followed by slapstick. It's funny, but you get sick of it after a while. Then there were movies like "Psy" which are Polish wannabe American crime thrillers and action movies. Again they were decent efforts, but not comparable to movies of the same genre from Hong Kong (Hard Boiled) or America (Resevoir Dogs). This film however is a true work of art. Not just made to look cool, but to express a directors point of view. I think it compares to Aronofsky's masterpiece "Pi," in that it's story about a man lost in the search for something. Granted is the fact that this is a very different film than "Pi" in its story, but artistically it's a good achievement for a Polish director who looks like he is on his way to be among Wajda and Kieslowski. 9/10

No MPAA rating. Contains strong profanity

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.

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.

"Day of Wacko" is in my opinion the best ever Polish movie. And I'm surely NOT exaggerating. Non-Poles who are not interested in or have no idea about Polish culture and realities will probably not get half of the film, but I still recommend it to anyone who's open minded.

This is a story about a well-educated and intelligent teacher in his middle-ages, who can't stand stupidity, ignorance, his neighbours, and generally everyone and everything around him. If you've seen "Falling Down" (1993) with Michael Douglas, which is by the way another film I'd recommend, you'll get the point. However, no plagiarism was used here. The main character hates himself as well, mainly for the lack of inspiration in writing and still being dependant on his mother. The whole movie is presented within the monologues he has in his head, in many cases dirty ones. And by that I mean many vulgarisms, which at some point may get repelling. Although containing some comic parts, this film is depressing, especially if you think about the man's tragedy, because his life can be called like that. If you try to understand his situation, see why he's frustrated, and why there are so many negative feelings in him, you'll probably reach the point in which you'll feel down. There are many Polish stereotypes, system faults, and absurd presented and in some way laughed out. But then again, you have a depressing feeling of not being able to do anything about it. I really recommend watching this movie to anyone, especially to those who have some mixed feelings about the world. If it's possible, try to talk to any Polish person around, so he/she would explain some of the things that may be typical for Polish society and not common at all in other cultures. I just hope the English translation of this film is good...

General note: 10/10 and I really mean it.