Viewers and readers who are insensitive to the charms of online pastes and those who are unaware of who Malcolm XD is at all, I will say in short: You don’t need to know the book original “Emigracja XD”, or even the famous paste about the father of a fishing fanatic, to have fun watching the new series Canal+. Here, the material speaks for itself, and all the elements of the production match: the cast is outstanding and perfectly selected, the action is naturally fast, the dialogues are unforcedly funny, and the language of the story is vivid and natural. There is no plywood, but there is a full departure. But if you know the original, the fun is even better. I saw the first half of the season and I’m excited for the rest of the episodes.
“Emigracja XD” is a doubly successful series. As a screen adaptation and an independent entity
“Emigracja XD” is a story about Malcolm and Stomil, who come from the self-proclaimed “European capital of gooseberries”. Both are in their twenties and due to an extremely unfortunate series of events during the other’s birthday party, they are forced to go to the UK to earn money. This journey gives rise to an even more unfortunate series of events that only escalates to a level of extreme. If someone doesn’t like spoilers and hasn’t read Malcolm XD’s book, on which the script was based, this should be enough for an introduction to the presented world.
I would say that Tomasz Włosok and Michał Balicki, who play the main roles, are dragging this story on their shoulders, but that would be unfair to the rest of the excellent cast. And this one is really impressive – not only in terms of the names of the actors we managed to cast, but also in terms of numbers. More than 160 people played in the series. Here it is worth paying attention to the charming performances of Andrzej Zieliński, Michał Czernecki, Piotr Trojan, Adam Bobik (probably each of us knows the Krystianka he played), Mariusz Jakus, Sławomir Pack, and especially Mikołaj Chroboczek and Marcin Miodek. The list could go on for a long time, but practically everyone who played there rocked the proverbial rock.
Nevertheless, the protagonists of Włosok and Balicki are at the center of events and lead us through a series of increasingly absurd, though sometimes disturbingly probable situations. The men are doing great with it. In fact, they are like ying and yang here. Malcolm is a calm and rather average boy, and Stomil is the type of man who makes friends with everyone. He gets into the weirdest predicaments and always comes out unscathed, while Malcolm tears his hair out in disbelief. Along the way, they meet m.in. perfectly versed in the difficult realities of life on the road, Polish truckers, Polish Roma people who trade in used motorhomes, London rickshaw drivers, anarchist squatters or dangerous recidivists and railway enthusiasts.
During the interview (the whole thing will be available on Gazeta.pl) Tomasz Włosok told me that he did not know the book before the shooting for the series began and only read it on the set. He was just amused by the script. I totally understand why he also told me he couldn’t wait for viewers to see the first episodes. I share his enthusiasm.
They said this book could not be screened
With a clear conscience, I can write that “Emigracja XD” is a series perfectly played and cast, meticulously realized, nicely filmed and efficiently edited. At least the first five episodes, but I’ve already heard assurances that the second half of the season is even more crazy and lively. The charm of this production is even greater for me because it is a really sensational adaptation of the source text, which seemed impossible not only to me to convert into a film or a series. Because the great strength of Malcolm XD’s prose is the language he uses to tell his story, and let’s just say it openly – specific.
It’s probably a good time to come back here for a moment to the so-called beginnings. The book “Emigracja” is so unique that it was written by Malcolm XD, who remains anonymous, and yet also the most famous pastor in Poland.
A pastor, because he began his literary career by writing “past” on the Internet. What is “pasta” – someone will ask. It’s such a short and supposedly humorous story published on the Internet, eg on some forum. It doesn’t have to be spelling or stylistically correct, but it has to be funny and will be vulgar in some way. If other users like it, they can “copy” and then “paste” it and show it on another page.
“Pasty” is of course a foreign invention, but in Poland it is a real art. In 2012, an iconic text began to circulate on the web, i.e. a paste that began with the words “My old man is a fishing fanatic”. If someone does not know her, these shortcomings may
Of course, “Fanatic” does not have to entertain everyone, but this short story paved the way and gave rise to an unprecedented phenomenon. First of all, although the author invariably guards his true identity and hides behind a pseudonym, he can be traced and identified, which is not so obvious in the case of other popular pastes. Secondly, in 2016, director Michał Tylka wanted to make a short film about a fishing fanatic and contacted the author for this purpose. Malcolm XD expressed interest in the project and worked with the director to write the script. The film was made with a very prestigious cast: Piotr Cyrwus played the role of the unhealthily interested in fishing father, and the outstanding Marian Dziędziel played his archenemy. Jan Nowicki and Anna Radwan also appeared. The production was originally shown by the Showmax platform, which is no longer operating in Poland, and later the rights to it were taken over by Netflix. Why is it so important?
Because after this short film form, Malcolm XD got another tempting offer – this time from the WAB publishing house, which asked if he would like to write a book. This is how the full-fledged literary career of the Internet comic began, who after the publication of the novel could officially call himself an author and writer, and not just “a moron who swears on Facebook”, as he nicely said in one of the interviews. It just so happens that the first book was “Emigration”, which hit the hands of readers in 2019. At that time, it was already possible to officially say that “pastes” are a separate literary genre and if someone doesn’t like it, they have a problem.
And here I can return to the filming of “Emigration”. Because the best thing about all this is that the plot of the book somewhere in the middle describes the real experiences of the author himself, who actually went with his friend as a teenager to “jumper sacks”. Therefore, thanks to the author, who also worked with us with the script of the series, this production is so essentially Polish that it cannot be more. Poland because it is full of accurate observations of a sociological nature. Without complaining, hitting high C, but with distance and a sense of humor. And that’s why “Emigracja xD” is thoroughly original. It cannot be called the Polish equivalent of any foreign hit, because there was simply nothing like it anywhere else. To quote the classic, or rather a fragment of the paste “Fanatyk”: “And very, f*ck, good”. Because the form of the story “copy, paste” is one thing, but the content and its transfer to the language of film is definitely something else.
The premiere of the first two episodes of “Emigracja XD” on March 17 on CANAL+ online and on CANAL+ Premium.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
