Cesarean section

Country and year: Poland, 1988 Genre: Comedy-drama, romance Director: Stanisław Moszuk Screenplay: Andrzej Mularczyk Cast: Wojciech Malajkat, Wiesia Stec, Maria Gładkowska, Krzysztof Kowalewski, Piotr Fronczewski, Bożena Dykiel, Marta Klubowicz, Karol Kłosowski Medical theme: the workings of a gynecology ward, a medical school applicant working as a ward assistant to earn extra credits Description: A very lighthearted and interesting film that takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the Polish healthcare system in the late 1980s. A young man (Malajkat), who didn’t have enough credits to get into medical school, takes a job in the gynecology ward as a ward assistant. He learns the hospital’s rules from the perspective of his host and mentor—receptionist Dederko (Kłosowski)—who makes extra money by quietly letting visiting husbands see their pregnant wives after visiting hours, and explains to the young man the rules and “arrangements” of the ward. There is also a doctor (Fronczewski) at the hospital who is capable of operating on the wife of a party activist without anesthesia to show her that life isn’t so easy; he also doesn’t shy away from encounters in the elevator or the procedure room with an attractive nurse (Klubowicz). Life at the hospital picks up pace when it turns out that the one-millionth citizen of the Płock Province is to be born at this very facility—only five more children are needed. A representative of the local authorities (Kowalewski) is sent to the hospital to ensure that the child’s parents are the “right” people. The matter, however, also gains attention among the patients, and each of them tries to delay her delivery so that her child will be the millionth.