In the Czech Republic the film took the sixth place in its opening weekend with 6,991 admissions and 37,145 EUR / 910,350 CZK gross.
Perinbaba: Two Realms / Perinbaba a dva svety was released by Bontonfilm in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia on 7 December 2023.
The film is a sequel to the original fantasy fairytale Perinbaba, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 1985. Juraj Jakubisko did not live to see the premiere of his latest work. He died in February 2023 at the age of 84, while the premiere of the film was postponed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The original 1985 film featured Giulietta Masina, the star of Federico Fellini’s films, in the lead role of the feather fairy Perinbaba. Thanks to digital technologies, the new Perinbaba has retained the face of Giulietta Masina. “Casting another actress in that role was unimaginable to me,” Jakubisko told the Czech News Agency (CTK) during the production of the film.
The shooting of Perinbaba: Two Realms started in 2017 and lasted for two years. It involved a crew of nearly 100, over 300 extras and a budget of approximately 4 m EUR.
Deana Jakubisková - Horváthová produced the film through J&J JAKUBISKO FILM EUROPE, which operates in the Czech Republic as well as in Slovakia. Slovenská produkčná (Slovakia) was the coproducer. The film gained financial support from the Czech Film Fund and the Slovak Audiovisual Fund.
The central line of the mosaic narrative is a journey of discovery of young Lukas (played by Lukáš Frlajs), who longs to find true love and happiness in the mythical Realm of Plenty. The goodfairy Perinbaba helps him and his dog companion find the right path, while Death puts obstacles in his way. During his journey, Lukas undergoes many tests, gets imprisoned in a castle, falls in love in the Land of the Wild Women, helps save the Moving City and, in the end, has to fight the raven warriors in a kingdom where all women disappeared.
Juraj Jakubisko, born in 1938 in a small village in eastern Slovakia, was one of the most extraordinary Slovak filmmakers, sometimes nicknamed "the Fellini of the East". His early films are among the best of the Czechoslovak New Wave. During his career, Jakubisko made several dozen feature films and documentaries. Among his best-known works are The Deserter and the Nomads / Zbehovia a pútnici (1968), which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, The Millennial Bee / Tisícročná včela (1983), Perinbaba, An Ambiguous Report about the End of the World / Nejasnáspráva o konci sveta (1997) and Bathory (2008), the last two produced by J&J JAKUBISKO FILM EUROPE.
