An overlong, overly lightweight tale of Poland’s two-time Olympic champion Jerzy Kulej is saved by a rallying last half hour
This is a glossily shot but overlong biopic of two-time Olympic gold-winning boxer Jerzy Kulej that tries to position him as a kind of errant bad boy folk hero; a kind of Polish George Best or Diego Maradona. But as it takes place in the late 60s, when Poland wasn’t exactly swinging but very much wanted to, Xawery Żuławski’s film mostly treats him with a weird indulgent levity that over-cranks the performances and neuters the stakes.
Returning from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Kulej (Tomasz Włosok) is a national hero. Under pressure from his wife Helena (Michalina Olszańska) to better their lot, he cuts a deal with his police superior Col Sikorski (Cold War’s Tomasz Kot) for a new apartment in return for becoming a poster boy for the People’s Republic. But the fattening dossier on their GOAT – boozing, womanising, suspected illegal gambling – means that his participation in the subsequent Olympics in Mexico City looks increasingly doubtful.