Lalka

Wojciech Has is probably one of the most mesmerizing directors ever. He's one of these rare directors who manage to make the viewers forget their accounts just by depicting the most beautiful scenes.

Unfortunately he has grown out of fashion and has sadly been forgotten by everyone. Unfair. And yet, his films are among the wealthiest filmic pieces of art. They are built with words and pictures. They are a literary works with words borrowed from the books the Polish director adapted. They are obviously visual with loaded and ornate shots full of incredible details which are reminiscent of gothic art and surrealism.

THe Doll is more linear and more accessible than most of Has's movies, but it's in no way a betrayal of what he has done before. Has manages to make this conventional piece of literature a film coherent to his work as he included his dearest themes among which the theme of travel, spiritual and of course physical travels and the morbid theme of decay here through the slow agony of the aristocracy.

This is of course a must-see film, a genuine masterpiece. Its two and a half hour length shouldn't repel you. And if you like this touching and gruesome trip, get ready for his next film, The Sand-Glass, simply his best film and the most incredible spiritual journey you'll ever have in your life.