Cicha noc

"Poland shown in this movie is an ugly, dreary, dirty place, full of aggressive primitives, which gives no life prospects. Poles in "Silent Night" are depicted as complex, primitive (publicly disparaging about copulation), aggressive, greedy (peeing in public, because they do not want to spend a few zlotys on the toilet at a gas station), drunk (in drunken state walking through like zombies, public roads, eternally drinking vodka ), monsters torturing animals and wives, (the main hero rents an expensive car and convinces his family that this is his car), thieves, drunks. Several times the heroes of the film discuss the fact that Polish women are wild" Jan Bodakowski

I guess I have the honor to be the first one to write a review for this movie. I have a couple questions though. Why is this movie listed in the comedy genre? Because if one thing is for sure it is that you won't laugh, not once, unless I don't get the Polish humor. It's just a drama, a story about a Polish family at Christmas, with their issues and problems. My next question would be, why did this movie won awards in Poland? Is it really that good to you and is there really no better movies in Poland than this one? Because to me Silent Night was just an average movie, nothing to be thrilled about. The acting isn't bad, but nothing special either. It's one of those movies I just watch to kill time and that I will completely forget about it the next day. Maybe at Polish standards this is a jewel, I can't really compare since I think this was my first Polish movie, but honestly it's really nothing special.

The first reviewer wrote: "Maybe by Polish standards this is jewel". Quite wrong. A list of films made in Poland better than this one would be very long, with this one pretty close to the bottom of the complete list. The actors are not bad, this is true, but the script is nonsensical. There is a German Christmas carol "Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht", quite popular in Central Europe, and Cicha noc = Stille Nacht = Quiet night. However, this film title is a mockery. Christmas in this film is nothing but quiet. We have a large number of characters - but wishing them well on the part of the viewer would be difficult - perhaps except for the mother of Adam and except for the young girl. The Netherlands are presented as so far away as if in the southern hemisphere. Why the girlfriend of the main hero did not visit him repeatedly during his stay abroad? Why is the grandfather of Adam described early as very drunk, while throughout the film he is making more sense than the most of them? If you wish to see a good Polish comedy made just one year before this one, watch Planeta singli = The Planet of the singles.

Definitely worth watching for polish people as well as people from other countries and i'll tell you why. It perfectly depicts the reality of many families living in Eastern Europe. It's more of a drama than a comedy - a sad movie that shows many problems at once that often go together. The message was conveyed very well, with both acting and music. Written well. The comedy parts were mostly fun to watch cause of their "polishness" but they were often bittersweet which also added value to the movie. For the Polish people hating on it - you are insecure. Yes, the issues talked about in the film are not all that our country has to offer but they're a big part of it and we can't deny it.

The Christmas depicted in this film has something truly polish in it. I think it can be only understood by the East-Europeans, especially living in small communities. Emigrants who are living in between two countries - none of which is their true home. Broken families, alcohol addiction, tough siblings relations. The story where everyone has something to prove but yet, no one really can. Definitely worth watching, considering the fact that the film has few surprises as the story goes.