In 1970s and 1980s Rade Šerbedžija was arguably the biggest star of former Yugoslav cinema industry and his lofty status was reflected by his film characters almost always getting in the sack with one or more characters played by former Yugoslav cinema leading ladies. Later in Hollywood Šerbeđžija had to settle to rather thankless and stereotypical roles of East European villains and there were few avenues for him to reclaim the title of unstoppable sex machine. One of the rare Hollywood projects that still recognised such qualities was Polish Wedding, 1998 drama written and directed by Theresa Connelly.
The plot of the film is set in Detroit suburb almost entirely populated by blue collar workers of Polish descent and their families. One of such clan is Pzoniaks, dominated by mother Jadzia (played by Lena Olin), cleaning lady whose generally happy marriage to overworked baker Bolek (played by Gabriel Byrne) isn't threatened by her long-term extramarital affair with her boss Roman (played by Rade Šerbedžija). The real problems for Pzoniaks are in their five children, mainly 15 year-old daughter Hala (played by Claire Danes), who has been selected to lead local religious procession because of her virginity. That virginity has been taken by young policeman Russell Schuster (played by Adam Trese) and, to make things even worse for Pzoniaks, he made Hala pregnant. Faced with unimaginable scandal, Pzoniaks are left with only option - to force Russell into marriage.
Polish Wedding in many ways represents successful compromise. First, writer and director Theresa Connelly manages to make good blend between light-hearted comedy and serious drama about growing up. She also creates perfect balance between using ethnic stereotypes for comedic purposes and showing respect and something resembling affection towards Polish American community. Four years later My Big Fat Greek Wedding would do the same to Greek Americans, but in this film a little bit darker overtones and realism make this comedy more convincing and effective. This film also benefits from the very good cast, although Gabriel Byrne's Polish accent at times sounds too distracting. In the end, this charming little film could be recommended even to those viewers who don't care about Balkan cinema heartthrobs temporarily enjoying in their former glory.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.films.reviews on January 26th 2004)
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