Moonlighting (film)

Moonlighting is a 1982 British drama film written and directed by Jerzy Skolimowski. It is set in the early 1980s at the time of the Solidarity protests in Poland. It stars Jeremy Irons as Nowak, a Polish builder leading a team working illegally in London.

Moonlighting
Directed byJerzy Skolimowski
Written byJerzy Skolimowski
Produced byMark Shivas
Jerzy Skolimowski
Michael White
StarringJeremy Irons
CinematographyTony Pierce-Roberts
Edited byBarrie Vince
Music byStanley Myers
Production
companies
Michael White Productions
Channel Four Films
Distributed byMiracle Films
Release date
26 September 1982
Running time
97 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguagesEnglish
Polish
Budget£596,000[1]

Plot

Arriving in London from Warsaw in December 1981 is master electrician Nowak, who understands the language but not the inhabitants, with three workmen who know no English. Their task is to gut and renovate a house, for which they have brought what tools they can carry, while Nowak has cash to buy materials. Since the whole operation is illegal, Nowak keeps them working indoors while he goes out to get food and supplies.

As his money runs out, he takes to stealing so that the four can survive. In the meantime, Poland is undergoing the traumas of demonstrations and strikes followed by the declaration of martial law, banning of Solidarity and mass arrests. All this Nowak conceals from the men, in order to finish the job. With no money left, they have a six-hour walk to the airport and a flight home to an uncertain future.

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

Reception

It was entered into the 1982 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the award for Best Screenplay.[2]

Roger Ebert gave it four stars out of four[3] and included it in his list of Best Movies of 1982. Gene Siskel called it his favorite movie of 1982.[4] Vincent Canby, in The New York Times, called Moonlighting "immensely rewarding". He added: "It may be a coincidence - maybe not - that two of the best films ever made about exile have been made by Polish directors", the other being Polanski's The Tenant (1976).[5] Dave Kehr of The Chicago Reader called it "a profound, gripping comedy of terror and isolation, oppression and entrapment" with Jeremy Irons delivering "a performance worthy of Chaplin."[6] He would later hail it as a "masterpiece."[7]

Allmovie gave Moonlighting four out of five stars[8] and Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 100% rating based on 9 reviews.[9]

References
  1. "Back to the Future: The Fall and Rise of the British Film Industry in the 1980s - An Information Briefing" (PDF). British Film Institute. 2005. p. 29.
  2. "Festival de Cannes: Moonlighting". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 12 June 2009.
  3. Moonlighting at rogerebert.suntimes.com
  4. Siskel, Gene (2 January 1983). "Better films, more theaters: A winning year". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  5. Canby, Vincent (26 September 1982). "Moonlighting Offered by Jerzy Skolimowsky". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  6. Kehr, David (26 October 1985). "Moonlighting". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  7. Kehr, David (26 October 1985). "Deep End". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  8. Moonlighting at allmovie.com
  9. "Moonlighting". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media.
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