Aria for an Athlete opens on a panorama of Atlas sculptures offered up by an old man who once held the title, “world's strongest man,” and now has only his story to tell. As he begins his tale, the film moves to its fin-de-siècle setting, revealing an exotic world of circus creatures--charlatans, mountebanks and painted decadents. It is in this world that the hero makes his name as a wrestler, taking pride in his profession and his riches; and here that he is brought down by his nemesis in a brutal match in which he is reduced to a beast. Hungarian film critic Yvette Biro writes in the Village Voice:
“Aria for an Athlete, this romantic and savage story, is based on the real stories of Polish wrestlers.... A lavish, unbridled imaginative power strikes us from the outset, ranging from harsh ruthlessness to languid decadence, grotesque humor to captivating lyricism. Filip Bajon has created a universe of sharp-featured design and flamboyant beauty. The film's distinguishing quality, however, lies in its ‘Polishness,' perpetually present in the barbarian, vigorous images. They are all self-portraits...made out of melancholy, accusation and pain. As the story unfolds, the hero grows to an all-embracing national symbol, yet ambiguity remains his main feature: winner and loser, ingenue and sage, he is a survivor.”