Gregorius, the Chosen One

“Puppeteer, tell us a story we don’t know yet!” the audience calls out to a traveling thespian. And so he starts to recount a story about a boy born of the forbidden love between brother and sister, who had many adventures, who spent seventeen years tied to a rock, and who perhaps was also… a hedgehog? But that’s not as important as how, after overcoming all these obstacles, he ended up becoming the pope. Young Gregorius (excellently portrayed by Jan František Uher) is a charming mix of naivete and determination, and it is a pure joy to watch his wanderings through mythical lands. Director Tomasz Mielnik’s wild, absurd comedy is based on the final novel by Thomas Mann.