The way my uncles lived

This is a nostalgic documentary in which the director - Krysztof Magowski recalls the world of long lost. The film's protagonists - the elderly Doerffer brothers - document the memories of their youth (inter-war period) with a unique self-made movie. The chronicle of the Doerffer family shot the amateur filmmaker brings back the world of automobiles, horse-drawn carriages, first steam locomotives and wealthy landowners. The Doerffer family documentary is a record of both trifle events but also of those which the authors themselves consider critical. Their life story reflects the historic breakthroughs and changes the Doerffers participated in. We view the reality of the first half of the 20th century through their own eys. The titled aristocracy embody everything that is best - great ideals, extensive knowledge, an a demeanour that is unknown today. We can watch in black and white the family property of the Doerffers with all its wealth and splendour. The palace with its ballroom as well as the brickyards, mills and saw-mills are the symbols of the reality so remote that we perceive it almost as a museum piece. Our heroes have survived their world. In the documentary made by their nephew they return to their childhood lifetime. Very touching is the scene in which the Doerffer brothers sit 'in rows' on the stairs in front of the house to reconstruct the photo setting from dozens of years ago. The elderly gentlemen with their load of beautiful memories provide a link between the past and the present in their nephew's documentary.