On the Silver Globe (film)
Encyclopedia
On the Silver Globe is a Polish
film released in 1987, directed by Andrzej Żuławski and adapted from a novel by Jerzy Żuławski.
s leaves Earth to find freedom. Their spaceship crashes on the Earth-like unnamed planet. Astronauts, equipped with video-recording devices, reaching a seashore, where they build a village. After years, only one member of the crew, Jerzy, is still alive, watching growing of a new society, which religion is based on a mythical tales of an expedition from the Earth. First off-Earth generation is calling him "An Old Man", treating him as a semi-God. The Old Man leaves them and before death sends his video diary in a rocket back to Earth. A space researcher named Marek (Andrzej Seweryn
) receives the video diary and travels to the planet. When he arrives, he is welcomed by the cast of priests as the messiah, who can release them of the captivity of the Szerns, indigenous occupants of the planet. Shorty after, Marek organizes an army and enters the city of Szerns. Meanwhile, the priests starts to believe, that Marek was rather an outcast off the Earth, than a messiah, that came to fulfill the religious prophecy.
for France
in 1972 to avoid censorship by the Polish government. Thanks to his critical success with the 1975 film L'important c'est d'aimer
, the Polish authorities in charge of cultural affairs reevaluated their assessment of Żuławski. He was then invited to return to Poland and to realize a project of his own choice. Żuławski, who had always wanted to make a film of his grand uncle's novel, saw the offer as a unique opportunity to achieve this aim.
Between 1975 and 1977 Żuławski adapted the novel and wrote the screenplay. The film was shot at various locations, including the Baltic
seashore at Lisi Jar near Rozewie
, Lower Silesia
, the Wieliczka Salt Mine, the Tatra Mountains
, the Caucasus mountains
in Georgia
, the Crimea
in the Ukraine
and the Gobi Desert
in Mongolia
. In fall 1977 the project came to a sudden halt with the appointment of Janusz Wilhelmi as the vice-minister of cultural affairs. He perceived the battle between the Selenites and the Szerns in the film as a thinly-veiled allegory
of the Polish people's struggle with totalitarianism
. Consequently Wilhelmi shut down the film project, which was eighty percent complete, and ordered all materials destroyed.
Żuławski went back to France, saying that he was in despair over the loss and waste of so much artistic effort. The reels of the unfinished film were ultimately not destroyed, but preserved, along with costumes and props, by the film studio and by members of the cast and crew. Although Wilhelmi died a few months later in a plane crash the film was only released after the end of communist rule. In May 1988 a version of the film, consisting of the preserved footage plus a commentary to fill in the narrative gaps, premiered at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival
.
Cinema of Poland
The history of cinema in Poland is almost as long as history of cinematography, and it has universal achievements, even though Polish movies tend to be less commercially available than movies from several other European nations....
film released in 1987, directed by Andrzej Żuławski and adapted from a novel by Jerzy Żuławski.
Plot
A group of astronautAstronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
s leaves Earth to find freedom. Their spaceship crashes on the Earth-like unnamed planet. Astronauts, equipped with video-recording devices, reaching a seashore, where they build a village. After years, only one member of the crew, Jerzy, is still alive, watching growing of a new society, which religion is based on a mythical tales of an expedition from the Earth. First off-Earth generation is calling him "An Old Man", treating him as a semi-God. The Old Man leaves them and before death sends his video diary in a rocket back to Earth. A space researcher named Marek (Andrzej Seweryn
Andrzej Seweryn
Andrzej Seweryn is a Polish and French actor and director. One of the most successful Polish theatre actors, he starred in over 50 films, mostly in Poland, France and Germany. He is also one of only three non-French actors to be hired by the Paris-based Comédie-Française.- Biography :Andrzej...
) receives the video diary and travels to the planet. When he arrives, he is welcomed by the cast of priests as the messiah, who can release them of the captivity of the Szerns, indigenous occupants of the planet. Shorty after, Marek organizes an army and enters the city of Szerns. Meanwhile, the priests starts to believe, that Marek was rather an outcast off the Earth, than a messiah, that came to fulfill the religious prophecy.
Cast
- Andrzej SewerynAndrzej SewerynAndrzej Seweryn is a Polish and French actor and director. One of the most successful Polish theatre actors, he starred in over 50 films, mostly in Poland, France and Germany. He is also one of only three non-French actors to be hired by the Paris-based Comédie-Française.- Biography :Andrzej...
as Marek - Jerzy TrelaJerzy TrelaJerzy Trela is a Polish actor. In 2003 he starred in the film An Ancient Tale: When the Sun Was a God under Jerzy Hoffman.During the communist era, he was a deputy in the Sejm.-Honours and awards:...
- Grazyna Dylag
- Waldemar Kownacki
- Iwona Bielska
- Jerzy Gralek
- Elzbieta Karkoszka
- Krystyna Janda as The Actress
- Maciej Góraj
- Henryk Talar
- Leszek DlugoszLeszek DlugoszLeszek Długosz is a Polish actor, poet, writer and composer. For many years he has been a member of cabaret "Piwnica pod Baranami", one of the most famous cabarets during the times of People's Republic of Poland....
- Andrzej Frycz
- Henryk BistaHenryk BistaHenryk Bista was a Polish actor. He appeared in over 110 films between 1961 and 1997. He starred in the 1977 film Death of a President, which was entered into the 28th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Bear for an outstanding artistic contribution...
- Wieslaw Komasa
- Jerzy Golinski
Production
The novel On the Silver Globe on which the film is based was written around 1900 as part of The Lunar Trilogy by Jerzy Żuławski, who was the granduncle of Andrzej Żuławski. Andrzej Żuławski had left his native PolandPoland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
for France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1972 to avoid censorship by the Polish government. Thanks to his critical success with the 1975 film L'important c'est d'aimer
L'important c'est d'aimer
L'important c'est d'aimer is a French film directed by Polish filmmaker Andrzej Żuławski. It tells the story of a passionate love relationship between Nadine Chevalier, a B-List actress and Servais Mont, a photographer in the violent and unforgiving French show biz.In 1975, Żuławski coadapted...
, the Polish authorities in charge of cultural affairs reevaluated their assessment of Żuławski. He was then invited to return to Poland and to realize a project of his own choice. Żuławski, who had always wanted to make a film of his grand uncle's novel, saw the offer as a unique opportunity to achieve this aim.
Between 1975 and 1977 Żuławski adapted the novel and wrote the screenplay. The film was shot at various locations, including the Baltic
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
seashore at Lisi Jar near Rozewie
Rozewie
Cape Rozewie is a headland on the Baltic coast of Poland, in Pomeranian Voivodeship. It was formerly thought to be the most northerly point in Poland, but since measurements carried out in December 2000, that distinction is now given to a nearby beach in Jastrzębia Góra, marked by the "Northern...
, Lower Silesia
Lower Silesian Voivodeship
Lower Silesian Voivodeship, or Lower Silesia Province , is one of the 16 voivodeships into which Poland is currently divided. It lies in southwestern Poland...
, the Wieliczka Salt Mine, the Tatra Mountains
Tatra Mountains
The Tatra Mountains, Tatras or Tatra , are a mountain range which forms a natural border between Slovakia and Poland, and are the highest mountain range in the Carpathian Mountains...
, the Caucasus mountains
Caucasus Mountains
The Caucasus Mountains is a mountain system in Eurasia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea in the Caucasus region .The Caucasus Mountains includes:* the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range and* the Lesser Caucasus Mountains....
in Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, the Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
in the Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
and the Gobi Desert
Gobi Desert
The Gobi is a large desert region in Asia. It covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia. The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the...
in Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
. In fall 1977 the project came to a sudden halt with the appointment of Janusz Wilhelmi as the vice-minister of cultural affairs. He perceived the battle between the Selenites and the Szerns in the film as a thinly-veiled allegory
Allegory
Allegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
of the Polish people's struggle with totalitarianism
Totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible...
. Consequently Wilhelmi shut down the film project, which was eighty percent complete, and ordered all materials destroyed.
Żuławski went back to France, saying that he was in despair over the loss and waste of so much artistic effort. The reels of the unfinished film were ultimately not destroyed, but preserved, along with costumes and props, by the film studio and by members of the cast and crew. Although Wilhelmi died a few months later in a plane crash the film was only released after the end of communist rule. In May 1988 a version of the film, consisting of the preserved footage plus a commentary to fill in the narrative gaps, premiered at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival
1988 Cannes Film Festival
- Jury :*Ettore Scola*Claude Berri*David Robinson*Yelena Safonova*George Miller*Hector Olivera*Nastassja Kinski*Philippe Sarde*Robby Muller*William Goldman-Feature film competition:* A World Apart by Chris Menges...
.