Regarded as Polish cinema’s first ‘cult film’, Piwowski’sThe Cruiseis also considered by many to be a satirical masterpiece. Shot in a quasi-documentary style, with a cast featuring mostly non- professional actors, the absurd plot parodies life in the (then) People's Republic of Poland, reducing a weekend river cruise to a hilarious parody of the entire Communist system.
Piwowski's gift of observation, his sense of humour and an acute awareness of national pathology have made The Cruise one of Poland’s most popular and widely- known films of the 1970s.
