Piotr Dumała – one of the most recognized animation creators in our country, awarded many times in Poland and abroad – about making a film such as “Fin del Mundo?” he had dreamed for a long time. The title combines two opposing points of view. It talks about the fear of death but also the desire for it, the longing for love but also the love of solitude, the value of living in a multi-generational family but also the desire to become independent from it. There's a romance like a melodrama, a duel like a western, a train journey like a horror movie, a murder like a crime story. There has never been anything like this in Polish cinema before.
– Piotr's world is so wonderful, so immeasurable, and at the same time so consistent that every time I read the script I receive from him, I feel great joy that I will be able to participate in it – in this beautiful fairy tale, dream. And it was the same with “Fin del Mundo?”. This is a complete script in every respect – wonderful, original, outstanding. Peter's handwriting cannot be faked. It's neither sad nor funny here. Rather, what is sad is funny, but not in a mocking way, but in a way that sometimes saves us from going crazy, from dying of despair or fear of what awaits us. This smile associated with death, with passing away, with the end of the world – is needed by every person, because it is human. (…) If someone loves absurdity and can notice it in the world around us, they will love this film – says Interia Gabriela Muskała.
– Due to the fact that Piotr Dumała is the creator of outstanding animations, when he prepares a live-action film, he also animates it. He draws out the entire story on storyboards and shows the actors frames that are almost like drawn characters' emotions. It remains for us, the actors, to make them plausible. The characters Piotr draws always have expressive facial expressions. All this stimulates the imagination and gives us, the actors, an impulse to bring these characters to life. It's a bit on the verge of expressive theater. I hope that during the screening of “Fin del Mundo?” viewers will not only laugh, but will also be left with a note of nostalgia or reflection on the end of the world of a single man – says Interia Aleksandra Popławska.
Waldi (Andrzej Szeremeta) and his three sisters (Gabriela Muskała, Anna Olejnik, Magdalena Różańska) live in an old villa outside the city, and in the basement their hundred-year-old parents (Helena Norowicz and Stanisław Brudny), who… died a few years ago. The whole family enjoys breakfast together and the warmth of home until Waldi discovers supernatural powers. Then unexpected guests (Mariusz Bonaszewski and Antoni Paradowski) involve the family in a top secret plan, forcing the deceased parents to start their relationship in the afterlife.
The film alternately becomes a crime story, a melodrama, a western, and continues to be a comedy of the absurd – which inevitably leads to the end of the world. But are you sure?
– I think that each of us, if we open our imagination a little, will look at the world through Peter's eyes. It's not easy, because he is an extremely brave creator, very consistent in the way he talks about the world. You have to open your heart, mind and your sense of humor, and then we will happily jump headfirst into the middle of this story – explains Gabriela Muskała to Interia.
The movie “Fin del Mundo?” will hit Polish cinema screens on May 24, 2024.