Moonlighting (1982)

Director:

Jerzy Skolimowski

Writer:

Jerzy Skolimowski (original screenplay)

Release Date:

26 September 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A Polish contractor, Nowak, leads a group of workmen to London so they can provide cheap labor for a government official based there...

Plot Keywords:

Polish | Poland | Building Laborer | London England | Apartment

Awards:

4 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Jeremy Irons	...	Nowak
Eugene Lipinski	...	Banaszak
Jirí Stanislav	...	Wolski
Eugeniusz Haczkiewicz	...	Kudaj
Edward Arthur	...	Immigration Officer
Denis Holmes	...	Neighbor
Renu Setna	...	Junk Shop Owner
David Calder	...	Supermarket Manager
Judy Gridley	...	Supermarket Supervisor
Claire Toeman	...	Supermarket Cashier
Catherine Harding	...	Lady Shoplifter
Jill Johnson	...	Haughty Supermarket Customer
David Squire	...	Supermarket Assistant
Michael Sarne	...	Builders' Merchant (as Mike Sarne)
Lucy Hornak	...	Wrangler Shop Assistant
Robyn Mandell	...	Wrangler Shop Assistant
Anne Tirard	...	Lady in Telephone Box (as Ann Tirard)
Christopher Logue	...	Workman
Hugh Harper	...	Newspaper Boy
Julia Chambers	...	Chemist's Assistant
Fred Lee Own	...	Chinese Man
Kenny Ireland	...	Timber Man
Trevor Cooper	...	Hire Shop Man
Iain Ormsby-Knox	...	Hire Shop Man
David Gant	...	Aquascutum Assistant
Jenifer Landor	...	Aquascutum Shoplifter (as Jennifer Landor)
Jenny Seagrove	...	Anna
Ian McCulloch	...	Boss Lookalike
Laura Frances Hart	...	His Woman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dorota Zieciowska	...	Lot Airline Girl (as Dorota Zieciowska)
Jerzy Skolimowski	...	Boss (uncredited)

Directed by
Jerzy Skolimowski

Writing credits
Jerzy Skolimowski		(original screenplay)

Produced by
Michael Guest	....	associate producer
Mark Shivas	....	producer
Jerzy Skolimowski	....	producer
Michael White	....	producer

Original Music by
Stanley Myers

Cinematography by
Tony Pierce-Roberts		(as Tony Pierce Roberts)

Film Editing by
Barrie Vince

Casting by
Debbie McWilliams

Production Design by
Tony Woollard

Costume Design by
Jane Robinson

Makeup Department
Marsha Lewis	....	hair stylist
Sheila Thomas	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Peter Cotton	....	first assistant director
Nick Daubeny	....	second assistant director (as Nicholas Daubeny)
Rod Lomax	....	third assistant director

Art Department
Roma Aplin	....	production buyer
Brian Gamby	....	property master
Bill Simpson	....	construction manager
Peter Young	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Alan Bell	....	dubbing editor
Richard King	....	dubbing mixer
David Stephenson	....	sound mixer
Mike Tucker	....	boom operator

Special Effects by
Roy Whybrow	....	special effects supervisor

Camera and Electrical Department
Barry Brown	....	camera focus
Murray Close	....	still photographer (as Murray Tulip Close)
David Farrell	....	still photographer
Laurie Shane	....	gaffer
Jimmy Stilwell	....	camera operator
John Clarke	....	best boy (uncredited)
Cedric James	....	focus puller: second camera (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Masada Wilmot	....	wardrobe mistress

Editorial Department
Michael Connell	....	assistant editor
Jacques Leroide	....	assistant editor
Andy Stears	....	assistant editor (as Andrew Stears)

Music Department
Hans Zimmer	....	composer: electronic music

Other crew
Rufus Andrews	....	location manager
Michael Brent	....	production accountant
Allen Burry	....	publicist
Lorraine Fennell	....	production assistant
Nikolas Korda	....	runner (as Nicholas Korda)
Pat Rambaut	....	continuity
Danuta Stok	....	script assistant
Witold Stok	....	script assistant
Boleslaw Sulik	....	script assistant
Barrie Vince	....	script assistant
Richard Morrison	....	title designer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Michael White Productions (presents) (as Michael White)

Distributors

• Miracle Films (1982) (UK) (theatrical)
• MK2 Diffusion (1983) (France) (theatrical)
• Universal Classics (1982) (USA) (theatrical)
• Arcadia Digital (2005) (Cyprus) (TV) (DVD)
• Braveworld (1991) (UK) (VHS)
• Films sans Frontières (2003) (France) (DVD)
• Indies Home Entertainment (2002) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Panamerican Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• PolyGram Video (1997) (UK) (VHS)
• Trinity Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Home Video (2002) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Lee Electric Lighting  lighting equipement (as Lee Electric [Lighting] Ltd.)
• Joe Dunton Cameras  camera equipment provided by (as Joe Dunton [Cameras] Ltd.)
• World Wide Sound  sound re-recording
• Aquascutum of London  the producers would like to thank (as Aquascutum)
• National Film Development Fund (NFDF)  developed with the assistance of (as N.F.D.F.)

Also Known As:

"A nagy gázsi" - Hungary (imdb display title)
"Classe Operária" - Brazil
"Fucha" - Poland (imdb display title)
"Kuutamokeikka" - Finland
"Moonlighting" - Portugal (imdb display title)
"Schwarzarbeit" - West Germany
"Sto fos tou feggariou" - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)
"Svartjobb" - Sweden
"Trabajo clandestino" - Spain
"Trabalho Clandestino" - Brazil (festival title)
"Travail au noir" - France
"Vivendo Cada Momento" - Brazil (TV title)

Runtime:

USA:97 min | Argentina:97 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Polish

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Australia:PG | UK:15 (video rating) | UK:AA (original rating) | Netherlands:12 (original rating) | Netherlands:6 (re-rating) | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Finland:S | South Korea:15 | Sweden:7 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Hammersmith Road, Hammersmith, London, England, UK

Company:

Michael White Productions

An important lesson in history wasted by a silly script

One of the previous commentators tells us that Skolimowski wrote the script in one day; this shows. We do not hear any conversations between the workers who are heroes of the film ! We hear sometimes thoughts in the head of the main character. The martial law period in Poland was aimed at crushing the Solidarity movement. It succeeded - for some years. Compare this film with wonderful "The man of iron" directed by Andrzej Wajda who shows the birth of Solidarity. So much could have been done showing how Solidarity was crushed - only the director who is also the script writer had hardly a clue what to do. As another commentator points out, the workers are kept in the dark by their foreman. Seeing on TV the streets of Warsaw with tanks, do they really believe this is normal ? Particularly so since they left Poland when Solidarity was flourishing ... Jeremy Irons is a very good actor; one can presume he wanted to show to the world how Solidarity was crushed. Irons apparently assumed that Skolimowski originating from Poland knows what he is doing; a sad mistake. If you have sympathy for the Solidarity movement and its role in history - as many people around the world do - do not watch this film. You would be terribly disappointed.