Divorce (Rozwodnicy) pokes the Roman Catholic Church’s marriage laws in the eye with this clever and offbeat comedy.
Divorce reunites Małgosia (Magdalena Poplawska) and Jacek (Adam Cywka) 17 years after their divorce. They married at 20, pregnant. They divorced after 7 years. Their daughter is now 23. For the past 17 years Małgosia has been happily married to Andrzej (Tomasz Schuchardt). They have a teen aged daughter Ala (Oliwia Drabik) who plays the clarinet in the school band that Małgosia teaches.
Jacek has found himself a sweet young woman and wants to marry her. The sticking point is she wants the white dress and the church and all the pomp and ceremony. But Małgosia and Jacek never had their marriage nullified by the Catholic Church.
Jacek asks Małgosia to help with the church nullification and she says yes. So begins a series of court hearings, conferences with various priests and a cardinal in Rome, a visit to a lawyer for the church who talks about how the sacraments are eternal and more. All this while trying to live their normal lives.
Małgosia is dealing with a rebellious teen and a husband who is slightly jealous of all the time this red tape with the church is taking.
There are some funny moments in the film. I was especially amused by the priest who made eyes at the camera and seemed to agree that the antiquated rules of religion were meant to be ridiculed. The band gave a rousing concert playing a forbidden song and all the snags were finally worked out.
I thought the comedy was clever and different while sharply satirical. Other Polish comedies I really enjoyed include The Green Glove Gang and Sexify. I might be a fan of the Polish sense of humor.
Netflix has this one.
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