Starring: Przemysław Bluszcz, Gabriela Muskała, Marcin Korcz, Jerzy Trela
Directed by: Anna Wieczur-Bluszcz
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Anna Wieczur-Bluszcz swims against the tide in her approach to feature film making. She has bravely opted for a light-hearted film instead of a festival-pleasing drama. In Być jak Kazimierz Deyna (Being Like Deyna, 2012) Wieczur-Bluszcz pays homage to the exploits of a Polish football hero in order to build a delicate coming-of-age comedy partly set during the Communist era.
The storyline is centered on the childhood of Kazimierz “Kazi” (played by Marcin Korcz as an adult). Kazi is born on the same night that Polish footballing legend Kazimierz Deyna scores from a corner kick against Portugal in the 1978 World Cup qualifier. Famously taciturn and talented, Deyna later had a cameo in the World War II prison camp-football crossover Escape to Victory (1981). Kazi’s father, Stefan (Przemysław Bluszcz) is desperate to shape his son into a great football player. Even if Kazi is somehow an outsider just like Deyna, Kazi has to learn how to live an ordinary life, notwithstanding his father’s master plan.
The plot plays out against the early years of transition from Communism to capitalism which were uncomfortable for a lot of Polish families. Being Like Deyna manages to raise a few smiles thanks to its delicate treatment of nostalgia for life under the socialist system à la Good Bye, Lenin! (2003). Nevertheless, despite its gracefulness, such a movie could hardly hope to draw the attention of the major festival stakeholders.
Originally published by The Krakow Post on April 01, 2013