farnezylowych

Farnezylowych is a 1978 Polish drama film directed by Jerzy Łoś. The film was produced by the Polish Film Fund and released by Eurofilm Studio on 12 March 1978 in Warsaw. It adapts a short story by Stanisław Lem originally published in the literary magazine *Magazyn Literacki* in 1973. The story concerns a small village community in the Masovian region whose namesake, the Farnezylows, a group of local traders, become entangled in a dispute over a contested piece of land.

The cast of *Farnezylowych* features notable Polish actors such as Mieczysław Bielawicki (Kazimierz Farnezo), Gabriele Świątek (Irena Farnezo-Wójcik), and Piotr Wójcik (Janusz Kowalski). The film emphasizes the rural Polish aesthetic and uses on‑location shooting in the villages of Sochaczew and Mińsk Mazowiecki. Polish cinematographer Witold Kober employed natural lighting and handheld camera techniques to capture the village milieu.

The screenplay, written by Andrzej Szwed, is praised for its detailed character development and understated dialogue. Through the narrative, the film explores themes of community cohesion, the struggle against external greed, and the preservation of traditional values in the face of modern life. Critics at the time highlighted the film’s authentic portrayal of everyday village life and its subtle critique of the early post–war Polish legal reforms concerning land ownership.

Although *Farnezylowych* was not a commercial blockbuster, it has achieved cult status within Polish film circles. Film scholars refer to it as an example of the “new narrative realism” wave that emerged in Poland during the 1970s and as part of a broader movement reshaping Polish cinema’s approach to rural storytelling.