Szansa

Caught this one late night on TV yesterday, would have skipped it quick as I've already seen my share of clichéd, depressing dramas my country used to flood the market with during 70's and 80's - but the acting looked decent and tempted me to watch the whole thing. It was a good decision - the movie is typical for its times with it's bad lightning, unnormalized sound, ugly chain-smoking people and grim settings - but these factors turn out to be advantages as they combine with good script and remarkable acting to form a honest and realistic picture. Jerzy Stuhr never fails to deliver and is as usual a pleasure to watch as he strives to defend the values of culture and education while the school is being dominated by the sports coach, whose ambitions create a chance for a success in a tournament - but who seems to be using the team to win what he had lost. The movie well depicts the ways of gaining power in communist Poland and the struggle of people like Stuhr's character to do the right thing in such an environment.

Although overshadowed by many good polish movies from late 70's, it definitely stands out above the rest. Recommended for lovers of east-European cinema and locals alike.