A Trip down the river = Rejs [NTSC]

This unassuming satire begins with a pair of young Polish men trying to get on board a luxuriant riverboat without tickets. They disguise themselves as members of the ship’s personnel and are eventually let on board. At a group meeting with all in attendance, one of these stowaways, Kaowiec (Stanislaw Tym) is, to his surprise, introduced as the ship’s organiser of cultural and social activities. The passengers then give their opinion on everything from leisure activities to the question of giving opinions at all and a committee is formed to plan a group party. From this moment on, “A Trip Down the River” becomes a clear satire on processes of decision-making, structures of power, committee meetings and group dynamics. The main characters are a mixed bag, each with their own hilarious idiosyncrasies and quirks. Those passengers who comprise the party-committee represent a cross-section of Polish society - the rationalist, the artist, the philosopher, the pragmatist and so on - and so when each expresses their views, the film becomes a meta-narrative on various approaches to life and meaning. Acclaimed a cult film in post-war Poland, “A Trip Down the River” is a wry comedy that plays it straight all the way. In Polish with English subtitles.