A con man fakes insanity to dodge the mob, then discovers his opera gig is a brothel. Poland, 1991.
A small-time racketeer Stefek evades mob bosses by passing himself off as a mentally unstable cleptomaniac and laying low in an asylum. The racketeer and his closest devotee escape from the asylum and find work at the opera. Stefek becomes stage-doorman and soon discovers that the opera doubles as a brothel.
Acting
Zamachowski's manic, desperate Stefek keeps you off-balance.
Direction
Linda's debut captures crumbling post-Soviet institutions perfectly.
Director
Bogusław Linda
Zbigniew Zamachowski
Stefek
Tadeusz Szymków
Dudzio
Hanna Polk
Jolka
Marek Walczewski
Skowroński, dyrektor opery
Małgorzata Wiśniewska-Niemirska
Rena Holtz, primadonna występująca w roli Carmen
Zdzisław Kuźniar
Józek, szef statystów w operze
Cezary Harasimowicz
Chulio, szef maszynistów
Marcin Troński
Niedziela, dyrektor administracyjny opery
Beata Augustyniak
Laura, siotra Chulia
Grażyna Szapołowska
pani Grażyna
Grzegorz Ciechowski
"Uśmiechnięty", wysłannik pani Grażyny
Leon Niemczyk
Poziemski, klient burdelu
Danuta Kowalska
Blanka
Olaf Lubaszenko
koleś, klient burdelu
Marek Koterski
doktor Janik
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shot during Poland's explosive 1989-91 transition, the film uses collapsing institutions as allegory for a nation losing its bearings.
Linda cast Zamachowski after seeing him in Kieslowski's 'Dekalog'—they'd later reunite in 'White.'
PL
