A feature debut for the director Anna Wieczur-Bluszcz, the script to the film was inspired by a novel by Radosław Paczocha. The story of Kaziu, Deyna and Polish history also spured a theatre play that was performed at Gdansk's Teatr Wybrzeże in 2012. Much like the theatre piece, Wieczur-Bluszcz's cinematic adaption of Paczocha's novel received positive feedback from critics. Anna Wieczur-Bluszcz, well known for her work in the theatre in Zielona Góra, doesn't try to show off her directorial skill, and doesn't over do it in trying to make the audience laugh. The film is a situational comedy, where misunderstandings between the characters breed laughter. The film is a skilfully balanced mix of comedy of the absurd and family cinema which brings out the variety of multifaceted nature of the character and creates fertile ground for different personalities to clash.
From dillapidated provincial buses, the famous Syrena cars, Radio Free Europe to the Poles' beloved Brasilian telenovela Slave Isaura, the carefully selected memories from communist Poland portray how society and the dreams of individuals changed alongside the change in surrounding political and economical circumstances in the country. According to Staszczyszyn, on top of the director's sense of humour, the film owes its success to its actors. What surprises is the choice of casting well-known Polish actors in roles they have so far not been chosen for. Gabriela Muskała, often cast in psychological dramas in the role of a neurotic woman plays Kazio's mother, a woman with an absurd sense of humour.
In September 2012 Being Like Kazimierz Deyna received the Wielki Jantar (Great Jantar) Award at the 31st Youth and Film Festival in Koszalin and the Golden Fish for the Best Polish film at the 39th Summer Film Festival in the Polish city of Ińsk.
Author: Bartosz Staszczyszyn, translated by MJ