Moonlighting (1982)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Jerzy Skolimowski

Writer:

Jerzy Skolimowski (written by)

Release Date:

26 September 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A Polish contractor, Nowak, leads a group of workmen to London so they can provide cheap labor for a government official based there...

Plot Keywords:

London | Polish | Allegory | Building Laborer | Apartment

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Jeremy Irons	...	Nowak
Eugene Lipinski	...	Banaszak
Jirí Stanislav	...	Wolski
Eugeniusz Haczkiewicz	...	Kudaj
Edward Arthur	...	Immigration Officer
Denis Holmes	...	Neighbor
Renu Setna	...	Junk Shop Owner
David Calder	...	Supermarket Manager
Judy Gridley	...	Supermarket Supervisor
Claire Toeman	...	Supermarket Cashier
Catherine Harding	...	Lady Shoplifter
Jill Johnson	...	Haughty Supermarket Customer
David Squire	...	Supermarket Assistant
Michael Sarne	...	Builders' Merchant (as Mike Sarne)
Lucy Hornak	...	Wrangler Shop Assistant

Also Known As:

Schwarzarbeit (West Germany)

Runtime:

USA:97 min | Argentina:97 min

Country:

UK | West Germany

Language:

English | Polish

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Australia:PG | UK:15 (video rating) | UK:AA (original rating) | Netherlands:12 (original rating) | Netherlands:6 (re-rating) | Finland:S | South Korea:15 | Sweden:7 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Hammersmith Road, Hammersmith, London, England, UK

Company:

Channel Four Films

An important lesson in history wasted by a silly script

One of the previous commentators tells us that Skolimowski wrote the script in one day; this shows. We do not hear any conversations between the workers who are heroes of the film ! We hear sometimes thoughts in the head of the main character. The martial law period in Poland was aimed at crushing the Solidarity movement. It succeeded - for some years. Compare this film with wonderful "The man of iron" directed by Andrzej Wajda who shows the birth of Solidarity. So much could have been done showing how Solidarity was crushed - only the director who is also the script writer had hardly a clue what to do. As another commentator points out, the workers are kept in the dark by their foreman. Seeing on TV the streets of Warsaw with tanks, do they really believe this is normal ? Particularly so since they left Poland when Solidarity was flourishing ... Jeremy Irons is a very good actor; one can presume he wanted to show to the world how Solidarity was crushed. Irons apparently assumed that Skolimowski originating from Poland knows what he is doing; a sad mistake. If you have sympathy for the Solidarity movement and its role in history - as many people around the world do - do not watch this film. You would be terribly disappointed.