Munk creates a kind of contemporary Candide in this hilarious tale of Jan Piszczyk, a Polish Everyman who tries to keep up with the changing zeitgeist but just can’t help being in the wrong place at the wrong time. We follow his attempts to become a model Boy Scout in the 1930s, his checkered military career in the 1940s, and his stint as a member of the Stalinist bureaucracy in the postwar era—all as he variously runs afoul of anti-Jewish groups, pro-Jewish groups, anti-state radicals, pro-state policemen, Nazis, resistance fighters, and bureaucrats. Munk races through genres as quickly as Jan embraces lifestyles, starting with a frenetic silent-film tribute and upping the comedic energy from there. Declared “cynical” by the unamused Polish authorities, the film was nevertheless a great hit with audiences.