Based on Voltaire's Candide, Bad Luck tells of a simple man baffled (and frequently battered) by life and history, unable to fit in and find a place for himself. Jan just wants to conform, but his timing, and his luck, are eternally hopeless; bullied by his father as a child and then by his classmates, he finally becomes an adult, only to wind up slapped around by, variously, anti–Jewish groups, pro–Jewish groups, anti–state radicals, pro–state policemen, Nazis, resistance fighters, and bureaucrats. For critic Boleslaw Michalek, Jan embodies "the provincial Polish would–be patriot: always defeated, always starting anew, and then turned upside down again." Munk races through genres as quickly as Jan embraces lifestyles, starting with a frenetic silent–film tribute and upping the comedic energy from there. Termed "cynical" by the unamused Polish authorities, the film was nevertheless a great hit with audiences.