I treat it as a renormalized star system., with 5 meaning “must be saved”, rather
than a masterpiece.

In this spirit, I gave it two stars. Not good, but watchable.

The acting was uneven. Mr Sutherland was convincing, although not quite representative of the Polish Politburo.

He should not be responsible for his makeup, but I guess he could veto egregious mistakes, such as his eyebrows drawn above the natural line, that was visible in close-ups.

Anne Archer was even less representative as a Politburo wife. And the daughter,; she was supposed to be sixteen. Her baby talk and a pile of teddy bears in her bedroom don’t serve the image. Miscast and poor acting.

Then, the premise. It could happen to a nicer guy.

A semi-autobiography. The author is my contemporary and a fellow Varsovian.
Sure, his father was a good guy. Proud of the communist achievements after WWII; always trying to be between people and the authority –meaning “a moderate”. How many good guys-moderates have I seen?