johnjredington I can't claim to know anything specific about Polish culture or Polish-American culture and I'd assume the slating "Polish Wedding" has got, particularly from Poles, is something akin to how some Irish people view Hollywood films about Irish-American families. Some of it is understandable (ever watch "Far and Away" without cringing?) but most times I think critics read too much into the context and not enough into the film itself.As an outsider, "Polish Wedding" comes across as a film about white working-class Americans. I can see parallels with some of my own relations - an American community that uses the glue of their shared ethnic origin to bind themselves together. In the film's case, that happens to be Polish and there is an authentic ring to the hothouse bonds of a large family with Catholicism always present in the background.However, despite its very American setting, "Polish Wedding" is far more European in structure and storyline, a record of ordinary events about ordinary people who don't have heroic aspirations and who adapt the best they can to whatever life throws up. In a way, it's almost like reality TV, a chance to peek into the lives of others without having any influence on the outcome.While not as intense as classics in that tradition like the "Three Colours" trilogy, it is an interesting take on a theme that has rarely been examined by Hollywood and has enough inter-personal emotion to compensate for the lack of complexity in the story.

Hannalee Hannalee It's too bad they had to hang this story on the Polish, and as a student of Slavic languages and literatures, I can see how people would be upset. Somebody must have had the idea that to marry traditional Christianity to pagan celebration of fertility, or show the conflict between those two, you should use the Poles as a vehicle (because they're devout Catholics??). Also, having been a Slavist, I can say that Slavs of all kinds that I've known have often been pretty hard drinkers and smokers... I don't mean that as a slur. Obviously I find Slavs wonderful or I wouldn't be a Slavist.And, this is also not the greatest movie in the world in spite of a good cast, particularly Gabriel Byrne. All the same, I think of it sometimes because of some interesting scenes. To me it's kind of about the constant renewal of sexuality, and its dangers. Or that it will be renewed over and over again despite any dangers, no matter what young people want or where they think they're going. Usually if I notice symbolism, I suspect it's heavy handed, but since no one has mentioned it, I'd just remark that the scene when the young buck rides away with Hala on his bike, and they go to an abandoned metro station, just drips with the contrast between primal sexuality (literally regrowing up out of the concrete in dense greens), and the broken establishment framework (the literally broken concrete). Hala is pregnant and wearing a wedding dress and he still can't resist her. These guys are Adam and Eve before there were any rules.So, there are a few scenes like that. One of my other favorites is the sweet scene of reconciliation, Mom and Dad smoking in the pantry closet. Forget the bogus virginity ritual. I was raised Catholic and I don't remember anything like that. This film has some unique features I haven't seen elsewhere, and thus, I still like to see parts of it from time to time.

joeg-14 It is quite obvious that whoever is responsible for this film knows absolutely nothing about the culture of Poland or the Catholic Church. Some of the scenes bordered on sacrilege. A priest man-handing a young woman during a May procession honoring the Virgin Mary....I mean get real !!! This movie is a complete fantasy and NOT a good one. Don't waste your time or money on this turkey.I have to say also that the process to even comment on this disaster of a film is so ridiculous that it is set up to actually NOT provide comment. Since the film in my opinion is anti-Catholic bigotry at it's worst I can understand why they would want to do that.

vchimpanzee If 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' was 'Everybody Loves Raymond', then this was 'Married ... with Children'. In the Greek family, the bride was plain and overweight but made herself over, hoping to get a man before her biological clock ran out. In this movie, the bride looked hot even with a minimum of makeup ... though her mom looked like Kathie Lee Gifford and wore enough makeup for a much older profession than cleaning offices. The Greek family ran a restaurant. In this movie, the father worked nights in a bakery but it is never made clear whether he owned it. The Greek wedding was a major production involving hundreds of guests. The Polish wedding ... wasn't. I don't want to give away too much, but weapons were involved. I think they were baseball bats, but I'm not sure. The scene where those were used--that was memorable. I liked the performances of the actors playing the groom's parents, brief though they were.Claire Danes did a wonderful job as the only daughter out of five children. She showed a real talent for sultry behavior, and her evil laugh early in the movie was something worth seeing. Lena Olin delivered an outstanding performance, effectively showing a wide variety of emotions, and her accent was beautiful. Gabriel Byrne had his moments as the father.I had a hard time enjoying the movie, though, except when it was funny. Some of the humor was naughty, but that was okay. It seemed well done. The main problem with the movie was that there were good parts but nothing overall that made them fit together as a whole.It was fun at times, anyway.