Roman Polański’s latest film opens in Polish cinemas on 3 November. “The Palace” had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival. The film stars Oliver Masucci, Fanny Ardant, John Cleese, Bronwyn James, Joaquim de Almeida, Luca Barbareschi, Milan Peschel, Fortunato Cerlino and Mickey Rourke.

In an exclusive hotel in the Swiss Alps, an exotic mix of wealthy guests, pampered by the hotel staff, faces the last day of the passing millennium. Some fear the end of the world, others cannot wait for the dawn of a splendid new future.

The filmmakers interweave storylines, black humour, juxtapositions of the absurd and astonishing conclusions. But also moments of nostalgia for a world which – however pathetic it may seem now – in the final hours of the twentieth century was still guided by logic and rational optimism about its own future.

The trailer for “The Palace” is now available online:

– “The Palace” is above all a provocative comedy – bitter in places, frivolous and eccentric in others – meant to leave one question in the viewer’s mind: what went wrong? A comedy exposing the naivety, hedonism, corruption and social inequalities that lie at the root of our world’s current condition – says the film’s director, Roman Polański.

The screenplay was written by Jerzy Skolimowski, Ewa Piaskowska and Roman Polański. The producers are Luca Barbareschi, Jean-Luis Porchet, Wojciech Gostomczyk, Janusz Hetman and Jerzy Skolimowski. Paweł Edelman is the director of photography, and the score was composed by Alexandre Desplat.

 

*****

THE PALACE

Genre: comedy

Release date: 3 November 2023

Directed by: Roman Polański

Screenplay: Jerzy Skolimowski, Ewa Piaskowska, Roman Polański

Music: Alexandre Desplat

Cinematography: Paweł Edelman

Editing: Hervé de Luze

Production design: Tonino Zera

Costumes: Carlo Poggioli

Assistant director: Hubert Engammare

Casting director: Teresa Razzauti

Sound: Lucien Balibar

Visual effects: Benuts, M74, DI Factory

Make-up: Diego Prestupino, Desire Corridoni

Line producers: Matteo Leurini, Piotr Bogusz

Creative producer: Andrea Italia

Executive producers: Claudia Gaeta, Giulio Cestari, Jerzy Skolimowski, Dietmar Güntsche, Michael Kölmel

Co-production: Italy, Poland, Switzerland, France in co-production with Eliseo Entertainment and Rai Cinema, Cab Productions, Lucky Bob, RP Productions

In collaboration with: Etienne Dontaine, Stéphane Rigotti and Agent Double, the Polish Film Institute, Atlas sztuki, Adam Gudell Moderator Inwestycje, Jarosław Fabiański Direct 4Energy and Benitex Beata Radkiewicz

Associate producer: Carla Milesy di Grésy

Production management, Poland: Klaudia Chechłowska, Sonia Mnich, Marta Bródka