Big Animal

what would you do if you see a camel standing in your garden? don't say it won't happen.. suppose it did you would probably call the police or ask someone for help. well that's not the main characters of "Duze Zwierze" did for sure. instead they wanted to keep it as a pet and as a result a good movie with symbolism at its peak came into scene..

camel is a symbol of something i do not want to mention. because it is the real essence of the movie.but it's symptomatic meaning seems to be that most people are afraid of what they don't know and they don't want to add uncertainty to their lives even if everything is going as boring as it could ever be. therefore it is very logical that the society doesn't want the camel as a pet.

it was a funny movie too. the "horse tax" on the camel made me laugh and at the same time think about with how much unimportant stuff a government can deal with! and while these scenes were shot, camera angles are changing accordingly so you sometimes feel pitiful for Mr. Sawicki and on others you see the government workers so small that you understand they are useless.

it was not a realistic movie for sure but i do not think that realistic P.O.V. should be a criteria in evaluating a movie. was it original? definitely. and finally every aspect of the movie had an important role for the whole film so that means there was a total unity.

when you see this film you will see how a society limits people's behaviors and actually we are not free because of the laws we make ourselves..

The Communists, in all of Eastern Europe, were strongly xenophobic. The script to this film was written a while ago by Krzysztof Kieslowski and it is an almost ideal symbol for the philosophy of many Poles at the time.

In a clever production move the film, which was probably censored and shelved by the former government, was made to resemble films in the 60s, with its black and white cinematography and "aged" look.

The story starts with a man who imports a camel to his neighborhood and receives plenty of excuses, many of them totally bogus, of why he should get rid of it. The result is a tongue in cheek, though ultimately sad film about the fear of "the different one." 8/10

No MPAA rating: contains no objectionable content

I saw "Duze zwierze" (called "Big Animal" in English) at the 2001 Portland International Film Festival. It's a funky, rather nonsensical story of Zygmunt Sawicki (Jerzy Stuhr) finding a camel in his Polish village and adopting the lost animal.

I guess that it would be kind of neat to find something so unusual in a nowheres-ville. Maybe the movie has no major artistic value in the grand scheme of things, but it's still pretty funny. Yes, despite the many hardships that Poland has endured throughout its history, they can still make comedies.

Now that I've watched this Polish movie, I feel that I should try to watch more of them.

10 / 10 on this one. very poetic. the direction was splendid. metaphorically speaking this is a masterpiece about how we value the unexpected when it arrives on our doorstep - and how others can burden us within our bliss. genius.

I would comment but I couldn't write a better comment then "Beautiful film ... I wish I hadn't seen it ..., 15 June 2004 Author: profhound from Chicago, IL"

It is a beautiful, self critical look at Polish and rather all Human Nature. It shows the power of conformity and social pressure. awesome film.

also a note this film was presented as a laugh out loud funny comedy, and maybe that is what the theaters wanted advertised to get people in the door, and instead I found something better.

Major Credit to the Director for staying true to the writers work, a truly wonderful film