Day of the Wacko

2002 [POLISH]

Comedy / Drama / Romance

Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 90% · 1K ratings
IMDb Rating 8.1/10 10 13095 13.1K

teacher self hatred

Director

Marek Koterski Photo
Marek Koterski

Top cast

Bozena Dykiel Photo
Bozena Dykiel as Wlascicielka psa
Marek Kondrat Photo
Marek Kondrat as Adas
Tomasz Sapryk Photo
Tomasz Sapryk as Polityk
Ewa Zietek Photo
Ewa Zietek as Urolog

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by MNMoviePaul 9 / 10

Thoughtful and poignant meditation on the life we've lived.

Even though I've lived in Poland for over a year now, I generally don't watch many Polish movies, especially newer ones, which I've found to be very derivative of American and British films. This movie however is a true gem. A rare film that makes you take stock of your own choices in life. The movie focuses on a day (though actually it has to be more than one day) in the life of Adas, a 49 year old high school teacher from Warsaw who's first words to us are "I'm afraid of waking up", and we soon learn thats not all he's afraid of. Adas is deeply dissatisfied with every aspect of his life. From his noisy neighbors, to his broken family, to the Polish government, to his own inability to climb out of his personal hell. Told mostly through narration voice-over which clues us in to Adas's thought process, the film explores the turmoil of middle age with an honesty and poignancy rare in film. While certainly hilarious in moments, this movie serves up an equal (or greater) amount of melancholy as well, balancing the two aspect, delicately. As Adas passes from compulsion to depression, to denial, to rage, we learn more about him, and come to empathize with him. The most striking feature of this movie for me, was the universality of Adas, and the relate-ability to him. Yes he is Polish, with some uniquely Polish complaints and problems, but he could easily be any middle aged man in any western society. While he's a wacko in his own way, what the movie says is, "aren't we all?", "aren't we all this man in some way?" This movie did for me, what hardly any movies do anymore; it made me think and reflect about my own life and my own choices, and any movie that can do that, deserves praise in my book.
Reviewed by yohan_nl 9 / 10

Weird, but funny!

I don't watch foreign movies very often. Day of the Wacko was an exception. But I was glad I saw it. Would not have missed it.The title of the movie contains exactly what the film is all about. A day of the life of a real wacko. Watch this strange man, doing everything in his own careful way. As he has been doing his whole life. The man tries to escape from his town, his habits.. his life. Will he manage to do this? A strange movie. But really good. And with some clear messages for all of us. If you get a chance to see this one, be sure to watch it.You will not be disappointed.It's a shame that this film isn't available on dvd in Europe.
Reviewed by snncy2000 8 / 10

You don't need to be a Polish to understand this

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