The Doll

"Wokulski" (Marcin Dorocinski) is a man with a woefully unsuccessful romantic past, but having recently returned from the Russo-Turkish wars with some bars of gold he returns to his luxury boutique and to it's loyal manager "Rzecki" (Marek Kondrat) determined to build an empire. Unfortunately for him, though, in somewhat "Taras Bulba" fashion, he falls for a lady way beyond him in terms of social class. "Izabela" (Kamila Urzedowska) is the daughter of a noble family and though they are tolerent of this wealthy merchant, especially when he proves useful finding ways to preserve their rapidly dwindling fortunes, they are certainly not interested in any form of marriage between him and anyone of their rank. She, meantime, is struggling to keep her all but bankrupt father (Andrzej Seweryn) from marrying her off to just about anyone with a pulse who can raise a suitable downry - or pay his not inconsiderable debts. "Wokulski" quickly realises that there are more ways than one to skin a cat - or to win a lady, and so he begins to use his fortune to try to clear a path that will allow him to make a formal approach to lady whom, you sense, wouldn't be upset and send him packing. For us Brits, there are stories like this a-plenty from period English literature, so I was expecting something a little of the Jane Austen here - but this isn't actually so much of a sentimentally soapy tale of unrequitable love as more of a critique of the pomposity, duplicity and stupidity of aristocracy and of the begining of the end of empire - and Dorocinski holds it together well. The production design has crafted something stylish and sumptuous on the one hand, whilst reminding us always that poverty was never far from the doors of their grand mansions, and the story itself never quite declares it's hand to us until the very end what that conclusion might actually be. The plot is riddled with hypocrisies, issues of loyalty, friendship and even desperation and it's all set to a rousing score from Lukasz Taogosz that fits the bill perfectly. Does it really need to be just shy of three hours long? Well probably not, and it does take it's time to tell us what we can readily guess in the first hour, but this is a quality adaptation of a book that offers just a little bit more than a yellow brick road costume romance and it's well worth a look.