Heaven Comes Tomorrow

Colour, 35mm
Poland, 2001, 77 min
Section: East of the West

Synopsis

This unusual road-movie set in the Polish-German-Czech border region begins with a spectacle common for this area. The hero meets his Czech partner at the roadside and, as usual, concludes a business deal with an agreed measure of alcohol. Satisfied with the transaction, he sets off for home. Then a dog scampers out onto the road which he accidentally runs over, and his life is suddenly made more complicated for him by its twelve-year-old owner. First they spend a long time looking for a suitably dignified burial site for the dog, but then it turns out that the girl is actually on the run. Although she tells him one lie after another, the man begins to feel a certain responsibility for her. The more the girl fills him with distrust and continues to cause trouble, the more this forty-year-old with no family and seemingly no scruples, finds himself growing fond of her. Particularly since, in her helplessness, she counters his every inquiry – she also lacks emotional ties and a sense of belonging. The atmosphere of the ride through the summer landscape is intensified by the border scenery – a world of rootlessness, without positive values, but one which this unlikely pair manage to discover and appreciate – at least for themselves.

About the director

Jaroslaw Marszewski (b. 1967) studied English language and literature in his native Wroclaw (1993) and then was awarded a grant to attend a course in film and television direction at Prague’s Film Academy (FAMU). He then continued with post-graduate study at the WRiTV Uśl. in Katowice (1997). He has established himself as a director, screenwriter and creator of feature etudes which have been awarded at a number of international short-film festivals (amateur, non-commercial, educational and professional). He has made several television programmes and documentaries: To Remain as People (Pozostać ludźmi, l996), Mission (Misja, l998), Machine and Touch (Maszyna i dotyk, l999), Seven Meditations (Siedem medytacji, l999, musical film), The Promised Land (Ziemia obiecana, l999, film for a ballet performance), Madame Butterfly (2000, TV opera), DUST or the Lost Worlds of R. A. (2000, DUST czyli utracone światy Roberta Ashley´a), and Heaven Comes Tomorrow (Jutro bedzie niebo, 2OOl), his feature debut.