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O-bi, o-ba: Koniec cywilizacji

O-Bi, O-Ba: The End of Civilization
Retrospective 2017
© Studio Filmowe ZEBRA / photo: Renata Pajchel
After nuclear war has devastated Earth, some 2,000 survivors escape to an underground bunker under a massive dome in the mountains. About 850 of them are still alive and united in the hope that a spaceship called the Ark will soon arrive to rescue them. But the public servant Soft knows that this hope is in vain, because the Ark is nothing more than an invention of those in power. Meanwhile, the dome is decaying and Soft’s attempts to persuade an engineer to repair it fail. He then hears of a hangar that allegedly contains an aircraft. Together with his girlfriend, a prostitute named Gea, Soft plans an escape from the dome ... This apocalyptic drama draws haunting images of a post-nuclear society. Shrouded almost continually in the cold blue of fluorescent lights, the ragged figured drag themselves through an underground labyrinth, with the handheld camera emphasising the claustrophobic oppressiveness. The Christian myths of redemption that the film references have lost all meaning in this society. Instead of assuaging spiritual suffering, the Biblical message is used as scrap paper to add to the food, but it can barely even attenuate the physical misery.
by Piotr Szulkin
with Jerzy Stuhr, Krystyna Janda, Mariusz Dmochowski, Kalina Jędrusik, Marek Walczewski, Jan Nowicki, Henryk Bista Poland 1985 Polish 89’ Colour

With

  • Jerzy Stuhr
  • Krystyna Janda
  • Mariusz Dmochowski
  • Kalina Jędrusik
  • Marek Walczewski
  • Jan Nowicki
  • Henryk Bista

Crew

Written and Directed by Piotr Szulkin
Cinematography Witold Sobociński
Editing Elżbieta Kurkowska
Music Jerzy Satanowski
Sound Nikodem Wołk-Łaniewski
Art Director Andrzej Kowalczyk
Costumes Ewa Krauze, Małgorzata Komorowska
Make-Up Helena Matejska
Producer Zygmunt Król

Produced by

Studio Filmowe Perspektywa

Additional information

Copy: Filmoteka Narodowa, Warschau