ANGELUS

An innocent boy observes a group of primitive painters led by an old master. On his deathbed, he reveals to his disciples the mystery of the decline and the way to salvation. Will the group of crazy painters succeed in saving humanity? The history of Upper Silesia as redemption fantasy is told from the boy’s point of view. Freely of classical, narrative forms Majewski draws the region in the crosshairs of the many cultures and political currents of the 20th century as a fairy tale picture book full of wonders, populated by Adolf Hitler and by the Holy Barbara, and the guardian angels. The film is not just a story about 20th-century Europe, but also a treatise on painting. Upper Silesia and its landscape unfold as a primitive work of art á la Henri Rousseau, Marc Chagall or Nikifor and in its fairy-tale beauty as a home of hope and innocence. KM