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RELEASES Poland

Cult comedy makes a comeback

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Stanisław Tym, a Polish actor much-liked for his roles in cult comedies of the 70s and 90s, has now tried his hand at directing. His film Ryś – a sequel to Stanisław Bareja’s comedy Miś ( lit. “Bear”) and Sylwester Chęciński’s Rozmowy kontrolowane (lit. “Controlled Conversations”) – opens today in Polish cinemas.

Chęciński’s Rozmowy kontrolowane (1991), on the state of war declared in 1981, was the first comedy to tackle a dramatic era in Polish history. Eleven years earlier, the dark reality of the Communist regime was mocked in Bareja’s Miś. These two titles would never have been so successful if the leading role – that of Ryszard Ochódzki, the manager of a sports club – had not been played by Tym (who also scripted both films).

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This time around, Tym has decided to make a follow-up to the story following the character of Ochódzki who, in Ryś, takes advantage of the new political situation in Poland – the return of democracy and economic freedom – to become a businessman.

Although the film does not contain any direct references to real characters or concrete political situations, it does satirise the "ills" of current day Poland, such as the rise of populism, corruption and problems with the process of “lustracja" [the providing of a statement on one’s Communist past].

With a star-studded cast of Polish actors Rafał Królikowski, Krystyna Janda, Beata Tyszkiewicz, Grażyna Szapołowska, Krzysztof Globisz, Danuta Stenka, Marek Kondrat, Wiktor Zborowski and Jan Kobuszewski, the film is set for a wide release.

Ryś was produced by the Jawa Studio and Forum Film Poland , who are also handling the title’s release.

Surfing on the recent wave of excellent results for Polish films on home ground – Ryszard Zatorski’s Dlaczego nie! [+see also:
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(over 750,000 admissions in the past three weeks) and Jarosław Sypniewski and Jacek Filipiak’s Crown Witness [+see also:
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film profile
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(260, 000 admissions in its first weekend) – Tym’s eagerly awaited film is also set for box office success.

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(Translated from French)

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