The End of Civilization: Three Films by Piotr Szulkin

Masquerading as both works of science fiction and horror, Piotr Szulkin’s satirical, surrealistic apocalypse trilogy is Polish cinema’s best-kept secret. These highly imaginative works of fantasy are bound by a preoccupation with the machinations of power and a distinct, visual sensibility.In a radical reworking of the H.G. Wells classic, The War of the Worlds: Next Century, tells the story of Iron Idem (Roman Wilhelmi), a television host, who finds himself contending with a Martian invasion, whose takeover involves collaborating with the state and manipulating the populace through a media apparatus made up entirely of fake news…Meanwhile, in O-Bi, O-Ba: The End of Civilization, the survivors of a claustrophobic, subterranean world in ruins are pacified by Soft (Jerzy Stuhr), who engineers a mass collective dream of escape through means of a mythical vessel, The Ark…Finally, in the darkly comic Ga, Ga: Glory to the Heroes, Scope (Daniel Olbrychski) must be tried and convicted of a heinous crime for him to participate in a bloody, televised gladiator contest…Frequently butting heads with Polish authorities both before and after the collapse of Communism, writer and director Piotr Szulkin remains a unique visual stylist whose parables of power transcend easy genre pigeonholing.2K restorations of each film presented on three discs, on Blu-ray for the first time in the UKUncompressed mono PCM audioAudio commentary on Ga-ga: Glory to the Heroes by Daniel Bird (2023)Retrofuturism - Interview featurette with production designer Andrzej Kowalczyk on creating the world of O-Bi, O-Ba (2023)PRL - Polish People's Republic Post-Apocalyptic Parables - a new video essay by Dobrotka Więckiewicz exploring Szulkin's rejection of the science-fiction label (2023)Programme of thematically complementary grotesque and absurdist short films: Labyrinth (Jan Lenica, 1963, 15 mins), Banquet (Zofia Oraczewska, 1977, 8 mins), Cages (Miroslaw Kijowicz, 1967, 8 mins) New and improved English subtitles Reversible sleeves and box art featuring original artworks by celebrated artist Andrzej PagowskiLimited edition 80-page booklet featuring new writing by Michal Oleszczyk, Olga Drenda, Ela Bittencourt, Piotr Kletowski and Daniel Bird