Aahana Swrup
The Polish musical biopic ‘Less of a Stranger’ presents an exhilarating story about a young man with ambition, talent, and a natural inclination toward rebellion. Jan Borysewicz discovers his love for all things rock and roll at an early age despite his father’s clear disapproval. As he enters young adulthood, he becomes a skilled guitarist who begins performing with some of the biggest rock names in the country. Nonetheless, he dreams of something bigger and better. Therefore, even when martial law is implemented in late-communist Poland in the 1980s, the artist refuses to hit the brakes. Instead, in the face of hopelessness, he creates his own band, Lady Pank, and goes on to take it to unimaginable heights. Yet, as it would turn out, the only thing harder than achieving success is maintaining it. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Less of a Stranger Plot Synopsis
In 1969, something revolutionary happens to young Jan Borysewicz. During a family gathering, he and his older brother, Andrzej, accidentally stumble across rock music on the radio. Even though the boys’ father isn’t pleased with this development, his youngest son becomes enthralled with this kind of music and quickly becomes interested in becoming a musician. This only fuels his natural rebellious tendencies, which fuel the friction between him and his father, who constantly tries to suppress his spirit. However, his mother and his brother remain supportive of his dreams. In fact, Andrzej surprises him with a guitar on his birthday, which allows him to enroll for guitar lessons at the community center. Soon enough, he becomes even better than his own instructors and starts making connections with other like-minded creatives.
When Jan gets invited to play his first show with a local band, his father attempts to stop him and even rips out the strings from his instrument. Fortunately for him, the band has a backup electric guitar that they want him to play. After his first successful show, the young guitarist enters a new phase in his life, where his musical skills become well-known around the town as he continues working with different bands, playing different shows. This is how he finds himself at a classic rock ’n’ roll party in 1974, where his drunken path crosses with Mogiel, a lyricist with many contacts. He tells Jan about Romek Lipko holding auditions for a guitarist for his band Budka Suflera, the biggest Polish rock band at the time. Soon enough, the ambitious musician finds himself booked for a big concert in Warsaw. Unfortunately, where his professional career surges, things at home continue to get worse.
Andrzej finds himself becoming his mother’s primary caretaker as her sclerosis progresses, while her husband continues using business trips as an excuse to stay away from his family. For the same reason, Jan considers bailing on the concert to stay back with his brother. Nevertheless, the latter encourages him to fulfill his dreams. Tragically, while the guitarist gets a taste of the rockstar’s life in Warsaw, his older brother dies by suicide back home. In the aftermath, Jan grows increasingly disillusioned with the concept of God and abandons all faith in religion. Around the same time, he also learns that Magda, a girl he has been hooking up with, is pregnant with his child. However, she has no interest in marrying him because she believes his dreams of becoming a rock star are unreliable and unstable. Jan almost tries to give up his ambitions, but is pulled back from the abyss by Mogiel, who convinces him to go on the road with Budka Suflera.
Unfortunately, the tour ultimately falls through to the point where the band has to work construction and home renovation jobs to cover their expensive travel. This is when Jan decides that he wants to start a band of his own and receives Mogiel’s enthusiastic support. However, their timing couldn’t have been worse as martial law was implemented at home around the same time. Still, despite the ban on concerts, the guitarist puts together a group of musicians, convinced that if they tough out this trying season and work on their music, they can eventually achieve success. The band, Lady Pank, gradually grows and evolves until they are finally putting on shows in 1983. They have acquired a substantial fan following. Simultaneously, they have also attracted the unwanted attention of the authorities, who are displeased by the politically rebellious nature of their music. Despite threats from the People’s Republic of Poland, the band remains true to its roots.
During this time, Jan fathers another child with a groupie. Although she tries to initially co-parent with him, his rockstar lifestyle proves too much for her, leading her to take the kid and cut off ties with the musician. By 1985, the band has garnered enough popularity that American record labels showcase an interest in working with them. Nonetheless, Lady Pank rejects their offer after realizing they’re interested in taking all creative control away from them. Back home, the authorities continue to threaten Jan. Around the same time, the guitarist develops a coke addiction, which begins to quickly overtake his life and career. Eventually, he agrees to do a youth festival in the hopes that it would attract Magda’s attention. Yet, during the performance, his paranoia and audience heckling get the better of him, and he ends up having a breakdown, flashing his privates, and yelling obscenities. This becomes a turning point for Lady Pank, as they’re banned from performing and the guitarist is arrested for his actions.
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Less of a Stranger Ending: Does Lady Pank Play a Concert Again?
Lady Pank’s trajectory proves to be incredible as they remain on a rollercoaster that seemingly only goes up. Their refusal to let martial law dictate their artistry allows them to take the country by storm as soon as the order is lifted. Thus, they’ve skyrocketed into national and international success. Yet, the national authorities’ disdain for the rock band never dwindles. As a result, they’ve accrued a powerful enemy that works toward weakening their rapid growth and public appeal. Meanwhile, Jan continues to struggle privately in his personal life. His mother has been sent to a nursing home, he’s a deadbeat father to two daughters who are growing up without him in their lives, and he continues to bear the weight of his brother’s suicide. This, paired with a rockstar’s lifestyle, paves the way for chaos as the guitarist inevitably develops a drug addiction.
All of this culminates at the youth festival, where Jan’s frenzied actions finally catch up to him. It gives the authorities the perfect excuse to shut the band down, barring them from performing again. On the other hand, the musician’s personal complications with the law take priority over his music career. Unfortunately for him, help arrives from an entirely unexpected and unwanted place: his father. Owing to his business connections, Jan’s father manages to bail his son out under the promise that he would seek medical help and therapy. Therefore, the guitarist has no choice but to pursue sobriety while enrolled in a rehabilitation institution. Shortly into his treatment, his mother also ends up passing away, igniting the friction between the father-son duo while compounding the latter’s grief.
Eventually, a particularly heated confrontation between Jan and his father results in a heart attack for the musician. Lucky for him, despite his deteriorating state, he had managed to recklessly drive himself to a hospital. In the end, the musician manages to pull through, getting a second chance at life. Once he wakes in the hospital, his old band is waiting for him. Their feelings of celebration are increased by the fact that it looks like the old communist government will soon be overturned. This means there’s a possibility that Lady Pank can take the stage once again. The only thing standing in the way is a public apology that the guitarist would have to issue for his past actions. This proves to be an easy enough ordeal since Jan already regrets his actions, and he’s eager to make up for them. In the end, Lady Pank put on a concert once again to a full crowd of fans who had been eagerly awaiting their return.
Why Did Mogiel Not Visit Jan in the Hospital?
The aftermath of Jan’s heart attack makes for a heartwarming scene. The guitarist himself has many feelings to work through as he reckons with his past and the promise of a future that was almost taken from him. Therefore, the arrival of his former bandmates proves to be an even more joyous and emotional development. Yet, notably, when this reunion happens, Mogiel isn’t a part of the group. In fact, he seems to be the only one who hasn’t made it to see Jan in the hospital. Although the story never provides a concise answer for it, fans can come to their own conclusions given the history shared between the two characters. From the beginning, Mogiel showcases a unique trust in the guitarist and his vision. He’s the first one to join Lady Pank, founding it alongside his friend.
Afterward, Mogiel continues to remain an integral part of the band through its various highs and lows. Therefore, Jan’s gradual spiral into self-destruction, which leads to the ruin of the band, comes as a notable betrayal to the lyricist. The guitarist disregards the faith and trust that the lyricist and his other bandmates have put in him by recklessly driving them down a dead-end road. In many ways, his actions, despite being fueled by his grief, were selfish and ultimately caused harm to multiple careers other than just his own. For the same reason, Mogiel loses his trust in Jan and decides to move on with his life and career following the ban on Lady Pank. Thus, it’s possible that the songwriter has held on to these bitter feelings, which compel him to skip the band’s reunion.
Why Does Jan Go on the Pilgrimage? Does He Get Sober?
After Jan has been sent to rehab, he eventually plots his escape from the place. Initially, he goes to visit his mother in an attempt to make amends for his absence as well as the choices he has made in life. His mother encourages him to change his luck by simply putting more effort into things that truly matter to him. This includes the music as much as it does the family and the responsibility he has been running away from his entire life. This conversation ignites the grief of Andrzej’s loss, which is permanently intertwined with the guitarist’s music career. The last time the brothers talked, Jan had promised to accompany Andrzej on a pilgrimage, which he expressed a desire to undertake.
However, after Andrzej’s death, Jan’s trust in God comes entirely undone. This is because the night of his suicide, the brother stopped at a church before returning home. This means that he tried to find help in his faith when he was at his lowest. Still, God couldn’t truly help him. As such, Jan makes the decision to rebuke the idea of a greater power in his own life. In the end, when he undertakes the pilgrimage, it showcases his ability to put his own hangups aside in order to pay respect to his brother’s memory and work through the all-consuming grief of Andrzej’s death.
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