The Doll is an adaptation of the novel, The Doll (novel) by Bolesław Prus, which is regarded by many as one of the finest Polish novels ever written and, along with Pharaoh (novel), made Bolesław Prus a potential candidate for the Nobel Prize in literature. The influence of Émile Zola is evident, and some have compared the novel to Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert both were Prus's contemporaries. The movie, however, may be more compared to Stendhal's Le Rouge et le Noir, (The Red and the Black).
The Doll constitutes a panorama of life in Warsaw between 1878 and 1879, and at the same time is a subtle story of three generations of Polish idealists, their psychological complications, their involvement in the history of the nineteenth century, social dramas, moral problems and the experience of tragic existence. At the same time this story describes the disintegration of social relationships and the growing separation of a society whose aristocratic elite spreads the models of vanity and idleness. In the bad air of a backward country, anti-Semitic ideas are born, valuable individuals meet obstacles on their way, and scoundrels are successful.
This poetic love story follows a nouveau riche merchant, Stanislaw Wokulski, through a series of trials and tribulations occasioned by his obsessive passion for an aristocratic beauty, Izabela Lecka, played by the famous Polish actress, Beata Tyszkiewicz.
Plot:
As a descendant of an impoverished Polish noble family, young Wokulski is forced to work as a waiter at Hopfer's, a Warsaw restaurant, while dreaming of a life in science. After taking part in the failed 1863 Uprising against Tsarist Russia, he is sentenced to exile in Siberia. On eventual return to Warsaw, he becomes a salesman at Mincel's haberdashery. Marrying the late owner's widow (who eventually dies), he comes into money and uses it to set up a partnership with a Russian merchant he had met while in exile. The two merchants go to Bulgaria during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, and Wokulski makes a fortune supplying the Russian Army. The enterprising Wokulski now proves a romantic at heart, falling in love with Izabela, daughter of the vacuous, bankrupt aristocrat, Tomasz Łęcki. In his quest to win Izabela, Wokulski begins frequenting theatres and aristocratic salons and to help her financially distressed father, founds a company and sets the aristocrats up as shareholders in his business.The indolence of these aristocrats, who secure with their pensions, are too lazy to undertake new business risks, frustrates Wokulski. His ability to make money is respected but his lack of family and social rank is condescended to. Because of his "help" (in secret) to Izabela's impecunious but influential father, the girl becomes aware of his affection. In the end she consents to accept him, but without true devotion or love.(wikipedia)
法国剧情片《比昨天更糟，比明天更糟》（Plus Qu'hier Moins Que Demain）以两姐妹及其家庭的情感困境为背景。弗朗索瓦丝（莱蒂西亚·莱格里克斯饰）是一位厌倦了家乡和父母的少女，而她的姐姐索尼娅（米雷耶·鲁塞尔饰）则带着丈夫和孩子回到了家。索尼娅与家人之间未解决的问题，包括与叔叔一段以悲剧收场的恋情，引发了她反复发作的抑郁症，甚至一度导致她试图自杀。另一方面，弗朗索瓦丝爱上了她的表弟伯纳德（帕斯卡尔·塞尔沃饰），而伯纳德的父亲正是曾经爱过索尼娅并背叛了她父亲的男人。《比昨天更糟，比明天更糟》曾于1999年在鹿特丹电影节上映，并荣获新导演竞赛单元的老虎奖。——马克·德明，《All Movie Guide》
Mavka is a dangerous nymph of the forest lake that lure people into its depths for the mermaids to feed on their energy. When she meets Lukian, a biology whizz, Mavka falls in love disrupting the natural order.
