Netflix’s 1670: The Historical Satire That’s Breaking All The Rules

1670
Martha O'Hara
Martha O'Hara
Editor at MCM: art, shows, nature and cinema.

The second season of the Polish satirical comedy 1670 is now available for streaming on Netflix, continuing the narrative of the Adamczewski noble family in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The series returns to the fictional village of Adamczycha, where the patriarch, Jan Paweł Adamczewski, a minor nobleman or szlachcic, persists in his quixotic quest to become the most famous Jan Paweł in Polish history. The inaugural season established the series’ unique generic identity as a mockumentary-style historical farce, garnering significant critical acclaim, particularly within Poland. Its success was attributed to its sophisticated wit, strong ensemble performances, and an unconventional approach that uses the 17th-century setting as a vehicle for a dual critique of both the historical Polish nobility and the absurdities of contemporary society. The series distinguished itself through a combination of deadpan humor, deliberate anachronisms, and high production values, creating a distinct and culturally specific yet universally resonant comedy.

The Narrative Trajectories of the Second Season

The new season builds directly upon the unresolved narrative threads of its predecessor, deepening the intricate web of conflicts within the Adamczewski household. The central family dynamics, which served as the primary engine for both comedy and drama, continue to evolve under new pressures. The clandestine romantic relationship between the outwardly pious matriarch, Zofia Adamczewska, and Rozalia, who was previously engaged to her son, develops further in secrecy, exploring themes of forbidden desire and moral hypocrisy within the rigid social framework. Concurrently, the socially transgressive romance between the family’s progressive daughter, Aniela, and the Lithuanian peasant Maciej, moves into a new phase. Their bond, which culminated in a shared kiss at the conclusion of the first season after Maciej abandoned his plans to flee the village, continues to challenge the era’s unyielding class structures. Meanwhile, the younger son, the priest Jakub, remains a central figure of cynical ambition, continuing his machinations to secure the family fortune by manipulating the unfolding scandals for his personal enrichment. His character arc persists as a satirical commentary on clerical opportunism. The narrative also accounts for the elder son, Stanisław, who fled following a broken engagement, leaving his storyline open for future development. The most significant narrative catalyst for the second season is the arrival of the son of a powerful magnate. This character’s introduction marks a deliberate structural escalation of the series’ central conflict. Whereas the first season’s primary external tension was the horizontal rivalry between Jan Paweł and his neighbor Andrzej—a conflict resolved when Jan Paweł purchased Andrzej’s half of the village—the new character introduces a vertical conflict. This places the Adamczewski family in opposition to a figure from a vastly superior social stratum, a power dynamic that Jan Paweł’s typical petty schemes cannot overcome. This narrative shift forces the characters to confront their relative insignificance within the broader power structure of the Commonwealth, thereby deepening the satire from a critique of individual folly to one of systemic social hierarchy.

1670
1670

Production Scale and New Horizons

A notable development in the second season is the expansion of the series’ production scale and geographical scope. While the village of Adamczycha remains the narrative’s central locus, the storyline now ventures beyond its established confines into foreign territory. Production for the new season included filming on the Croatian island of Vir, which serves as a scenic stand-in for the coastal regions of the Ottoman Empire. Within the show’s satirical framework, this region is depicted as a popular 17th-century tourist destination. This expansion is not merely a cosmetic change for visual variety but functions as a significant thematic device. By moving a portion of the narrative to a foreign land, the series is able to shift its satirical lens from the microcosm of the Polish village to the macrocosm of 17th-century geopolitics and cultural stereotypes. This change of scenery provides a new canvas for exploring themes of Polish xenophobia, national identity, and the provincial worldview of the characters when they are confronted with an unfamiliar culture. The primary filming location for the village of Adamczycha, however, remains the open-air Museum of Folk Culture in Kolbuszowa, which provides a hyper-authentic architectural and atmospheric backdrop crucial to the aesthetic of the first season.

Returning Ensemble and Creative Vision

Continuity in performance and creative direction is maintained through the return of the principal cast and the core production team. The ensemble cast from the first season reprises their roles, ensuring a consistent portrayal of the central characters. Bartłomiej Topa returns as the patriarch Jan Paweł Adamczewski, alongside Katarzyna Herman as his wife, Zofia. Martyna Byczkowska continues her role as the progressive daughter, Aniela, and Michał Sikorski returns as the scheming priest, Jakub. The cast is rounded out by Kirył Pietruczuk as the peasant Maciej and Dobromir Dymecki as Zofia’s brother, the hussar Bogdan. The key creative personnel responsible for the series’ distinct tone and aesthetic have also returned. The season is written by Jakub Rużyłło, with direction from Maciej Buchwald and Kordian Kądziela. Nils Croné reprises his role as director of photography, a position integral to the show’s unique visual identity. The production is once again managed by Akson Studio, with producers Ivo Krankowski and Jan Kwieciński overseeing the project. This continuity in front of and behind the camera ensures that the second season builds upon the established artistic vision of the first.

Thematic and Stylistic Framework

The series continues to operate within the generic conventions of the mockumentary, a form that employs the stylistic tropes of documentary filmmaking for satirical effect. A primary narrative device is the direct-to-camera address, or the breaking of the fourth wall, which allows characters to offer their unfiltered and often deeply biased perspectives on events. However, the visual style of 1670 deliberately evolves beyond the typical mockumentary aesthetic. While initial concepts leaned towards a more conventional, observational style with a reactive, handheld camera, the creative team developed a more subjective and cinematic visual language. The resulting cinematography is closer to that of an epic historical film, characterized by carefully composed shots and a rich visual texture, but with the added stylistic layer of characters being able to address the audience at will. This hybrid approach allows the glances to the camera to function not as an acknowledgment of a film crew’s presence, but as a deliberate narrative choice by the characters to confide in, conspire with, or seek validation from the viewer. This specific visual strategy is central to the show’s satirical mechanism. By framing the petty, absurd, and often incompetent actions of the szlachta with the grand, sweeping language of a historical epic, the cinematography generates a constant state of ironic tension. The visual style validates the characters’ inflated self-perception, lending them a false sense of historical importance, while the narrative and dialogue simultaneously work to undermine this grandeur, exposing their profound hypocrisy. The series also maintains its dual-layered satirical focus. On one level, it specifically targets the historical realities of the Polish szlachta, a uniquely large and powerful noble class whose members were, in principle, all equal. The show lampoons their political privileges, their capacity for legislative obstruction as seen in the parody of the liberum veto, and their deep-seated vanity—traits that historically contributed to the Commonwealth’s decline. On another level, through the pervasive use of anachronism, the series functions as a sharp commentary on contemporary Polish society and universal human failings. Subplots involving modern concepts like Aniela’s climate activism or Jan Paweł’s belief in trickle-down economics serve as clear allegories for current social and political debates.

Conclusion and Premiere Details

The second season of 1670 represents a deliberate and ambitious expansion of the narrative, thematic, and stylistic foundations established by its acclaimed predecessor. It continues the intricate family sagas that form the core of its drama while significantly raising the narrative stakes through the introduction of external pressures from a higher social stratum and an expanded geographical world. With the return of the principal cast and the core creative team, the season maintains the unique artistic vision that defined the series—a sophisticated hybrid of cinematic historical drama and mockumentary satire that effectively critiques both a specific historical epoch and the enduring follies of contemporary society. The eight-episode second season of 1670 was released globally on Netflix on September 17, 2025.

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