Rysiek (
Stanisław Tym, who also co-wrote the screenplay), the shrewd manager of a state-sponsored sports club, has to travel to
London before his ex-wife Irena (
Barbara Burska) gets there to collect a large sum of money from their joint savings account. However, getting out of a
communist country is never easy, even for a well-connected operator like Rysiek. After his wife destroys Rysiek's
hard-to-get passport, he is stranded in Warsaw, while she's off to London. The circumstances force him to plot a
Byzantine scheme with the support of his equally cunning friend. Their plan involves a movie production as well as tracking down a
look-alike (also played by Tym) to "borrow" their passport. Hilarity ensues as Bareja gives the audience a guided tour of the corruption, absurd bureaucracy, pervasive bribery and flourishing black market that pervaded socialism in the
People's Republic of Poland. The titular (teddy) bear is a nickname given to the main character, but also a big straw-bear used in a corruption scheme. Perhaps playing on the well-established
Russian Bear trope,
Misha is the mascot of the
1980 Moscow Olympic Games, the same year as the film. ==Cast==