On the Silver Globe (1988)

A team of astronauts land on an inhabitable planet and form a society. Many years later, a single astronaut is sent to the planet and becomes a messiah.

Director:

Andrzej Zulawski

Writers:

Andrzej Zulawski, Jerzy Zulawski (books)

Stars:

Andrzej Seweryn, Jerzy Trela, Grazyna Dylag

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Andrzej Seweryn	...	Marek
Jerzy Trela	...	Jerzy
Grazyna Dylag
Waldemar Kownacki
Iwona Bielska
Jerzy Gralek
Elzbieta Karkoszka
Krystyna Janda	...	The Actress
Maciej Góraj
Henryk Talar
Leszek Dlugosz
Jan Frycz	...	(as Andrzej Frycz)
Henryk Bista
Wieslaw Komasa
Jerzy Golinski

Storyline

A small group of cosmic explorers, including a woman, leaves Earth to find freedom and start a new civilization. They do not realize that within themselves they carry the end of their own dream. They eventually die one by one, while their children revert to a primitive native culture, creating new myths and a new god. Some time later, a space bureaucrat, running from a broken heart, arrives and finds the colonizer's descendants enslaved by bird-monsters called Cherns. Society is divided into numerous classes, and everyone is waiting for the arrival of a messiah. The newcomer is considered a suitable candidate, and for some time he lives as a god. In the end he is crucified by his people.

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Plot Keywords:

colonization | mythology | voice over narration | philosophy | avant garde | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

Poland

Language:

Polish

Release Date:

10 February 1989 (Poland)

Also Known As:

On the Silver Globe

Filming Locations:

Pustynia Bledowska, Slaskie, Poland

Company Credits

Production Co:

Zespól Filmowy "Kadr"

Technical Specs

Runtime:

166 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Orwochrome)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Andrzej Zulawski began filming after the success of _L'Important c'est d'aimer (1975)_, completing around three-quarters of film before the Polish ministry of culture halted production in 1978. After the democratization of Poland in 1986 Zulawski completed the film. Because production was interrupted from 1978 until 1986, the final film was released in an "amputated" form, with voice-over narration covering missing scenes.

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Alternate Versions

The English language version features a singular voice-over description of the action and dialogue; it isn't dubbed or subtitled, but it is the full version - 166 minutes.

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Connections

Featured in Renegade Cut: On the Silver Globe (2017)

User Reviews

Otherworldly and Beautiful!

I finally managed a track down a copy of this film after looking for it forever. And not only did it live up to expectations, it surpassed them in every way possible! I had no idea what to expect from a Polish sci-fi film from the 70ies and the first thing I noticed were the lavish costumes, extremely impressive sets and great make-up. If someone would attempt to pull off something similar in the US today it would cost insane amounts of money. This is a film by Adrzej Zulawski so it figures that there is a lot of philosophical dialog and religious metaphors aplenty. In a way I was reminded of the films of Alejandro Jodorowsky and maybe if he had made his adaptation of DUNE, as he planned for many years, it would have turned out to be something like THE SILVER GLOBE. The copy of the film I watched was taped from the German TV station 3 Sat who actually paid for subtitling the film in German! The rather poor picture quality only stressed the otherworldly beauty of the images. Often the film felt like a transmission from another time or maybe even another planet. It is a truly unique gem, even in it's unfinished form, and a film that is overdue for rediscovery.