Show

Director Slesicki is in Poland rather notorious than famous. Frankly speaking he worked very hard for such opinion. His sitcom "13 posterunek" ("Precint 13"), initially funny, slowly decayed into the kingdom of bad taste and stupid gags. The numero uno in this crap was Cezary Pazura, years ago good actor (brilliant as a strange polish chekist in Wajda's "Pierscionek z orlem w koronie") but now jerky imitation of Jim Carey. So is no surprise that another Slesicki's movie with Pazura in main role made me very distrustful. "Another stupid comedy with Pazura, oh no!" I said. But the movie is surprisingly well. It's scathing satire about the reality shows, especially Big Brother. Pazura plays a small rascal escaping from the revenge of his accidental lovers brothers and casted to the SHOW. He plays without imitating JC and reminds that actually he is real actor. I don't want to tell more about plot with some references to Agatha Christie, "April Fools Day", "Someone to watch over me" and even "Cape Fear". The movie was flop in Polish cinemas pre-rejected by people who don't want to see another "13 posterunek" and rejected by the disappointed "13 posterunek" fans.

A didn't go to the cinema on the day of premiere. I expected that "Show" is another dumb comedy with Cezary Pazura, this time about "Big Brother" phenomenon. I was wrong... this a comedy, but not only a comedy. It is also a well-written crime story and a tale about the fame! All in one.

The acting is just good, but Cezary Pazura is really funny. The script is the isn't as predictable as in American movies. It reminds me "Ten little Afro-Americans" (sorry, I cannot post the right title here, political correctness is a terrible thing!) by Agatha Christie. It also says a little bit about people, they hopes, needs and behavior. Of course "Show" isn't a great movie, but it is still one of the best Polish movies of 2003.

A rare example of production where comedy accents are mixed with things being a part of deeper thoughts. Funny situations and events result in dramatic ending. Is it TV that inflicts the society or is the society so stupid that TV shows only what society wants? What is also interesting is performance of Cezary Pazura. Surprisingly he is much better while playing a serious part, just like in "Nic śmiesznego" directed by Koterski. When he is not playing a dumb comedian role, he is not only funnier but also a much better actor, I presume. This movie pretty well warns about cultural poverty which may result in multiplying shows where there are many false matters, programs filled with pseudo talented 'stars'.

This movie is much better than you would expect from stupid comedy made in Poland in early 2000s. It urges viewer to take a deeper look at show business especially at reality shows. It did it so clearly and efficiently that the movie was "killed" by the distributor in Poland putting it in theaters at times with the lowest attendance and worst days just to limit exposure to the public. Distributors were afraid that it would negatively influence public opinion towards Reality Shows so popular in Poland at that time. Anyway, worth watching.