Review: The World Is Waiting for Us-Czeka Na Nas Swiat (2006)

Director: Robert Krzempek | 95 minutes | comedy | Actors: Sebastian Pawlak, Bartosz Zukowski, Jadwiga Lesiak-Gizycka, Elzbetia Okupska, Cezary Zak, Jerzy Trela, Jerzy Lapinski, Henryk Golebiewski, Jerzy Matula, Jacek Braszczok, Lucja Burzynska, Beata Chren, Jacek Grondowy, Patryja Gryzlaka

Piotr Novak is thirty but still unashamedly parasitizes his mother’s pension. One day she did not receive her money, just before she went to a spa herself for three weeks. Piotr is faced with the task of becoming independent in the coming weeks. How does he get money and food? And is the angry outside world waiting for Piotr?

To answer the last question right away: no. Nobody is waiting for Piotr, and that is not surprising. Piotr is lazy. Archlui. No work experience, no education. He simply has never done anything. And just as so many people are already unemployed and the economic and political situation in Poland is not very encouraging for the “common man”, Piotr must find work and income.

In “The World Is Waiting for Us” we see Piotr making several half-hearted attempts to raise money, and nothing too much is given away by saying that of course all those attempts fail miserably. It does lead to dryly funny and sometimes hilarious situations. Like the moment when Piotr and his equally lazy friend Sproket figured out that they could seduce a fat (and therefore rich) neighbor. Actually, it is mainly an idea of ​​Sproket, and Piotr is allowed to carry it out, but the moment the scrawny Piotr is in the bed of the buuf, all bodily functions fail … Piotr’s search for money and food leads him through encounters with all kinds of different types: from a rich guy who, on doctor’s advice, does not swallow his Burgundian meals but only chews and spits out, to fiercely competing bums and beggars. The few times that Piotr has made some money from usually rather shady employers, he is robbed of his money again and again by the same duo.

In the meantime, he lets his mother know over the phone that everything is going great, and that he has found a dream job. The reality is that he’s gone so far as to eat moldy bread, and his already meager self-image is steadily shrinking into a measly heap of human. All this results in a fairly funny film with a socially critical undertone. Although it is really only sadness what the clock strikes, everything is presented in such a way that you view all the misery with a smile. That is the intention, and it makes “The World Is Waiting for Us” an easily digestible film, but actually it is of course very cynical. Even Piotr’s ultimate “enlightenment” has that cynical undertone.

Ultimately, that also works a bit against this movie. Although it will not have been the intention to leave an ‘indelible’ impression on the viewer with this film (the tone is too light and dryly funny for it), it is a shame that a film with a poverty theme is so meaningless and is portrayed cynically. As a result, “The World Is Waiting for Us” is a nice film for the moment, but everything is forgotten when the film is finished. In the end, the humor is not consistent and good enough to save the film. Preventing Piotrs and the sometimes bizarre situations are potentially funny, but they often fail. A typical film of “one eye in and the other eye out”. And that is always a bit of a waste of your time. Or is that too cynical?