THE BIG ANIMAL

You'll walk a mile for this movie! Renowned Polish actor Jerzy Stuhr, who turned writer-director with “The List of Adultresses” (20th CIFF, 1996) and “A Week in the Life of a Man” (24th CIFF, 2000) stars and directs in an irresistibly absurdist parable of human nature and nonconformity, based on a script left behind by the late, great cinematic moralist Krzysztof Kieslowski. One night small-town clerk Zygmunt Sawicki finds his quiet dinner at home interrupted by an unexpected visitor at his gate. It's a full-grown Arabian camel, unaccountably abandoned in the Polish hinterlands by a traveling caravan. Zygmunt B.C. (Before Camel) was just a regular guy whose major distinction was as a clarinet player in the village band. Now he (abetted by his less enthusiastic wife) proudly manages and maintains the district's only camel and takes the gentle, music-loving beast for strolls through the high street. And the fascination of his fellow citizens turns to envy. Envy turns to resentment. Resentment turns to fear and hatred . . . Shot in glorious black and white, THE BIG ANIMAL will surely put Jerzy Stuhr over the hump (sorry) as a world-class filmmaker. (In Polish with English subtitles)