The aim of the essay is to analyze Krzysztof Kieślowski’s short documentary “The Office”, a film portraying the paradoxical character of the 1960s bureaucracy in Poland. The film is discussed in the context of original literature and press releases concerning that issue. A comparison of the images of bureaucracy presented in Kieślowski’s documentary, Tadeusz Breza’s novel Urząd [The Office] and texts in Trybuna Ludu reveals the specific character of the film. It is worth considering to what extent Kieślowski’s work plays a polemic game with the image of an official as promoted in the press and literature of the times, and to what extent it may be regarded as just following the common stereotype.