This French comedy won the hearts of viewers. The Polish version can surprise

“Skołowani” is the Polish version of the popular comedy film “Tout le monde debout” popular among French viewers. It was directed by Jan Macierewicz, who made his feature debut, who had previously worked as a co-director on such productions as Szadź, Magnezja, Hotel 52, 1920. War and Love, Różyczka and Time of Honor. Earlier, he directed the documentary “Człowiek Perfectu” and the comedy series “Gra na maxa” on his own. He cannot be denied the knowledge of the secrets of film production, but I honestly have to admit that in my opinion the comedy “Skołowani” starts in a slightly confusing pattern, which may be due to the fact that it is a remake. After that, however, the story flows nicely towards a nice finale. It is worth noting that Macierewicz chose the cast very cleverly. Each of the actors and actresses plays in a slightly different convention, but surprisingly, at some point it sticks together and together they work on a nice and very nicely filmed picture.

The French comedy won the hearts of viewers. The Polish version can surprise you

I translate and explain. The opening sequence of the film with the dodgy Michał Czernecki in the role of Maks Wandorf completely does not reflect how the story continues. Generic clichés enter here with full impetus, and then the director comes out of them and uses this procedure in a way to show the evolution of the main character. This one at the beginning is not very emotional, but scorching uppers to chicks half his age, a lover in his 40s, and a business shark at its worst corporate edition. He is not particularly concerned about the death of his own mother (which is later even credibly explained) and it is hard to understand why his best friend Dawid (Marcin Perchuć) or his charming and helpful assistant Maria (perfect Gabriela Muskała) like him.

Seriously, the guy pretends to be in a wheelchair to seduce the attractive Ania (Marianna Zydek) – it’s hard to find a more lousy example of dating slyness. When this slippery trickster meets the truly paralyzed Julia (Agnieszka Grochowska, captivating with her radiant presence) and truly falls in love with her, he becomes a man prone to difficult reflection, establishing contact with a deeper layer of emotions. Michał Czernecki shows here that he can also use comedic pastiche and that he can deftly come out of it in favor of credible emotionality. But don’t worry, it doesn’t happen in a blandly sweet climate or in an overwhelmingly didactic tone. The narrative line goes somewhere in the middle – it’s still the most entertaining film without any pretensions to be called a morality play.

Confused Anna Gostkowska

Agnieszka Grochowska, with her typical dramatic preparation and professional flair, plays her heroine seriously here. There is no caricature exaggeration in her, but there is a full devotion to the character – her Julia is a truly unique woman, warm, wise, radiant and brave. And at the same time full of distance and with a playful sense of humor. It is hardly surprising, however, since the actress told me on the set that she liked the script, because it goes beyond the genre framework and at the same time touches on serious topics in a light, funny and interesting way. Playing itself gave her a lot of satisfaction:

I feel like the character I’m playing smiles more than any character I’ve ever played. I smile all the time, in every scene – it’s such a wonderful change for me. (…) This is a completely different disposition of an actor. I’m used to playing dramatic roles, and with them you have to concentrate on completely different things. Here you need to focus on lightness and spontaneity – these are separate acting means, which you also need to look for in other resources.

I can already see the effect it has on my life. It’s different coming home from a set where you’re doing some very heavy dramatic scenes than when you have a six-minute scene that’s so graceful and nice. (…) Such clarity comes to a person. It gives me a new film language – she added pleasantly surprised.

Grochowska really played her heroine in “Skołowane” so that you can fully understand why the dubious Maks falls in love with her, and also activates self-reflection and does not want to be such a jerk anymore.

She played a supporting role in “Skołowane” and stole the film

However, the greatest pleasure during the screening brought me watching the actions of the actors cast in supporting roles. Gabriela Muskała as Maria’s assistant and Bartłomiej Kotschedoff as Lucjan, the main character’s brother, are such comedic gems here. They delight in playing with the satirical features of their characters and are simply funny in an unforced way. In the scene where Lucjan meets Ania (Julia’s sister, who decides to meet her with Maks), Kotschedoff simultaneously makes cute faces and is clearly confused by what he hears from the interlocutor, while keeping the comedy obvious in such circumstances to the viewers, but not to the partner in scene remains credible. When he scolds his brother, when he argues with him – it’s always nice to look at him in this creation.

Confused Anna Gostkowska

But the creme de la creme is really Gabriel Muskała here. Her Maria is theoretically a kind secretary with a penchant for extravagant sweaters and outfits, who knows her boss inside out and knows how much he has behind his ears. At the same time, she is also inexplicably loyal and caring, although she can also be wonderfully biting. For example, when he visits Julia at the apartment, he miraculously acknowledges Maks’ wickedness, and their scuffle over the intercom is a solid comedy classic. Her story about a sick uncle without an arm or a leg (obviously forced by the protagonist’s lies) during a dinner with family and friends is one of my favorite scenes in the entire film. At the same time, the creators also gave her space to show herself from a more serious side, and this also plays into a coherent image of the character. Although the film is not without some flaws, I would watch it again for Muskała.