The Woodpecker

The plot revolves around the vicissitudes of an average man, a henpecked husband by nature, who becomes a grass widower for a couple of days and – being jealous about his friends’ erotic conquests – decides to try out a romance with some attractive woman. But dreams about freedom do not fit in with practical preparation. Ladies are indeed emancipated and eager but that – as it soon turns out – is enough. The screenplay is the work of a famous columnist, Krzysztof Teodor Toeplitz, and Jerzy Gruza, then known mostly for his popular entertainment shows, who debuted with this film on the silver screen.

When in 1971 the film entered the silver screen, it won the audience, hungry for entertainment. The critics, leaving aside the cash success, were more restrained in their praises, complaining about the lack of stylistic coherence and unrefined jokes; however, they admitted, that the whole makes a good impression thanks to the firm setting in the Polish reality, only lightly caricatured, the great acting and the swift rhythm.