Filmmaker Paweł Pawlikowski grew up in a world where the Cold War made everything seem clear. Today’s world, he says, feels like science fiction.

After festival premieres in Cannes, Telluride, Toronto, New York, and London and its selection as Poland’s Oscar entry, Paweł Pawlikowski’s “Fatherland” is opening in theaters worldwide. The film follows German writer Thomas Mann’s journey through postwar Germany. One of the season’s standout films and a deserving winner of the best director prize at Cannes, it has prompted critics to draw comparisons between Europe in the 1940s and Europe today. Anton Dolin spoke with Pawlikowski about the similarities and differences.