quietearth [Celluloid 03.19.09] post apocalyptic movie news



Based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Marlen Haushofer which has been called "a startling redefinition of ecofeminist utopian fiction" although it sounds utterly dystopic, Julian Pölsler just got some major fundage to the tune of 430,000 euros to make this into a feature. Julian's done quite a bit of made-for-tv stuff, but this will be his first straight feature film and I have to say what a great choice. This will be one of those divergent takes on the post-apocalyptic world like Ever Since the World Ended or Pisma Myortvogo Cheloveka, meaning I'm guessing more towards the arthouse end, or at least hoping.

Amazon's book description:
Originally published in German in 1962 and touted more recently as a feminist's Robinson Crusoe, this somber classic from prize-winner Haushofer chronicles the experiences of a (nameless) woman cut off from her familiar city ways in a remote hunting lodge, after Armageddon has snuffed out all life in the world beyond. With the woman's diary of activities during the first two years of isolation as foundation, the story assumes the shape and flavor of a journal. Saved from instant death by a transparent, apparently indestructible wall enclosing a substantial area of forest and alpine meadow, the woman finds relief from her isolation in companionship offered by a dog, a cat, kittens, and a cow and her calf, making them into a family that she cares for faithfully and frets over incessantly with each season's new challenges. Crops of potatoes, beans, and hay are harvested in sufficient quantity to keep all alive, with deer providing occasional meat for the table, but the satisfaction of having survived long winters and a halcyon summer is undone by a second sudden and equally devastating catastrophe, which triggers the need in her to tell her story. Although heavy with the repetition of daily chores, the account is also intensely introspective, probing as deeply into the psyche of the woman as it does into her world, which circumstances have placed in a new light. Subtly surreal, by turns claustrophobic and exhilarating, fixated with almost religious fervor on banal detail, this is a disturbing yet rewarding tale in which survival and femininity are strikingly merged.


And the synopsis from the production website:
One morning a woman awakes in a hut up in the mountains and finds herself enclosed by an insurmountable vitreously wall behind which there seems to be no life. With a dog, a cow and a cat she meets the new challange in her life.

Sounds great right? We'll keep an eye on it.

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Bob Doto (13 years ago) Reply

OOoooooooo... fun. So happy to see all the PA films that are in the works!

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