On Wednesday September 27, Netflix uploaded The cure for forgetting, a new original production straight from Poland. Newly arrived on the streaming platform, is the film based on a true story?
The cure for forgetting is one of the most viewed films currently on Netflix In France. Released on September 27, the Polish feature film tells the story of Rafal Wilczur, a respected professor of surgery who, after being abandoned by his wife, is the victim of a violent attack, causing him to lose his memory. For years, the man wandered from one village to another, doing odd jobs. Rafal, now known as Antoni Kosiba, uses his exceptional skills to alleviate the suffering of others. His life turns upside down when he goes to a village where he meets by chance his daughter Marysia, who no longer remembers him at all. The Polish drama, currently in fifth place among the most viewed films of the moment on Netflix, has shocked subscribers. But is the film adapted from a true story?
The cure for forgetting (Netflix): a moving film based on a famous novel
The cure for forgetting is not based on a true story but is adapted from the novel The Quack (Znachor in Polish) by the author Tadeusz Dołęga-Mostowicz, released in 1937. Although the work is not based on real events, the novelist was nevertheless inspired by the story of a man he met in a small village in Poland. In 1936, the writer, who was staying at the Piwnicki estate in Sikorz, visited the village of Radotki with his guests. There, he met a herbalist and healer who received patients in his premises. At that time, patients preferred to be treated by quacks rather than doctors, who were considered expensive and ineffective. The author was also inspired by an article in the Polish daily ABC, which reported on the arrest of a doctor, a graduate of the Faculty of Medicine in Brussels, for quackery in a small village in Poland. The man in question had hidden his medical degree because healers were much more popular than traditional doctors.
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A novel adapted into several feature films
Two adaptations of the novel by author Tadeusz Dołęga-Mostowicz have already seen the light of day, in 1937, the same year the book was released, and in 1982. Nearly 90 years after the release of the famous work, Netflix brought the taste of brings this pure Polish melodrama to life with the help of director Michal Gazda. “Today, thanks to Netflix, we can adapt these legends. This is obviously a great privilege for a director, but also quite naturally a creative challenge. We are, after all, playing with the archetype of Polish melodrama“, he declared with pride in a press release.
Article written in collaboration with 6Médias
