The House of Fools

Ludicrousness as a sexually transmitted disease specific to Poland? Marek Koterski argues this theory in every film, and in The House of Fools he actively seeks its confirmation in language. All he needs is one family and a location consisting of a couple of rooms – in these modest conditions he obtains a rich extract of native traumas and compulsions. The starting point is 30-year-old Adam Miauczyński’s (Marek Kondrat) visit to his family home. Koterski’s vision of “Polishness” manifests itself in an unrelenting stream of statements, neurotic gestures, and hysteric ramblings. Koterski’s directorial debut not only brought about the most widely recognized Adam in Polish cinema, but also tied him strongly to Kondrat’s image. In the process, it also launched one of the most memorable careers in Polish cinema. At Timeless, you can watch The House of Fools in a digitally restored version.

Igor Kierkosz

Marek Koterski (b. 1942) is a Polish director and screenwriter. He graduated from the Łódź Film School in 1977. Although his feature film debut, The House of Fools (1984), came relatively late in his career, it was acclaimed as an instant success. His protagonist, Adaś Miauczyński, an embittered intellectual and the director’s alter ego, became something of a cult hero for audiences, and Koterski has centered the majority of his later scripts on the character, among them his most popular and most awarded film to date, Day of the Wacko (2002).