Marek Koterski Movies
- 2006
Award-winning Polish director Marek Koterski takes an unflinching look at the pathological effects of severe alcoholism on familial relationships in the no-holds-barred drama We're All Christs (Wszyscy jestes'my Chrystusami). The story concerns Adas (played at ages 33 and 55 by Andrzej Chyra, and Marek Kondrat, respectively), a father caught in the web of alcohol addiction passed down from the generations before him. The disease once threatened to destroy his own relationship with his young son. Now, after admitting his own problem and experiencing therapy and rehabilitation, Adas takes the first steps toward a challenging reconnection with his family and attempts to rebuild long-decimated bonds. As a lapsed Roman Catholic, he begins to turn toward the faith that he shunned as a youth, and recognizes the necessity of turning away from the evil, abusive legacy of his father on earth and toward his Heavenly Father as a far-superior alternative. In the end, his Catholicization will partially entail turning to Christ as a role model by assuming responsibility for his own earthly burdens (and thus, taking up his cross). ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marek Kondrat, Michal Koterski, (more)
Adam Miauczynski (Marek Kondrat) is a middle-aged literature professor, divorced, with a teenage son. Writer/director Marek Koterski's dark comedy Day of the Wacko follows Adam over the course of a long, typically unpleasant day as he deals with his noisy neighbors, his overbearing mother (Janina Traczykówna), his apathetic son (Michal Koterski), his bitchy ex-wife (Joanna Sienkiewicz), his rudely flatulent students, and, most debilitating of all, his own obsessive-compulsive behavior, and his immobilizing despair over the state of his life and the world around him. All the while, he reminisces about the woman he calls his great lost love, Ela (Monika Donner-Trelinska), and fantasizes about seeing her again. Reaching a fever pitch of depressed paranoia, Adam decides to travel to take a train to the beach to find some peace. After a harrowing trip, during which he's forced to share a compartment with a motley assortment of obnoxious fools, he arrives at the sea and lies out in the sand, hoping for a moment's tranquility as he continues his ongoing internal monologue, analyzing the failures of his life and his world. Day of the Wacko was nominated for a slew of Polish Film Awards, and won Best Actor (Kondrat) and Best Screenplay (Koterski). It was also shown at the 2003 Berlin International Film Festival, and was released straight-to-video in the U.S. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marek Kondrat, Janina Traczykówna, (more)
