The Strange Case of Delfina Potocka: The Mystery of Chopin

Each film of Chopin tells a different story. This is one of the best, if not the best, and could be the truest. For once George Sand doesn't dominate at all but is reduced not just to a second fiddle but to the last fiddle. His relationship with her is almost too realistically settled with, and not even her children are allowed to play any significant part. The story of the film is that of a late descendant of countess Potocka, a friend of Chopin's to whom he dedicated many of his compositions, who was married to a Polish nobleman who betrayed Poland to the Russians, who gave his wife many children who all died, after which she deserted him. Her late descendant claims in 1945 to have some letters written by Chopin to her, which indicate that their relationship was something serious, while at the same time the letters reveal some less flattering sides of Chopin. They cause a scandal, they are not published but suppressed, but the descendant insists on their authenticity, and when the Polish communist politruks threaten her and condemn her, she apparently commits suicide on the very 100th anniversary of Chopin's death, or was she defenestrated from the eighth floor, like so many of undesirables taken care of by the communists? The film has a startling documentary character, shifting between black and white (in all the modern scenes) and colour in all the 19th century scenes. Chopin is well portrayed by Paul Rhys, his music accompanies the entire film in wonderful, exquisite, sensitive and convincing interpretations by Valentina Igoshina, the countess Potocka is impersonated by three different actresses on different occasions, but on the whole the film is a masterpiece of an honest effort at consistent truthfulness. Its consistent realism is more than convincing, and its beauty is unforgettable.