Dulscy

"Dulscy" is an adaptation of the play "The Morality of Mrs. Dulska" by Gabriela Zapolska (1857-1921). Gabriela Zapolska was one of the few Polish classical writers that have a universal appeal, and I have a British edition of "The Cambridge Guide to Theatre" by Martin Banham in which she is mentioned too. The main character of the film is Mrs. Dulska (Alina Janowska), a woman who considers her actions moral, even when she hurts other people. She lives a life of lies, trying to make a good impression on other people while not caring about keeping morality in her own family. The play even gave birth to the Polish word "Dulszczyzna", meaning a selfish, hypocritical, and deceitful, petty-bourgeois lifestyle. Dulskis were a very common type during those times and among many nations. Let's, for example, take this fragment of the biography of Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906): At eighteen, he fathered a child out of wedlock, whose mother was an older servant than Ibsen. The writer had no contact with his illegitimate son. This sounds very similar to one of the subplots of "Dulscy." Of course the great play of Zapolska dominates the film, but I think that the movie is good too. So we have a great performance of memorable Alina Janowska. In the theater, the action takes place only in the heroine's apartment; the film takes us to many different interiors and outdoors. For this purpose the original play was expanded with some new subplots. Neither the play nor the film are museum pieces, and I think that "Dulszczyzna" is alive and kicking in present Poland too. To me the latest incarnation of Mrs. Dulska is the leader of the nationalist/populist party Jaroslaw Kaczynski. So you might want to take a look at "Dulscy".