Polish Wedding (1998) User Reviews (74)

Ordinary Characters, Extraordinary Film

[CommieTT · 7/10 · 21 April 2000]

The thing that made this movie most compelling for me was the fact that it showed what work the characters do. With most Hollywood movies it appears that everyone is either independently wealthy or a FBI/NSA/CIA agent. With Polish Wedding, you went to work with the characters, and it wasn't glamourous at all, but it was real.

I'm surprised from all the comments on the lack of plot. It was a slice of life. Does your life have a plot? Mine either. That was another reason I really enjoyed the film. It was like living with another family for a short time and seeing how they live.

It was quirky and serious, tender and harsh and quite credible acting all around--save for Clare Danes. Her range seems quite limited.

I'm not Polish, nor Catholic (I'm an atheist), but I did think the things that happened in the movie made sense. I've read other comments that it's not how their Polish family was. Oh well, I don't think my family was exactly like any other family in the world either.

Don't watch this if you're expecting edge-of-your seat drama, steamy sex and car chases. But if you're in the mood for an intimate and fun look at a working class family, then this is one for you. I rank it nearly as good as The Sweet Hereafter for its realism.

My rating: 7

... or maybe it's some other nationality

[Scoopy · 5/10 · 19 March 1999]

What the????

Why are these characters supposed to be Polish, and why does the story take place in the present? It seems to be located somewhere in the 50's or 60's in terms of its attitudes and characters. It seems to be located far from urban America in terms of the wacky behavior of its characters. I can't relate to it in any way.

Lena Olin gets my award for the worst accent in the history of film. What was she thinking of? You know, Lena, the reason Meryl Streep gets all those accents right is not just because she's talented (though she is), but because she studies every word, every nuance of the rhythm. What were you thinking of with those rolling Hungarian r's and those throat-clearing Yiddish "ch" sounds.

Why didn't they just make this a family of Potsylvanians living in Crovenia in some dimly-remembered post-war era, and none of this would have bothered me.

As for Gabriel Byrne, this usually talented actor obviously decided not to bother with the accent or the whole damned movie for that matter, and he called in his part. He obviously realized this was no Sophie's Choice, and he just collected his paycheck. In some scenes he used a heavy accent, sometimes a lighter one, sometimes none at all ... one of those Kevin Costner things. On the other hand, Byrne's relationship with his daughter (a capable Claire Danes) was the best part of the movie, although that isn't saying much.

I could only find one hint that the characters were actually Polish ... I think they mentioned Pierogi once.

Forget this turkey. It has a few good moments, but they aren't worth the effort.

A study of the ordinary

[johnjredington · 7/10 · 25 November 2012]

I can't claim to know anything specific about Polish culture or Polish-American culture and I'd assume the slating "Polish Wedding" has got, particularly from Poles, is something akin to how some Irish people view Hollywood films about Irish-American families. Some of it is understandable (ever watch "Far and Away" without cringing?) but most times I think critics read too much into the context and not enough into the film itself.

As an outsider, "Polish Wedding" comes across as a film about white working-class Americans. I can see parallels with some of my own relations - an American community that uses the glue of their shared ethnic origin to bind themselves together. In the film's case, that happens to be Polish and there is an authentic ring to the hothouse bonds of a large family with Catholicism always present in the background.

However, despite its very American setting, "Polish Wedding" is far more European in structure and storyline, a record of ordinary events about ordinary people who don't have heroic aspirations and who adapt the best they can to whatever life throws up. In a way, it's almost like reality TV, a chance to peek into the lives of others without having any influence on the outcome.

While not as intense as classics in that tradition like the "Three Colours" trilogy, it is an interesting take on a theme that has rarely been examined by Hollywood and has enough inter-personal emotion to compensate for the lack of complexity in the story.

POLISH wedding?

[szrajberka · 1/10 · 16 December 2005]

What was that? Veni, vidi and lol!

If that was authentic vision of polish family (with some kind of poorly-made Balkan music in background) I have one, fundamental question - where the hell I live?

Auhors had no idea about polish culture and society, when they created that horrible movie. If there is even minimal piece of true in this, i'm packing my little, yellow rucksack and beginning journey to find mythical, fromPolishWeddingish Poland.

Don't watch it, please, waste of time and braincells! You going to die in never-ending, intellectual pain, if your imagination is fastidious. Use it on your enemies!!!

Boring movie missing true cultural background

[darseg23 · 11 January 2004]

I've just seen this movie. Polish Wedding was widely discussed in the Polish media and was regarded very controversial because of the way it described Polish society in America. I have some thoughts about it: 1. Movie misses a plot. It consists of several scenes that loosely linked. 2. Writer seems to have very faint knowledge about Polish culture and Poles. Poles don't eat pierogis every day on every meal :-) They don't smoke more than other nationalities. Music seemed to be rather Balkan. There are many Polish names but I don't recognize many Polish features and it completely misses Polish family atmosphere. 3. People kneeling before Hala crowned with garland. What was that? Does Teresa Conelly think that Poles recognized in her Virgin Mary? It's totally stupid scene.

Adam and Eve before Jesus maybe?

[pgaffga · 6/10 · 8 November 2009]

It's too bad they had to hang this story on the Polish, and as a student of Slavic languages and literatures, I can see how people would be upset. Somebody must have had the idea that to marry traditional Christianity to pagan celebration of fertility, or show the conflict between those two, you should use the Poles as a vehicle (because they're devout Catholics??). Also, having been a Slavist, I can say that Slavs of all kinds that I've known have often been pretty hard drinkers and smokers... I don't mean that as a slur. Obviously I find Slavs wonderful or I wouldn't be a Slavist.

And, this is also not the greatest movie in the world in spite of a good cast, particularly Gabriel Byrne. All the same, I think of it sometimes because of some interesting scenes. To me it's kind of about the constant renewal of sexuality, and its dangers. Or that it will be renewed over and over again despite any dangers, no matter what young people want or where they think they're going. Usually if I notice symbolism, I suspect it's heavy handed, but since no one has mentioned it, I'd just remark that the scene when the young buck rides away with Hala on his bike, and they go to an abandoned metro station, just drips with the contrast between primal sexuality (literally regrowing up out of the concrete in dense greens), and the broken establishment framework (the literally broken concrete). Hala is pregnant and wearing a wedding dress and he still can't resist her. These guys are Adam and Eve before there were any rules.

So, there are a few scenes like that. One of my other favorites is the sweet scene of reconciliation, Mom and Dad smoking in the pantry closet. Forget the bogus virginity ritual. I was raised Catholic and I don't remember anything like that. This film has some unique features I haven't seen elsewhere, and thus, I still like to see parts of it from time to time.

Why didn't anyone actually research Polish people for this movie?

[ArtGrrl · 1/10 · 28 April 1999]

I personally think this movie was awful. The only research done on Polish people was the names. This movie made Polish people out to be cigarette-smoking, sleeping around, baby-obsessed liars, which is completely untrue. Who had the dumb idea to do this movie anyways?

you misunderstood the movie's meaning

[charleecrat · 7/10 · 26 December 2005]

I have watched this flick many times, received it for a Christmas gift and love and recommend it to the right crowd. this film deals with infidelity and how it affects all the family members, including Hala, who follows in her mothers's footsteps and her sister-inlaw, Sofie, who does the same. All became pregnant as a way of ensuring marriage. The family meals reflecting polish recipes were interesting. It has a happy ending as Lena Olin's character as well as Gabriel Byrne's character make up and seem to solve their marital problems, and Hala seems to catch the heart and marriage of Russell.

I thought there was great meaning in this film of you look past the props to see the true meaning... love conquers all

really bad movie

[dankorsak · 1/10 · 22 May 2005]

i cant believe that they ever approved production of this movie. it was one of the worst and unrealistic movies i have ever seen. its portrayal of the polish community was a load of BS. The only thing that was polish in this movie was the ogorki, which didn't look half bad , sadly i cant say the same goes for the rest of this film, which obviously was made by someone who didn't really like polish people.Save yourself two hours of your life and do not, i repeat DO NOT waste your time watching this movie, instead spend your time and money elsewhere i recommend you head to blockbuster and rent my big fat Greek wedding, now that was at least funny.

Feel the atmosphere, not the plot

[roddyb · 6/10 · 18 October 2002]

Maybe the script writer and director is not very familiar with East-European culture and music, but she has created a movie which I surely can call "vivid". Actors playing really good (Gabriel Byrne especially), characters are shown very well. Plot is simple (plot is not the main thing in movies, I should say), there's no kind of declaration, just life and nice people with all their good and bad sides, painted very good - that's what I appreciate in movies.

This movie could have been made by the Nazis in the '30's

[haashaus · 1/10 · 17 July 2005]

Most of the other respondents to this movie were Polish (or descended). I am neither. In fact, I'll admit to being of pure German stock. They (Polish people) were understandably offended by this movie. But this movie (a hate movie) goes beyond being offensive to a nationality of people. It attempts to tag morality, Polish people, and Christianity (of the Catholic kind) all as hypocrites. This movie is a propaganda film which people had to pay money to see!!!??? Leni Reifenstahl made better movies fur Der Furher than this one is!!!

If you remember hearing Polish jokes as a kid, they weren't funny, and were very insipid, just think of this movie as an attempt to take those jokes and turn them into a movie. Would you pay money for this? I sat through (as in: "endured") this movie to gather information about it when it was ended (thankfully).

If you're just looking for entertainment, this movie fails miserably. The only other value this movie could have is its value as a hate film.

Captures an Essence in Spite of Its Flaws

[LeonardKniffel · 8/10 · 29 April 2020]

Nobody in the city of Hamtramck, Michigan, where it was filmed, seemed to like this comic-tragic movie-except me and my journalist friend Walter Wasacz, who covered the shoot for the local newspaper in 1998. People found it disrespectful and vulgar; we found it magical and honest. Maybe it was seeing the ordinary shops and streets and the magnificent St. Florian church on the big screen, or maybe it was the authentic performances of Lena Olin, Clare Danes, and Gabriel Byrne. More than anything, for me, it is the complex musical score that captures a fleeting time and place so wonderfully. Each time I watch the film and the camera pans Hamtramck at night, I see the little house where my late mother lived, and think to myself, "Perhaps she was asleep, right there, that night, as the cameras rolled." Flawed, anachronistic, and could-have been-better yes, but I love every minute of it and she would have too.

An odd movie

[Hazel-6 · 7/10 · 12 June 1999]

Despite the fact that there was technically no basic plot to A Polish Wedding and it was an odd movie, I found myself liking it. Being half Polish I noticed that although the family was Polish, there were only a couple things that were Polish in the movie: The Pierogi (although someone said it wrong), the blood soup, the names and the Catholic religion.

aimless wandering

[panguro3 · 8 March 2001]

i don't have any clue how i sat through this. aimless, pointless, and so not polish. i'm half polish, from pennsylvania coal miners and i never met any poles like these people. shame on everyone involved. next time they should do a little homework, not just a run with a "high concept" idea. even if it had just been a parody of the culture it would have been ok, but it wasn't even that. the virgin procession? the mom's accent? god! what was that? sorry, but this was awful, just awful.

Poorly made, is it a student 1st movie attempt?

[francocutroneo · 1/10 · 25 September 2006]

My girlfriend (she is Polish) and I were very curious about this title. Soon we realised that it was very strange the way the director approached the all Polish culture, I mean he based the movie on stereotypes. We think this director should apologies to all the Polish nation.. He should have at least worked a bit better on the accents...it sounded like an Italian-Russian-Hungarian mix rather than Polish. It give really the idea that Polish people are silly and leaving in low expectations, whereas is not like that at all..

I have watched thousand and thousands of movies due to the nature of my job, and cant remember a worst film than this one!Maybe one day it will become a classic as "the best badly made comedy"

An ordinary life, the polish way..

[adorable-3 · 6/10 · 23 August 1999]

Okay, so it's not an awesome movie, nor one I'd bother with in the movies, but as a rental, it's worth fast forwarding through the occasional slow and uninteresting parts to the funny lives of the people of this family.

Sure, nothing is like it seems ala the title, and it's quite funny to see how everyone's problem is aptly hidden from the other family members, only to be discovered by awkward accident later on.

Yet, despite the decent acting, one wonders after the movie was it worth it? Did it give you, the viewer, anything special to take with you? To inspire you? To give you comfort in the real world? Well, no. And that's fine, but one wishes it was a notch better and more refined so you could believe that only an ordinary life was not all that they were left with in the end.

A hodge-podge of nothing

[train464 · 1/10 · 4 February 2007]

A film? A movie? Polish? A Wedding? The correct answer is: None of the Above. This .... is a total waste of viewing time. No characterization, no development, confusing, senseless, hopeless, unfunny, poorly scripted, poorly acted; these are the notable features of this piece of fluff. If you decide to rent this whatever it is, be prepared to look confused and shut it off after 20 minutes tops. Being a film buff I lasted almost 50 minutes before giving up. Just accept that this is one of the worst "movies" made and move on. Better yet, just skip it entirely. I will admit I was taken by Lena Olin, and I like Gabriel Byrne (who just sleepwalks through this part), but all the other actors are just "there." Of course, none of them have a script to work from. It's just a bunch of nonsense phrases strung together to give them something to say.

Fertility feminist

[Erick-12 · 7/10 · 9 February 2005]

For a first film, this is not bad. Meanders a bit, and the matriarch is not believably presented compared to the depressed father who works night-shift as the neighborhood baker. Contains several charmed moments along the way.

The core interest of this story is in its insistence on a kind of tough motherhood, an affirmation of life in the physical sense of pregnancy and everything that necessitates. A re-visioning of the religious Virgin is one of the more memorable scenes.

As the title promises, this is a marriage plot, one of the most common of traditional plots. Here too the film presents a revision in terms of the woman's point of view. The old mystery for males: "What do women want?" was the infamous question asked by Freud and many others. One honest answer is given in Polish Wedding.

rather bland personal film

[SnoopyStyle · 4/10 · 30 December 2014]

Hala (Claire Danes) is a flirtatious Polish high school dropout in Detroit. Jadzia (Lena Olin) is the matriarch of the Pszoniak family. Jadzia has a chaotic life married to the nice baker Bolek (Gabriel Byrne). She's a cleaner with her gypsy daughter-in-law Sofie and has an affair with the boss Roman (Rade Šerbedžija). Neighborhood cop Russell Schuster gets Hala pregnant. Hala is picked to lead the Virgin's procession which she's not.

Written and directed by Theresa Connelly, this seems to be a personal film but not a very compelling one. It doesn't have any pace or tension. It's not funny, it's not sexy and it's not dramatic. It's just a bunch of slightly off-kilter characters living their lives. Kristen Bell does have a microscopic role. It's always fun to see a star when they were still a nobody. There are some great actors in this but Adam Trese is not one of them. I think this should be a coming-of-age movie but Lena Olin keeps getting the starring role and blocks Claire Danes.

Subtle...delicate.

[pruzkumnik · 6/10 · 10 July 2002]

Polish Wedding is a delicate & subtle film. with a kind of 'magicality' to it and a flavour of European cinema. it also contains strong expressions of femininity, sexuality and love... accomplished successfully with a subtle, sharp sense of humor, sensitivity and humanism.

(tucnak, you should watch it)

Terrible film

[joeg-14 · 1/10 · 10 July 2005]

It is quite obvious that whoever is responsible for this film knows absolutely nothing about the culture of Poland or the Catholic Church. Some of the scenes bordered on sacrilege. A priest man-handing a young woman during a May procession honoring the Virgin Mary....I mean get real !!! This movie is a complete fantasy and NOT a good one. Don't waste your time or money on this turkey.

I have to say also that the process to even comment on this disaster of a film is so ridiculous that it is set up to actually NOT provide comment. Since the film in my opinion is anti-Catholic bigotry at it's worst I can understand why they would want to do that.

Warm subtleties & identifiable characteristics

[Stonfree · 8/10 · 18 March 1999]

The Positive:

This movie contained many sweet moments, between family members. The script had been taken a step further away from words, and straight into the heart and idealistics of acting. Since there may have been, a lack of script, it seems to me there was an absolute pinpoint of a writers affirmation of certainty, e.g: "This is how I want my words to appear exactly as life".

A wonderful feat has been achieved to prove that families indeed do stay together, and can make it through anything. Identifying with the midlife crisis, and being a woman myself, I commend this script for showing how to not necessarily condone outside relationships, but for showing how to forgive and accept.

Unconditional love is the key to this movie. One that I believe we all can identify with in one way or another. Many, Many things to see in this film, as you go along. Symbolism is very high on the ladder of ideals, which may have you watching this movie twice, but well worth it!

The Negative: The setting, Detroit, was not believable. This was a styled like foreign film localed in a large city, with a smaller city appearance.

Seems so strangely familar to the midwest reality.

[bobparker · 7/10 · 15 November 2003]

A slower moving movie portrait of midwest feel of a type of life that sounds very familiar from the people I know. It may not have been entirely accurate, but it seems to make its points well. If feels like the prequel to My Big Fat Greek Wedding, in that life in strong families is a challenge but has immeasurable value in support at all costs. The church seems to affect in many midwesterner's life in deeply profound ways that builds interesting communities.

Welcome to another screwed-up family!

[DukeEman · 5/10 · 29 October 1999]

We enter the lives of another dysfunctional family. This time in Detroit, USA. This is like no other suburban family or a Simpson one at that. This is a Polish family doing it the hard way. Mother thinks she's Queen and fit for an affair. Daddy works the nightshift, missing out on the sordid family activities. Daughter sends out a sexual scent that has the local cop sniffing at the front door; and the five brothers are servant to their Queen mother. Interesting characters done justice by the performers but the structure of the script and how it was told is the major draw back. A big shame because this could have been entertaining if it wasn't so clumsy.