On the silver globe (Andrzej Zulawski, 1988)

João Ribeiro (26/12/2022)

I've been flirting with the idea of writing about cinema for years, but I've never done it. What the hell do I have to add?! This has always been the question I asked myself and the truth is, I don't have an answer to it. It's very likely that I don't have anything interesting to say about cinema but still, after months of not being able to get this movie out of my head, I feel compelled to do so. "On the silver globe" is a film that unfortunately few people know about. If a "Solaris", a "Stalker" or even a "2001: A Space Odyssey" are niche movies, I don't know what the hell to call it.

The feature film is an adaptation of a book written by the director's grandfather and published between 1901 and 1911. The production took place in Poland in 1976 and 1977, until a new cultural minister ordered that it be interrupted and the film destroyed. Studio and actors worked together to save the tapes and 80% of the film was released 10 years later, in 1988. Despite being incomplete, the experience of seeing it is not only essential but completely breathtaking.

Four astronauts land on a planet very similar to Earth and end up giving rise to a new civilization. Decades later, a new astronaut arrives and is first seen as the messiah and later crucified.

To say the plot is audacious is an understatement. To say that the experimental visuals not only rival but surpass "Dune" made in 2021 is an understatement. And calling Zulawski a genius for having carried out this existentialist masterpiece does not do justice to what was achieved here.

In a world where adults waste time playing with lightsabers and watching children's movies, "On the silver globe" is one of the few that deserves to be mentioned when talking about science fiction. When talking about movies. When talking about art.

Not seeing this film should be a crime punishable by law.