THE BEAR [1980]
year:
- 1980
release date:
- 4 V 1981
runtime:
- 111 min
directed by:
- Stanisław Bareja
written by:
- Stanisław Bareja, Stanisław Tym
director of photography:
- Zdzisław Kaczmarek
cast:
- Stanisław Tym [Ryszard Ochódzki and coal carrier Stanisław Paluch], Barbara Burska [Irena Ochódzka], Christine Paul-Podlasky [Aleksandra Kozeł], Krzysztof Kowalewski [Jan Hochwander], Bronisław Pawlik [an employee of the Rainbow sports club], Ewa Bem [singer], Zofia Czerwińska [Irena, candidate for Ochódzki’s wife], Cezary Julski [a customer in a kiosk, speaking on behalf of his wife whose hair fell out], Marian Łącz [collector], Stanisław Mikulski [Lech Ryś, a police officer], Włodzimierz Nowak [man reciting a poem at the passport ceremony], Wojciech Pokora [a songwriter, a police employee]
edited by:
- Krystyna Rutkowska
music by:
- Jerzy Derfel
production design:
- Halina Dobrowolska
produced by:
- Studio Filmowe „Perspektywa”
executive producer:
- Józef Leszek Sobczyk
About the film
A comedy composed of grotesque scenes showing the breakdown of the communist system. Scenes of milk bars, offices and shops reveal the absurdity of the everyday existence of Poles. Ochódzki’s story is accompanied by a number of important, smaller narratives, characterising the reality of the early eighties.
Modern times. Ryszard Ochódzki, president of the Rainbow sports club, travels abroad on business. During customs clearance, it turns out that a page has been taken out of his passport, which means he cannot continue travelling abroad. Ryszard suspects that it was his wife, Iren, who destroyed the passport. They have a joint account in a London bank and Irena wants to prevent him from withdrawing the savings.
Richard starts looking for a doppelganger under whose name he could go to London. A friend of Ochódzki’s, film director Hochwander, helps him in the venture. He and Ryszard have shared business operations. Together, they organise an event in which a giant straw bear is hanging from a helicopter. It will float over Warsaw, and Hochwander will shoot a film of the flying bear. The director finally finds a Warsaw coal carrier, Stanisław Paluch, looking very much like Ryszard. The only difference between the two men is the hair. Ochódzki is almost bald, while Paluch has a lush mop of hair. Ryszard’s lover, Ola, buys a bottle of Samson shampoo for hair growth, which causes even the strongest hair to fall out. This shampoo is poured on Paluch’s head. Ola seduces him and promises a joint trip abroad. Ryszard, pretending over the phone to be an important dignitary, orders Paluch’s passport to be issued. On the plane to London, Ochódzki meets his ex-wife. Deceitfully, he steals her documents, making it difficult for her to go through customs. He is the first to reach the bank and transfers the money to a separate savings account. He returns to Warsaw on the same day. In the afternoon, a giant straw bear is already hovering above the city. Shocked Varsovians cannot understand the meaning of the spectacle. Suddenly, the bear falls down and hits the ground. Pieces of straw are floating around.
Joanna Piątek, Leksykon polskich filmów fabularnych, Warszawa 1996
