The Christmas Movie You Didn’t Wish For (But Need to See): Moonlighting

This reviewer confesses a prejudice against films that feature voice-over narration. More often than not, such voice-overs do not assist the narratives they reflect. Instead, they irritatingly slow the pace of the film, and their insights are usually unnecessary. In an artistic medium that is specifically visual, if a writer has utilized voice-over narration to explain the plot or character motivation then the writer has failed to pen a coherent movie. This reviewer agrees with the quote from the character Robert McKee (based on the real-life lecturer of the same name) from the film Adaptation (2002) that voice-over narration is “flaccid, sloppy writing. Any idiot can write [them] to explain the thoughts of a character.” Even though voice-over narration is often a staple of film noir, it does not further deepen the mysteries it recounts. Imagine Chinatown (1974) weighted down with voice-over narration. If one does, that imagination is what yielded the poor sequel The Two Jakes (1990). And yet, the voice-over narration found in Moonlighting (1982) is justified, for it effectively conveys the crisis of conscience of its main character.

Moonlighting is the story of Polish workers illegally remodeling a house during the holidays. They are led by Nowak (Jeremy Irons), the only member of the group who speaks any English. Nowak confesses that he “can speak their language; this is why the boss chose [him] for the job. But [he] [doesn’t] know what they really mean.” Nowak notes that the Polish workmen he leads are committed to the job because the month of hard labor will pay them an amount that would take a year to earn back home. However, Nowak also knows that his crew is doing the work for a quarter of the cost that would employ a British outfit. These early confessions denote that Novak is not comfortable with his language advantage over his fellow Polish countrymen, for it places the burden of knowledge on his conscience.

Moonlighting is a movie that is specific to its contemporary time. It is a subtle political film written and directed by Jerzy Skolimowski, who was expelled earlier from his home country. When Nowak and his crew arrive in England at the airport, he is asked if they are members of Solidarity, a Polish trade union that was influential in ending communist rule by 1989. Nowak answers “No” to the airport officer and then later acknowledges, in a voice-over statement, “that was the only true answer [he] gave” as to the purpose of his group’s stay in England. Nowak’s voice-over narrations are his private confessions to himself. As Nowak never breaks the fourth wall during the film, the audience is the omnipotent viewer of his conscience. From his arrival in England, Nowak is a nervous individual who intensely knows he is a stranger in a strange land. Thus, Moonlighting‘s plot of home remodeling has the dramatic weight of a slow-burning political thriller. 

While attempting to manage the project on a fixed timeline and fixed budget, Nowak learns that he has to survive by any means. As the only English speaker in his group, Nowak is responsible for purchasing supplies and food. At first, he does so, but Nowak is also excruciatingly aware of the group’s limited food budget for the entire month of hard labor. Hence, Nowak soon shoplifts grocery store goods in an effort to stockpile food supplies for his crew. Nowak does so by first purchasing food supplies and then later going in again to steal the exact foods at the exact amounts. Nowak justifies this to himself by stating (in a voice-over, of course) “So, that’s it; with a receipt [one’s] okay.” After his bicycle to transport the ill-gotten foods is stolen, Nowak swipes a neighbor’s bike, careful to repaint it to avoid suspicion and prosecution. Nowak’s crimes are subject to the completion of the home renovation.

Jeremy Irons provides a masterful performance as Nowak. His nuanced nervousness in all exchanges with British citizens provides Moonlighting its tense tone. Nowak knows there would be dire repercussions if his group’s illegal work were exposed. Alternatively, Novak micromanages his fellow Polish workers more and more in order to ensure job completion. He refuses to let them enjoy the comforts of this capitalist country while working them eighteen hours a day. He also changes his crew’s watches to trick them into thinking they have slept more than they actually have. Nowak is a thief and trickster; yet, Irons portrays him not as a villain but as a sympathetic supervisor who has been given a nearly impossible job to finish. Irons’ vocal performance for the voice-over narrations is particularly impressive as they are stated with a volume that is barely above a whisper. Often in film, audiences have to wonder for whom voice-over narrations are given. Certainly themselves, as the attending viewers, but for anyone else, say a specific character? Irons’ performance suggests that Nowak’s voice-over narrations are given to no one but himself. They are the private statements of a tortured soul, spoken so softly as to avoid spilling his thoughts’ secrets to the world. When Nowak visits a church he states (to himself) “I don’t want to confess… I’m here to find my self-respect.”

Adding political tension to the film is the enforcement of martial law in Poland while Nowak and his crew are away. Martial law did occur in Poland historically, lasting from December 13th, 1981 to July 22nd, 1983. Moonlighting is director/émigré Skolimowski’s reaction to his home country’s political affairs. Thus, Nowak is an individual who Skolimowski must pity, a competent Polish supervisor who does not belong to the rising social movement for workers’ rights (Solidarity) and is forced into acts of criminal enterprise for the sake of survival. Workers like Nowak, though capable, are not the solution but the problem. Nowak also commits the crime of secrecy, as he prevents his workers from discovering the events in Poland in order to keep them working until the job is done. Nowak even maintains the pretense of allowing his crew to expect weekly phone booth calls from back home when he knows no incoming call is forthcoming during the time of martial law. Fearing an eventual leak of information, Nowak ponders, “But what if the phone rings now?”

At the completion of the home renovation, Nowak and his crew quietly leave the residence in the dead of the night, like wanted criminals on the run, all conveniently before British policemen come inquiring upon the now-empty-but-beautifully-refurbished townhouse. Nowak makes amends by returning the bicycle, but not before stealing one final time a silk scarf for a personal job bonus that he rewards himself. Nowak quietly notes, “All [they] have left now is [his] five pence and a six-hour walk to Heathrow Airport.” Upon arrival, Nowak informs his crew of their unknown fate when they fly back home, an ambiguous ending as the sound of one of their well-traveled shopping carts rolls away in front of the camera for the final frame. As Roger Daltrey once sang, Nowak and his Polish crew are “going back home.”

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