Life on the streets is brutal as ex secret police officer Franz Maurer (Bogusław Linda) is ‘downgraded’ to an ordinary policeman and has to adjust to his new status. Often compared to Tarantino for his bloody scenes and gallows humour director Władysław Pasikowski declared he was aiming to make a popular film: he had a huge commercial success and created a popular icon with the character of Maurer, who has since returned in two further Pigs films.
Shot by multi-award winning cinematographer Pawel Edelman (in a very different style to that used by him on Wajda’s films) we are drawn into a world of ambiguous moral guidelines, mirroring the difficulties of adjustment in post-Communist Poland. The dark reality of everyday life is put centre stage in this gritty urban thriller which remains popular in Poland today.
