"The Career of Nikos Dyzma" is a black comedy
about a drunken undertaker who accidentally
becomes Prime Minister of modern Poland.
The Unspeakable Thrill of New Polish Cinema
This film merely looks like a sleazy Euro
sex-farce; in point of fact, it's incendiary political
satire. It's funny and meant to be, but you
believe all of it: the drunken hopelessness,
the streets dominated by armed mafia
carjackers, the politicians for sale, the illiterate
nouveau-riche, even the wild orgies of
politicians' wives have a certain grim
plausibility.
I feel that I know rather a lot more about
contemporary Poland now, and I only wish
I knew more about T. D. Mostowicz,
the guy who wrote the novel on which
this film was based.
