O-Bi, O-Ba: The End of Civilization

An underground shelter after a nuclear war. Outside is frozen and there is radiation; whoever goes out does not come back. There is a dome above the shelter and it is about to crack. Thousands live inside. A rumour circulates: a ship will come and save everyone. It is called the Ark. A man called Soft is one of those spreading the rumour; his work is to keep people occupied and hopeful. He does not believe it himself. The food is running out, books are being burned and the order is breaking down. Soft is looking for a way out. Piotr Szulkin writes and directs. Jerzy Stuhr plays Soft; Krystyna Janda and Kalina Jędrusik are in the cast. It is a Polish production. It was made just after the period of martial law and uses allegory rather than direct political statement. Szulkin made several science fiction films resembling one another in this period, all working by the same method. The matter it treats is the manufacture of hope; the promise of rescue is shown as an instrument of government. The design of the shelter is detailed and the space built like a rubbish heap; the costumes and sets are made from worn material. The narrative uses the science fiction genre but shows no technology; everything is broken and handmade. Its ending grants no rescue and the promise proves empty. Its limit is accessibility; the narrative is closed, the register dark and the references belong to their period. Who it is for: viewers who like Eastern European science fiction and allegorical narrative. Who it is not for: it is bleak, closed, and the ending without hope.