I was thinking about our last post about “swój” and realized that no discussion about this particular possessive pronoun would be complete without the mention of “Sami Swoi.”
Yeah! If you’re Polish, regardless of your age, gender or education, I am SURE you’ve heard about this film. And chances are, you’ve seen this film too. More than once. If you are of Polish origin, maybe you haven’t seen the film, but you should have heard about it something. Anything. Why? It’s a classic.
The title “Sami Swoi” has been translated into English in several different ways, actually, but it seems that “Our Folks” is the most popular version. Still, it doesn’t fully reflect the Polish meaning, at least in my opinion.
The internet says that one alternate title is “All Friends Here”, but I’ve seen it also referred to as “Only Friends” and “Between Friends” and “The People You Know” and “Our Kind of People”. And if you put all these versions together, you can get a pretty good idea of what “Sami Swoi” means in Polish.
I know that there are some people out there who are not so fond of “Sami Swoi”. They say the film shows only the worst Polish character traits, and that it tries to turn into comedy issues that are no laughing matters. Well, that’s Polish comedy for you.
And what do you think? Have you seen the movie? In Polish? Or with English subtitles?
Here’s a selection of the best scenes from “Sami Swoi” but unfortunately, without English subtitles.
However, if you are interested, subtitled versions are also available.
The film was made in 1967 and originally, it was a black and white picture. It was digitally colorized only in 2000, if I remember correctly. It’s also the first part in a trilogy of movies about these two crazy families: Kargule and Pawlaki, and in my opinion – the best.
The film is such a cult classic that it even spawned a Polish idiom of sorts. If you hear someone say that two neighbors behave like “Kargul i Pawlak” you know exactly what it means – that they’ve been feuding since the beginning of time over a very petty issue.
And now, if you excuse me, I need to demonstrate my worst national traits to my very own evil neighbor. I still can’t decide whether she’s more of a Kargul or Pawlak. LOL!
