A Brief History of Soviet Sci-Fi
Dennis Fischer <[email protected]> Fri, 22 Jun 2018 00:00:18 +0000
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------=_Part_606202_1049491946.1529625618137 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable A Brief History of Soviet Sci-fiExploring the wild and woolly futuristic vi= sions from behind the Iron CurtainRichard Viktorov's TO THE STARS BY HARD W= AYSby=C2=A0Todd BrownOct 12, 2017While they are now regarded as singular ma= sterpieces of world cinema, Andrei Tarkovsky=E2=80=99s=C2=A0Solaris=C2=A0an= d=C2=A0Stalker=C2=A0descended from a long tradition of science-fiction film= making from behind the Iron Curtain =E2=80=94 one that was heralded by the = visually dazzling epic=C2=A0Aelita =E2=80=93 Queen of Mars=C2=A0in the sile= nt era. In the notes below (originally written for a 2012 TIFF Cinematheque= retrospective), cult-film aficionado Todd Brown offers a tour of some of t= he less-famed but no less fascinating examples of Soviet sci-fi.The science= -fiction tradition in the one-time Eastern Bloc was as rich and varied as a= nywhere in the Western world, and the region=E2=80=99s film output is every= bit as diverse as our own, ranging from art-house fare to populist comedie= s, hilariously cheesy space operas and grand adventures. And while there ar= e some instances of open propaganda, there are also strains of sly satire = =E2=80=94 as well as evidence that the camp and excess of the swinging =E2= =80=9960s didn=E2=80=99t completely pass the Soviet world by. We present be= low a broad range of Soviet-era science fiction, a mix of acknowledged clas= sics and outright pulp from Russia, the former Czechoslovakia, Poland and E= stonia. Bearded ladies, post-apocalyptic wastelands, robot companions, vamp= ire cars and outbursts of random dancing await =E2=80=94 join us, comrades!= Moscow-Cassiopeia=C2=A0/=C2=A0Adolescents in the Universe=C2=A0(USSR, 1973-= 74). When radio signals reach Earth from a planet in a far distant star sys= tem, the starship=C2=A0Dawn=C2=A0is readied for immediate dispatch to searc= h for signs of intelligent life. But as the ship will take decades to reach= the planet, a young inventor proposes that a group of the best and brighte= st schoolchildren be sent in place of adult cosmonauts, as they will reach = the planet in their prime of life.=C2=A0Moscow-Cassiopeia, the first volume= of Richard Viktorov=E2=80=99s two-part =E2=80=9CKids in Space=E2=80=9D epi= c, traces the progress of the space voyage, while=C2=A0Adolescents in the U= niverse=C2=A0finds the kids arriving on the planet 27 years ahead of schedu= le (due to a handy, if unintended, light-speed jump), where they must confr= ont an army of disco-styled robots who wish to bring about happiness by str= ipping their human creators of all emotions.Dead Mountaineer=E2=80=99s Hote= l=C2=A0(Estonia, 1979). An anonymous phone call brings taciturn police offi= cer Inspector Peter Glebsky (Uldus Pucitis) to a remote mountain inn. The c= olourful residents all deny placing the call and insist that nothing is ami= ss, but after an avalanche cuts the hotel off from the outside world it bec= omes clear that Glebsky is very much needed as bodies and bizarre events be= gin to pile up. Seldom seen outside of the former Soviet Union, Grigori Kro= manov=E2=80=99s=C2=A0Dead Mountaineer=E2=80=99s Hotel=C2=A0(adapted from th= e novel by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky, authors of the original story and s= creenplay for Tarkovsky=E2=80=99s=C2=A0Stalker) is a sly sci-fi take on fil= m noir, with its gritty, hardnosed antihero pitted against otherworldly for= ces that calls his stubborn realism into question.Ferat Vampire=C2=A0(Czech= oslovakia, 1982). Ambulance medic Dr. Marek (Ji=C5=99=C3=AD Menzel, directo= r of the classic=C2=A0Closely Watched Trains) is shocked and dismayed when = his beloved nurse and driver Mima (Dagmar Ve=C5=A1krnov=C3=A1) is lured awa= y to become a rally-car driver for car manufacturer Ferat. He=E2=80=99s eve= n more shocked (and rightly!) when a fellow doctor tells him that Ferat=E2= =80=99s much-hyped new sports car is fuelled by the blood of its driver, an= d becomes determined to free Mima from the clutches of the evil corporation= . Brilliant and prolific Slovak director Juraj Herz =E2=80=94 whose darkly = funny and supremely creepy 1968 film=C2=A0The Cremator=C2=A0was one of the = high points of the Czech New Wave =E2=80=94 turns his bizarre premise into = a masterfully unsettling sci-fi horror thriller, laced throughout with his = trademark black humour.Golem=C2=A0(Poland, 1980). In a dark and foreboding = future, a nuclear apocalypse has left the population decimated, leading sha= dowy government forces to embrace genetics research and cloning as a means = to maintain the population. Humble watch repairman Pernat is one such creat= ion, a manufactured man stumbling through life unaware of his own origins a= nd trying to make sense of his fragmentary memories. Strikingly surreal and= remarkably grim, Piotr Szulkin=E2=80=99s futuristic reimagining of the cla= ssic 1914 novel by Gustav Meyrink posits a future that looks disturbingly l= ike the past, with the state=E2=80=99s quest to create the =E2=80=9Cperfect= human=E2=80=9D inevitably evoking parallels with Nazi eugenics programs, w= hile omnipresent advertisements for sleeping pills and plastic surgery take= s satirical aim at the excesses of Western consumer culture.Ikarie XB-1=C2= =A0(Czechoslovakia, 1963). In the year 2163, the starship=C2=A0Ikarie XB-1= =C2=A0sets off on a years-long mission to explore the planets of the Alpha = Centauri system. Though they will face external threats along the way =E2= =80=94 including a derelict 20th-century spacecraft armed with nuclear weap= ons and a deadly, radioactive =E2=80=9Cdark star=E2=80=9D =E2=80=94 the bra= ve band of space pioneers soon discovers that the greatest danger lies with= in, as the isolation and pressures of space travel sparks a series of shift= ing alliances and enmities among the 40-person crew. Re-edited by Roger Cor= man for its American release (under the title=C2=A0Voyage to the End of the= Universe), the original=C2=A0Ikarie XB-1=C2=A0is arguably the high point o= f the space-opera tradition in Czech science fiction, aided greatly by writ= er-director Jind=C5=99ich Pol=C3=A1k=E2=80=99s adept technical ability and = admirable focus on character dynamics rather than special effects.In the Du= st of the Stars=C2=A0(East Germany, 1976). In the course of a six-year spac= e voyage, a spaceship from the planet Cynro answers a distress call from th= e planet TEM-4. The crew is picked up on the planet=E2=80=99s surface by a = bizarre bus and taken to meet Ronk, the bearded, blue-jumpsuited representa= tive of the planet=E2=80=99s ruling party, who denies any trouble and throw= s the crew a kick-ass party complete with scantily-clad women and mind-cont= rolling drugs. Luckily, the ship=E2=80=99s dour, no-fun pilot had insisted = on staying back on the ship as a sober designated driver, and soon discover= s that the planet is on the verge of a class war, as TEM-4=E2=80=99s origin= al inhabitants have been enslaved in the planet=E2=80=99s mines for eons. S= pace travel is swingin=E2=80=99 in Gottfried Kolditz=E2=80=99s campy, psych= edelic sci-fi head-trip, which mocks the imperialist decadence of the West = while cheerfully exploiting it to work in some trippy music and T&A.Planet = of Storms=C2=A0(USSR, 1962). Re-edited and expanded by Roger Corman into tw= o different but equally trashy American release versions (Voyage to the Pre= historic Planet=C2=A0and=C2=A0Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women), t= he original=C2=A0Planet of Storms=C2=A0is a technical marvel and a beautifu= lly executed story of space exploration. After a Soviet starship on a three= -ship mission to Venus is destroyed by a meteor, the crews of the two remai= ning ships are forced to land on the uncharted planet and improvise to comp= lete their mission, with nearly disastrous results. Directed by special-eff= ects pioneer Pavel Klushantsev,=C2=A0Planet of Stormshas everything you cou= ld ask of a vintage sci-fi flick: stoic heroes, imminent peril, a bizarre, = treacherous environment, a dash of romance (courtesy the one female cosmona= ut) and, just because they can, a robot named John. Throw in volcanoes, car= nivorous plants, lizard men and a few dinosaurs, and you have the prototypi= cal Soviet space opera.Test Pilot Pirxa=C2=A0(Poland, 1979). Corporate inte= rests want to replace human space crews with lifelike robots (=E2=80=9Cfini= te non-linears=E2=80=9D), arguing that it will be cheaper and safer than se= nding humans into space. But steely Commander Pirxa (Sergei Desnitsky) is h= aving none of it: he knows this isn=E2=80=99t about safety or cost effectiv= eness, but rather about lining the pockets of big business. Determined to p= rove the superiority of humanity, he agrees to pilot a test flight commandi= ng a crew made up of both humans and non-linears, without knowing which is = which =E2=80=94 but when disaster strikes, to which does the finger point? = Adapted from a story by Solaris author Stanislaw Lem (Solaris) by director = Marek Piestrak (an assistant to Roman Polanski on=C2=A0Rosemary=E2=80=99s B= aby),=C2=A0Test Pilot Pirxa=C2=A0is a gripping space adventure with a stron= g undercurrent of social criticism, and a premise that intriguingly anticip= ates=C2=A0Blade Runner. (And listen for the score by acclaimed classical co= mposer Arvo P=C3=A4rt!)Eolomea=C2=A0(German Democratic Republic, 1972). Whe= n eight cargo ships disappear and the space station=C2=A0Margot=C2=A0sudden= ly enters radio silence, Prof. Maria Scholl (Cox Habbema) and the space cou= ncil are forced to decree a flight ban for all spaceships leaving Earth unt= il the cause of these events can be determined. Along with embittered cosmo= naut Capt. Lagny (Iwan Andonow), Scholl soon divines that the disappearance= s have something to do with mysterious Morse code signals emanating from th= e Cygnus constellation, which spell out the name =E2=80=9CEOLOMEA=E2=80=9D = =E2=80=94 and the fact that one of her colleagues seems to have had details= of the disappearances before the news was made public is a sign that these= events may not be random. A realistic look at a far-from-utopian future fi= lled with squabbling bureaucrats and isolated, alienated, blue-collar space= -workers,=C2=A0Eolomea=C2=A0is an impressively made, tightly paced sci-fi m= ystery that daringly experiments with a non-chronological narrative.To the = Stars by Hard Ways=C2=A0(USSR, 1982). A Russian starship finds an abandoned= and derelict alien space station drifting near Earth containing the decayi= ng bodies of artificial humanoid beings. The only surviving inhabitant is t= he beauteous Niya (Yelena Metyolkina), who seeks the help of the earthlings= to restore her severely polluted home planet of Dessa to its natural splen= dour. Divinely campy, with its abundance of space-age leisure-wear outfits,= cosmic mercenaries and bionic women (not to mention a midget capitalist wh= o is responsible for Dessa=E2=80=99s desecration), Richard Viktorov=E2=80= =99s teen-targeted space adventure is also visually ravishing and, in its o= wn unique way, deeply affecting. Released in a shortened and dubbed version= in the US under the title=C2=A0Humanoid Woman=C2=A0(and subjected to the= =C2=A0Mystery Science Theater 3000=C2=A0treatment in that form),=C2=A0To th= e Stars by Hard Ways=C2=A0was carefully restored to its original version in= 2001 by Viktorov=E2=80=99s son Nikolai, who had previously acted in his da= d=E2=80=99s kiddie sci-fi opus=C2=A0Moscow-Cassiopeia=C2=A0(see above).I Ki= lled Einstein, Gentlemen=C2=A0(Czechoslovakia, 1970). In the distant year 1= 999, a group of terrorist physicists drop nuclear =E2=80=9CG-bombs=E2=80=9D= that render all women bearded and infertile (though still buxom) =E2=80=94= a situation which is both scratchy and detrimental to the survival of the = human race. So the world=E2=80=99s greatest scientific minds come up with a= foolproof plan: build a time machine, travel back to 1911 and kill Albert = Einstein before he can concoct the theories that paved the way for nuclear = technology. Mishaps, hijinks and drastic alterations in the space-time cont= inuum naturally ensue in Oldrich Lipsky=E2=80=99s hilariously lowbrow sci-f= i comedy, which plays like=C2=A0Sleeper/Bananas-era Woody Allen. Looking li= ke a Czech version of Peter Sellers in=C2=A0The Mouse That Roared, Jir=C3= =AD Sov=C3=A1k makes for a fabulous comedic lead.Who Wants to Kill Jessie?= =C2=A0(Czechoslovakia, 1966). A husband-and-wife team of scientists have be= en working on developing a dream manipulator which will supposedly produce = happier, more productive workers by exorcizing their bad dreams and affordi= ng them a good night=E2=80=99s rest. However, it soon becomes clear that th= e invention does not only banish dreams, but brings them out of the dreamer= =E2=80=99s mind into the real world =E2=80=94 which the husband discovers w= hen he wakes from a comic book-inspired nightmare to find himself in bed wi= th blonde bombshell cartoon heroine Jessie (Olga Schoberova), who has been = pursued into the real world by the caped supervillain and gunslinging cowbo= y who want to kill her. V=C3=A1clav Vorl=C3=AD=C4=8Dek=E2=80=99s hilarious,= visually inventive postmodern comedy benefits considerably from the castin= g of the stunning Schoberova, Czechoslovakia=E2=80=99s first=C2=A0Playboy= =C2=A0model (from the epochal =E2=80=9CGirls from Behind the Iron Curtain= =E2=80=9D issue) and later the star of the Hammer Films potboiler=C2=A0The = Vengeance of She.The Silent Star=C2=A0(German Democratic Republic, 1960). I= n the year 2003, with communism having conquered the globe and a new era of= international peace, prosperity and cooperation secured, engineers discove= r what appears to be an alien artifact in the Gobi Desert. Scientists deter= mine that the object is some kind of extraterrestrial flight recorder, and = a partial decoding of its contents indicate that it came from a spaceship w= hich originated from Venus. A multinational crew is sent to investigate the= planet, where they find only the shattered remnants of an extinct civiliza= tion, and evidence of a terrible catastrophe that could portend doom for th= e Earth. Adapted from Stanislaw Lem=E2=80=99s first published novel and dra= matically altered by Roger Corman for its US release (as=C2=A0First Spacesh= ip on Venus),=C2=A0The Silent Star=C2=A0is a chilling cautionary tale of th= e dangers of technology run amok =E2=80=94 and its vision of a future where= all nations cooperate for the common good establishes it as a kind of comm= unist mirror image (and precursor) of the democratic utopia posited by=C2= =A0Star Trek. ------=_Part_606202_1049491946.1529625618137 Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <html><head></head><body><div style=3D"color:#000; background-color:#fff; f= ont-family:Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font= -size:13px"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin: 25px auto 0px; font-= family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, s= ans-serif; line-height: 1.2em; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max= -width: 1140px; text-align: center; font-size: 64px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19= _1_1529540029847_83667"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-right: au= to; margin-left: auto; width: 999px; max-width: 90%; line-height: inherit != important; font-size: inherit !important; letter-spacing: 0px !important;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83668">A Brief History of Soviet Sci-= fi</div></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); fo= nt-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial= , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83669= "><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin: 1.5em auto; line-height: 1.6em= ; font-size: 1.6em; letter-spacing: 0.02em; width: 720px; max-width: 100%; = text-align: center;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83670">Exploring= the wild and woolly futuristic visions from behind the Iron Curtain</div><= /div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; position: relative; max-width: 100%= ; margin: 65px auto; width: 1280px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Ro= boto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;= font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83671"><img src=3D= "https://images.ctfassets.net/22n7d68fswlw/4pt6SDY45a2AyWmkcG06qq/68dbfc7a7= 17f424f3d48d90d177c5f78/Tothestars..1col.jpg?w=3D1200" style=3D"box-sizing:= inherit; vertical-align: middle; min-height: auto; width: 1280px;" id=3D"y= ui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83672" data-id=3D"08df6bdc-2e3a-70a9-1f83-d5= bbfee2d597"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-right: auto; margin-b= ottom: 2em; line-height: 2rem; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; wid= th: 1280px; max-width: 100%; text-align: center; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);= padding-right: 8px; padding-left: 8px; background-image: initial; backgrou= nd-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial;= background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-cli= p: initial;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83673">Richard Viktorov'= s TO THE STARS BY HARD WAYS</div></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; ;= margin: 10px 20px; padding-top: 20px; border-top: 5px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); = color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-size: 18px; width: 200px; max-width: 33%; f= ont-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Aria= l, sans-serif;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83674"><span style=3D= "box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83675">by</spa= n><span style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 600; transition: 0.25s e= ase-in-out; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_836= 76"> <span style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529= 540029847_83677">Todd Brown</span></span><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;= font-size: 0.9em; padding: 5px 0px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" id=3D"yui_= 3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83678">Oct 12, 2017</div><div style=3D"box-sizi= ng: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83679"><a href=3D"https= ://twitter.com/intent/tweet/?text=3DA%20Brief%20History%20of%20Soviet%20Sci= -fi&url=3Dhttp://www.tiff.net/the-review/a-brief-history-of-soviet-sci-= fi/index.html&via=3DTIFF_Net" target=3D"_blank" style=3D"box-sizing: in= herit; touch-action: manipulation; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration-lin= e: none; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(= 238, 238, 238); box-shadow: none; background-image: none; display: inline-b= lock; margin-top: 20px; transition: 0.25s ease-in-out; padding: 10px 10px 5= px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83680"><span style=3D"box-sizing= : inherit; display: inline-block; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-varian= t-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1; font-family: &q= uot;Material Design Icons"; font-size: inherit; text-rendering: auto; = -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transform: translate(0px, 0px);" id=3D= "yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83681"></span></a><a href=3D"http://www.fa= cebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=3Dhttp://tiff.net/the-review/a-brief-history= -of-soviet-sci-fi/index.html&title=3DA%20Brief%20History%20of%20Soviet%= 20Sci-fi" style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; color: = rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration-line: none; outline-style: initial; outline-w= idth: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: none; backgrou= nd-image: none; display: inline-block; margin-top: 20px; transition: 0.25s = ease-in-out; padding: 10px 10px 5px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847= _83682"><span style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; font-var= iant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal= ; line-height: 1; font-family: "Material Design Icons"; font-size= : inherit; text-rendering: auto; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; trans= form: translate(0px, 0px);" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83683"></= span></a></div></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; = margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 114= 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helveti= ca Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_= 16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83684"></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; m= argin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15= px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-se= rif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1= 6px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83685"><div style=3D"box-sizing= : inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83686"><div style=3D"box-= sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83687"><div style= =3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin: 1.5em auto; line-height: 2rem; font-size: = 19px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; width: 720px; max-width: 100%;" id=3D"yui_3_1= 6_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83688"><em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yu= i_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83689">While they are now regarded as singula= r masterpieces of world cinema, Andrei Tarkovsky=E2=80=99s</em> <a hre= f=3D"http://www.tiff.net/films/solaris/" style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; touc= h-action: manipulation; color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; outline= -style: initial; outline-width: 0px; transition: 0.25s ease-in-out; border-= bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_8369= 0">Solaris</a> <em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym1= 9_1_1529540029847_83691">and</em> <a href=3D"http://www.tiff.net/films= /stalker/" style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; color:= inherit; text-decoration-line: none; outline-style: initial; outline-width= : 0px; transition: 0.25s ease-in-out; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0)= ;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83692">Stalker</a> <em style= =3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83693">desc= ended from a long tradition of science-fiction filmmaking from behind the I= ron Curtain =E2=80=94 one that was heralded by the visually dazzling epic</= em> <a href=3D"http://www.tiff.net/films/aelita-queen-of-mars/" style= =3D"box-sizing: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; color: inherit; text-d= ecoration-line: none; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; transitio= n: 0.25s ease-in-out; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" id=3D"yui_3_1= 6_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83694">Aelita =E2=80=93 Queen of Mars</a> <em= style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83695= ">in the silent era. In the notes below (originally written for a 2012 TIFF= Cinematheque retrospective), cult-film aficionado Todd Brown offers a tour= of some of the less-famed but no less fascinating examples of Soviet sci-f= i</em>.</div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin: 1.5em auto; line-he= ight: 2rem; font-size: 19px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; width: 720px; max-widt= h: 100%;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83696">The science-fiction = tradition in the one-time Eastern Bloc was as rich and varied as anywhere i= n the Western world, and the region=E2=80=99s film output is every bit as d= iverse as our own, ranging from art-house fare to populist comedies, hilari= ously cheesy space operas and grand adventures. And while there are some in= stances of open propaganda, there are also strains of sly satire =E2=80=94 = as well as evidence that the camp and excess of the swinging =E2=80=9960s d= idn=E2=80=99t completely pass the Soviet world by. We present below a broad= range of Soviet-era science fiction, a mix of acknowledged classics and ou= tright pulp from Russia, the former Czechoslovakia, Poland and Estonia. Bea= rded ladies, post-apocalyptic wastelands, robot companions, vampire cars an= d outbursts of random dancing await =E2=80=94 join us, comrades!</div></div= ></div></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-r= ight: auto; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; col= or: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue&= quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym1= 9_1_1529540029847_83697"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; = flex-wrap: wrap; margin: 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83698"= ><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 2em; posi= tion: relative; max-width: 100%; width: 720px; margin: 1em auto 1.2em !impo= rtant; padding-bottom: 0px !important;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_15295400298= 47_83699"><img src=3D"https://images.ctfassets.net/22n7d68fswlw/5ubVk2wJhYy= A84uo6qwY0e/1fc865238f346ab99ae666faac45f8c8/Adolescents-1.jpg?w=3D960" sty= le=3D"box-sizing: inherit; vertical-align: middle; min-height: auto; width:= 720px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83700" data-id=3D"9e55a084-9= ef2-111b-f56f-b47095151ee3"></div></div></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inh= erit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px; padding-l= eft: 15px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, = sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-= size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83701"></div><div style= =3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-rig= ht: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); fo= nt-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial= , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83702= "></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right:= auto; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; color: r= gb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue"= , Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1= 529540029847_83703"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym= 19_1_1529540029847_83704"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_1= 6_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83705"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin: = 1.5em auto; line-height: 2rem; font-size: 19px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; wid= th: 720px; max-width: 100%;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83706"><= span style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: bolder;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_y= m19_1_1529540029847_83707"><em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_1= 6_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83708">Moscow-Cassiopeia</em></span> / <= span style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: bolder;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_y= m19_1_1529540029847_83709"><em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_1= 6_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83710">Adolescents in the Universe</em></span>&nbs= p;(USSR, 1973-74). When radio signals reach Earth from a planet in a far di= stant star system, the starship <em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id= =3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83711">Dawn</em> is readied for im= mediate dispatch to search for signs of intelligent life. But as the ship w= ill take decades to reach the planet, a young inventor proposes that a grou= p of the best and brightest schoolchildren be sent in place of adult cosmon= auts, as they will reach the planet in their prime of life. <em style= =3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83712">Mosc= ow-Cassiopeia</em>, the first volume of Richard Viktorov=E2=80=99s two-part= =E2=80=9CKids in Space=E2=80=9D epic, traces the progress of the space voy= age, while <em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_= 1529540029847_83713">Adolescents in the Universe</em> finds the kids a= rriving on the planet 27 years ahead of schedule (due to a handy, if uninte= nded, light-speed jump), where they must confront an army of disco-styled r= obots who wish to bring about happiness by stripping their human creators o= f all emotions.</div></div></div></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; m= argin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15= px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-se= rif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1= 6px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83714"><div style=3D"box-sizing= : inherit; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin: 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_y= m19_1_1529540029847_83715"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 14= px; line-height: 2em; position: relative; max-width: 100%; width: 720px; ma= rgin: 1em auto 1.2em !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important;" id=3D"yui= _3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83716"><img src=3D"https://images.ctfassets.ne= t/22n7d68fswlw/e2ATAWAfWSKQeyIcYaceE/f52574957e17d0c3be0a023eb8692f59/HAH4.= jpg?w=3D960" style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; vertical-align: middle; min-heig= ht: auto; width: 720px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83717" data-= id=3D"faca1696-c49d-0459-4c04-de23f58264bd"></div></div></div><div style=3D= "box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-right:= 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-= family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, s= ans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83718"><= /div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: au= to; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(= 51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", H= elvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529= 540029847_83719"></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto= ; margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1= 140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helve= tica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_= 3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83720"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id= =3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83721"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inheri= t;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83722"><div style=3D"box-sizing: = inherit; margin: 1.5em auto; line-height: 2rem; font-size: 19px; letter-spa= cing: 0.02em; width: 720px; max-width: 100%;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_15295= 40029847_83723"><span style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: bolder;" i= d=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83724"><em style=3D"box-sizing: inheri= t;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83725">Dead Mountaineer=E2=80=99s= Hotel</em></span> (Estonia, 1979). An anonymous phone call brings tac= iturn police officer Inspector Peter Glebsky (Uldus Pucitis) to a remote mo= untain inn. The colourful residents all deny placing the call and insist th= at nothing is amiss, but after an avalanche cuts the hotel off from the out= side world it becomes clear that Glebsky is very much needed as bodies and = bizarre events begin to pile up. Seldom seen outside of the former Soviet U= nion, Grigori Kromanov=E2=80=99s <em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id= =3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83726">Dead Mountaineer=E2=80=99s Hotel= </em> (adapted from the novel by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky, authors = of the original story and screenplay for Tarkovsky=E2=80=99s <em style= =3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83727">Stal= ker</em>) is a sly sci-fi take on film noir, with its gritty, hardnosed ant= ihero pitted against otherworldly forces that calls his stubborn realism in= to question.</div></div></div></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; marg= in-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px;= max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif= , "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px= ;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83728"><div style=3D"box-sizing: i= nherit; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin: 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19= _1_1529540029847_83729"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 14px;= line-height: 2em; position: relative; max-width: 100%; width: 720px; margi= n: 1em auto 1.2em !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important;" id=3D"yui_3_= 16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83730"><img src=3D"https://images.ctfassets.net/2= 2n7d68fswlw/2m1Zgog1iUISue8uIW0aa8/1911fe42dde83614674eba2b3e53f42b/Upir_z_= Feratu_C1994a02r.jpe?w=3D960" style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; vertical-align:= middle; min-height: auto; width: 720px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_152954002= 9847_83731" data-id=3D"bca61055-6122-984e-1bd7-b01814ee7e50"></div></div></= div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: aut= o; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(5= 1, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", He= lvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_15295= 40029847_83732"></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto;= margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 11= 40px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvet= ica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3= _16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83733"></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; = margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 1= 5px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-s= erif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: = 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83734"><div style=3D"box-sizin= g: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83735"><div style=3D"box= -sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83736"><div style= =3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin: 1.5em auto; line-height: 2rem; font-size: = 19px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; width: 720px; max-width: 100%;" id=3D"yui_3_1= 6_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83737"><span style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-we= ight: bolder;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83738"><em style=3D"bo= x-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83739">Ferat Vamp= ire</em></span> (Czechoslovakia, 1982). Ambulance medic Dr. Marek (Ji= =C5=99=C3=AD Menzel, director of the classic <em style=3D"box-sizing: = inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83740">Closely Watched Trai= ns</em>) is shocked and dismayed when his beloved nurse and driver Mima (Da= gmar Ve=C5=A1krnov=C3=A1) is lured away to become a rally-car driver for ca= r manufacturer Ferat. He=E2=80=99s even more shocked (and rightly!) when a = fellow doctor tells him that Ferat=E2=80=99s much-hyped new sports car is f= uelled by the blood of its driver, and becomes determined to free Mima from= the clutches of the evil corporation. Brilliant and prolific Slovak direct= or Juraj Herz =E2=80=94 whose darkly funny and supremely creepy 1968 film&n= bsp;<em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_152954002984= 7_83741">The Cremator</em> was one of the high points of the Czech New= Wave =E2=80=94 turns his bizarre premise into a masterfully unsettling sci= -fi horror thriller, laced throughout with his trademark black humour.</div= ></div></div></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; ma= rgin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140p= x; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica= Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16= _0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83742"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; display: = flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin: 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_= 83743"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 2em= ; position: relative; max-width: 100%; width: 720px; margin: 1em auto 1.2em= !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_15295= 40029847_83744"><img src=3D"https://images.ctfassets.net/22n7d68fswlw/3dJn8= uV6QU4gUgOmKyqMci/e3e6ded4eca5d025609eae113f47989d/Golem_1.jpg?w=3D960" sty= le=3D"box-sizing: inherit; vertical-align: middle; min-height: auto; width:= 720px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83745" class=3D"" data-id=3D= "a4238c61-701e-77de-bd0c-5ae362b711f9"></div></div></div><div style=3D"box-= sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px= ; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-famil= y: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-s= erif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83746"></div>= <div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; p= adding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 5= 1, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvet= ica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_152954002= 9847_83747"></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; mar= gin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px= ; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica = Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_= 0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83748"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui= _3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83749"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id= =3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83750"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inheri= t; margin: 1.5em auto; line-height: 2rem; font-size: 19px; letter-spacing: = 0.02em; width: 720px; max-width: 100%;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_15295400298= 47_83751"><span style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: bolder;" id=3D"y= ui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83752"><em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id= =3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83753">Golem</em></span> (Poland, = 1980). In a dark and foreboding future, a nuclear apocalypse has left the p= opulation decimated, leading shadowy government forces to embrace genetics = research and cloning as a means to maintain the population. Humble watch re= pairman Pernat is one such creation, a manufactured man stumbling through l= ife unaware of his own origins and trying to make sense of his fragmentary = memories. Strikingly surreal and remarkably grim, Piotr Szulkin=E2=80=99s f= uturistic reimagining of the classic 1914 novel by Gustav Meyrink posits a = future that looks disturbingly like the past, with the state=E2=80=99s ques= t to create the =E2=80=9Cperfect human=E2=80=9D inevitably evoking parallel= s with Nazi eugenics programs, while omnipresent advertisements for sleepin= g pills and plastic surgery takes satirical aim at the excesses of Western = consumer culture.</div></div></div></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;= margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: = 15px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-= serif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size:= 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83754"><div style=3D"box-sizi= ng: inherit; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin: 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0= _ym19_1_1529540029847_83755"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-size: = 14px; line-height: 2em; position: relative; max-width: 100%; width: 720px; = margin: 1em auto 1.2em !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important;" id=3D"y= ui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83756"><img src=3D"https://images.ctfassets.= net/22n7d68fswlw/68E2XGfON2K8ScSsoOIyqk/6007141c99d72617502aaa28df0fd1f7/Ik= arie_XB_1_02.jpg?w=3D960" style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; vertical-align: mid= dle; min-height: auto; width: 720px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847= _83757" data-id=3D"3cf01bc4-0f8c-33cc-999d-95c6da5be355"></div></div></div>= <div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; p= adding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 5= 1, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvet= ica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_152954002= 9847_83758"></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; mar= gin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px= ; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica = Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_= 0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83759"></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; marg= in-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px;= max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif= , "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px= ;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83760"><div style=3D"box-sizing: i= nherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83761"><div style=3D"box-siz= ing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83762"><div style=3D"b= ox-sizing: inherit; margin: 1.5em auto; line-height: 2rem; font-size: 19px;= letter-spacing: 0.02em; width: 720px; max-width: 100%;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_y= m19_1_1529540029847_83763"><span style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-weight:= bolder;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83764"><em style=3D"box-siz= ing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83765">Ikarie XB-1</em= > </span>(Czechoslovakia, 1963). In the year 2163, the starship <= em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_837= 66">Ikarie XB-1</em> sets off on a years-long mission to explore the p= lanets of the Alpha Centauri system. Though they will face external threats= along the way =E2=80=94 including a derelict 20th-century spacecraft armed= with nuclear weapons and a deadly, radioactive =E2=80=9Cdark star=E2=80=9D= =E2=80=94 the brave band of space pioneers soon discovers that the greates= t danger lies within, as the isolation and pressures of space travel sparks= a series of shifting alliances and enmities among the 40-person crew. Re-e= dited by Roger Corman for its American release (under the title <em st= yle=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83767">V= oyage to the End of the Universe</em>), the original <em style=3D"box-= sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83768">Ikarie XB-1<= /em> is arguably the high point of the space-opera tradition in Czech = science fiction, aided greatly by writer-director Jind=C5=99ich Pol=C3=A1k= =E2=80=99s adept technical ability and admirable focus on character dynamic= s rather than special effects.</div></div></div></div><div style=3D"box-siz= ing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px; p= adding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: = Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-seri= f; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83769"><div styl= e=3D"box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin: 0px;" id= =3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83770"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inheri= t; font-size: 14px; line-height: 2em; position: relative; max-width: 100%; = width: 720px; margin: 1em auto 1.2em !important; padding-bottom: 0px !impor= tant;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83771"><img src=3D"https://ima= ges.ctfassets.net/22n7d68fswlw/4SKiRKIs5iMKqIiyU640A8/98692e31bd71c56cfc4f4= 460f384e795/Im_Staub_der_Sterne_PROGRESS_Foto_Heinz_Pufahl__3_.jpg?w=3D960"= style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; vertical-align: middle; min-height: auto; wi= dth: 720px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83772" data-id=3D"e469cc= 50-3cb0-69ac-d954-34dd91d99975"></div></div></div><div style=3D"box-sizing:= inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px; paddi= ng-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Robo= to, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; f= ont-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83773"></div><div st= yle=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-= right: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);= font-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Ar= ial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83= 774"></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-rig= ht: auto; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; color= : rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue&qu= ot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_= 1_1529540029847_83775"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0= _ym19_1_1529540029847_83776"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_= 3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83777"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margi= n: 1.5em auto; line-height: 2rem; font-size: 19px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; = width: 720px; max-width: 100%;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83778= "><span style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: bolder;" id=3D"yui_3_16_= 0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83779"><em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_= 3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83780">In the Dust of the Stars</em></span>&nbs= p;(East Germany, 1976). In the course of a six-year space voyage, a spacesh= ip from the planet Cynro answers a distress call from the planet TEM-4. The= crew is picked up on the planet=E2=80=99s surface by a bizarre bus and tak= en to meet Ronk, the bearded, blue-jumpsuited representative of the planet= =E2=80=99s ruling party, who denies any trouble and throws the crew a kick-= ass party complete with scantily-clad women and mind-controlling drugs. Luc= kily, the ship=E2=80=99s dour, no-fun pilot had insisted on staying back on= the ship as a sober designated driver, and soon discovers that the planet = is on the verge of a class war, as TEM-4=E2=80=99s original inhabitants hav= e been enslaved in the planet=E2=80=99s mines for eons. Space travel is swi= ngin=E2=80=99 in Gottfried Kolditz=E2=80=99s campy, psychedelic sci-fi head= -trip, which mocks the imperialist decadence of the West while cheerfully e= xploiting it to work in some trippy music and T&A.</div></div></div></d= iv><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto= ; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51= , 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Hel= vetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_152954= 0029847_83781"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-wrap:= wrap; margin: 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83782"><div styl= e=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 2em; position: rela= tive; max-width: 100%; width: 720px; margin: 1em auto 1.2em !important; pad= ding-bottom: 0px !important;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83783">= <img src=3D"https://images.ctfassets.net/22n7d68fswlw/2fLqRgy2UAo8Su2ic02Oe= 4/452c9e51a1dea63fdb109347a71a4736/Planet..Storm2col.jpg?w=3D960" style=3D"= box-sizing: inherit; vertical-align: middle; min-height: auto; width: 720px= ;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83784" data-id=3D"9d23a118-9244-26= 70-8646-0693b1e2eb8e"></div></div></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; = margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 1= 5px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-s= erif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: = 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83785"></div><div style=3D"box= -sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15p= x; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-fami= ly: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-= serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83786"></div= ><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; = padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, = 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Helve= tica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_15295400= 29847_83787"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_15= 29540029847_83788"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym1= 9_1_1529540029847_83789"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin: 1.5em a= uto; line-height: 2rem; font-size: 19px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; width: 720= px; max-width: 100%;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83790"><span st= yle=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: bolder;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1= 529540029847_83791"><em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym1= 9_1_1529540029847_83792">Planet of Storms</em></span> (USSR, 1962). Re= -edited and expanded by Roger Corman into two different but equally trashy = American release versions (<em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_1= 6_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83793">Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet</em> = and <em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540= 029847_83794">Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women</em>), the original= <em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029= 847_83795">Planet of Storms</em> is a technical marvel and a beautiful= ly executed story of space exploration. After a Soviet starship on a three-= ship mission to Venus is destroyed by a meteor, the crews of the two remain= ing ships are forced to land on the uncharted planet and improvise to compl= ete their mission, with nearly disastrous results. Directed by special-effe= cts pioneer Pavel Klushantsev, <em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id= =3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83796">Planet of Storms</em>has everyth= ing you could ask of a vintage sci-fi flick: stoic heroes, imminent peril, = a bizarre, treacherous environment, a dash of romance (courtesy the one fem= ale cosmonaut) and, just because they can, a robot named John. Throw in vol= canoes, carnivorous plants, lizard men and a few dinosaurs, and you have th= e prototypical Soviet space opera.</div></div></div></div><div style=3D"box= -sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15p= x; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-fami= ly: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-= serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83797"><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin: 0px;"= id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83798"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inh= erit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 2em; position: relative; max-width: 100= %; width: 720px; margin: 1em auto 1.2em !important; padding-bottom: 0px !im= portant;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83799"><img src=3D"https://= images.ctfassets.net/22n7d68fswlw/5VrjojYKC48QWCuke2ugY2/1bca1b910c82433051= 1825ca15b041fc/Test_Pilot_Pirxa_5.jpg?w=3D960" style=3D"box-sizing: inherit= ; vertical-align: middle; min-height: auto; width: 720px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0= _ym19_1_1529540029847_83800" data-id=3D"b3dc613b-6e37-0d37-b3cf-09c1b087ed1= 0"></div></div></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; = margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 114= 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helveti= ca Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_= 16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83801"></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; m= argin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15= px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-se= rif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1= 6px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83802"></div><div style=3D"box-= sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px= ; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-famil= y: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-s= erif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83803"><div s= tyle=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83804">= <div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_8= 3805"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin: 1.5em auto; line-height: 2= rem; font-size: 19px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; width: 720px; max-width: 100%= ;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83806"><span style=3D"box-sizing: = inherit; font-weight: bolder;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83807"= ><em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_8= 3808">Test Pilot Pirxa</em></span> (Poland, 1979). Corporate interests= want to replace human space crews with lifelike robots (=E2=80=9Cfinite no= n-linears=E2=80=9D), arguing that it will be cheaper and safer than sending= humans into space. But steely Commander Pirxa (Sergei Desnitsky) is having= none of it: he knows this isn=E2=80=99t about safety or cost effectiveness= , but rather about lining the pockets of big business. Determined to prove = the superiority of humanity, he agrees to pilot a test flight commanding a = crew made up of both humans and non-linears, without knowing which is which= =E2=80=94 but when disaster strikes, to which does the finger point? Adapt= ed from a story by Solaris author Stanislaw Lem (<em style=3D"box-sizing: i= nherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83809">Solaris</em>) by dire= ctor Marek Piestrak (an assistant to Roman Polanski on <em style=3D"bo= x-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83810">Rosemary= =E2=80=99s Baby</em>), <em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_= 16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83811">Test Pilot Pirxa</em> is a gripping s= pace adventure with a strong undercurrent of social criticism, and a premis= e that intriguingly anticipates <em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id= =3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83812">Blade Runner</em>. (And listen f= or the score by acclaimed classical composer Arvo P=C3=A4rt!)</div></div></= div></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-righ= t: auto; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; color:= rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue&quo= t;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1= _1529540029847_83813"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; fle= x-wrap: wrap; margin: 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83814"><d= iv style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 2em; positio= n: relative; max-width: 100%; width: 720px; margin: 1em auto 1.2em !importa= nt; padding-bottom: 0px !important;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_= 83815"><img src=3D"https://images.ctfassets.net/22n7d68fswlw/3466gikYfuq6gi= YQYqWQK4/5b2c129e544c2f8538c2788e5a8baaf0/Eolomea_2.jpg?w=3D960" style=3D"b= ox-sizing: inherit; vertical-align: middle; min-height: auto; width: 720px;= " id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83816" data-id=3D"71a9a81e-7ac7-f99= b-ca16-9d8096e05bb7"></div></div></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; m= argin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15= px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-se= rif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1= 6px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83817"></div><div style=3D"box-= sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px= ; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-famil= y: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-s= erif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83818"></div>= <div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; p= adding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 5= 1, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvet= ica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_152954002= 9847_83819"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_152= 9540029847_83820"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19= _1_1529540029847_83821"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin: 1.5em au= to; line-height: 2rem; font-size: 19px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; width: 720p= x; max-width: 100%;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83822"><span sty= le=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: bolder;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_15= 29540029847_83823"><em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19= _1_1529540029847_83824">Eolomea</em></span> (German Democratic Republi= c, 1972). When eight cargo ships disappear and the space station <em s= tyle=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83825">= Margot</em> suddenly enters radio silence, Prof. Maria Scholl (Cox Hab= bema) and the space council are forced to decree a flight ban for all space= ships leaving Earth until the cause of these events can be determined. Alon= g with embittered cosmonaut Capt. Lagny (Iwan Andonow), Scholl soon divines= that the disappearances have something to do with mysterious Morse code si= gnals emanating from the Cygnus constellation, which spell out the name =E2= =80=9CEOLOMEA=E2=80=9D =E2=80=94 and the fact that one of her colleagues se= ems to have had details of the disappearances before the news was made publ= ic is a sign that these events may not be random. A realistic look at a far= -from-utopian future filled with squabbling bureaucrats and isolated, alien= ated, blue-collar space-workers, <em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id= =3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83826">Eolomea</em> is an impressi= vely made, tightly paced sci-fi mystery that daringly experiments with a no= n-chronological narrative.</div></div></div></div><div style=3D"box-sizing:= inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px; paddi= ng-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Robo= to, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; f= ont-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83827"><div style=3D= "box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin: 0px;" id=3D"y= ui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83828"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; po= sition: relative; max-width: 100%; margin: 1em auto 1.2em !important; paddi= ng-bottom: 0px !important; width: 1280px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_15295400= 29847_83829"><img src=3D"https://images.ctfassets.net/22n7d68fswlw/6AP8e2Qw= KIg4AmGgYOAUqs/bf357205340e80aba406d59907bc36d0/Tothestars..2col.jpg?w=3D12= 00" style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; vertical-align: middle; min-height: auto;= width: 1110px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83830" data-id=3D"af= 02eb6d-e059-a43b-2ac7-a6d1a72a2bfc"></div></div></div><div style=3D"box-siz= ing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px; p= adding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: = Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-seri= f; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83831"></div><di= v style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padd= ing-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, = 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica= , Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_152954002984= 7_83832"></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin= -right: auto; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; c= olor: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neu= e", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_y= m19_1_1529540029847_83833"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_= 16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83834"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"= yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83835"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; m= argin: 1.5em auto; line-height: 2rem; font-size: 19px; letter-spacing: 0.02= em; width: 720px; max-width: 100%;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_8= 3836"><span style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: bolder;" id=3D"yui_3= _16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83837"><em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"= yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83838">To the Stars by Hard Ways</em></span= > (USSR, 1982). A Russian starship finds an abandoned and derelict ali= en space station drifting near Earth containing the decaying bodies of arti= ficial humanoid beings. The only surviving inhabitant is the beauteous Niya= (Yelena Metyolkina), who seeks the help of the earthlings to restore her s= everely polluted home planet of Dessa to its natural splendour. Divinely ca= mpy, with its abundance of space-age leisure-wear outfits, cosmic mercenari= es and bionic women (not to mention a midget capitalist who is responsible = for Dessa=E2=80=99s desecration), Richard Viktorov=E2=80=99s teen-targeted = space adventure is also visually ravishing and, in its own unique way, deep= ly affecting. Released in a shortened and dubbed version in the US under th= e title <em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_152= 9540029847_83839">Humanoid Woman</em> (and subjected to the <em s= tyle=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83840">= Mystery Science Theater 3000</em> treatment in that form), <em st= yle=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83841">T= o the Stars by Hard Ways</em> was carefully restored to its original v= ersion in 2001 by Viktorov=E2=80=99s son Nikolai, who had previously acted = in his dad=E2=80=99s kiddie sci-fi opus <em style=3D"box-sizing: inher= it;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83842">Moscow-Cassiopeia</em>&nb= sp;(see above).</div></div></div></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; m= argin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15= px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-se= rif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1= 6px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83843"><div style=3D"box-sizing= : inherit; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin: 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_y= m19_1_1529540029847_83844"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 14= px; line-height: 2em; position: relative; max-width: 100%; width: 720px; ma= rgin: 1em auto 1.2em !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important;" id=3D"yui= _3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83845"><img src=3D"https://images.ctfassets.ne= t/22n7d68fswlw/3Qa4zkYPpuK6CA44QEmcIO/cd3fc32e584e17263c6544aacdff3839/I_Ki= lled_Einstein.jpe?w=3D960" style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; vertical-align: mi= ddle; min-height: auto; width: 720px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_152954002984= 7_83846" data-id=3D"945db2cc-952f-d6db-4f09-ff1914ae5631"></div></div></div= ><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; = padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, = 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Helve= tica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_15295400= 29847_83847"></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; ma= rgin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140p= x; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica= Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16= _0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83848"></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; mar= gin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px= ; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-seri= f, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16p= x;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83849"><div style=3D"box-sizing: = inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83850"><div style=3D"box-si= zing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83851"><div style=3D"= box-sizing: inherit; margin: 1.5em auto; line-height: 2rem; font-size: 19px= ; letter-spacing: 0.02em; width: 720px; max-width: 100%;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_= ym19_1_1529540029847_83852"><span style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-weight= : bolder;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83853"><em style=3D"box-si= zing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83854">I Killed Einst= ein, Gentlemen</em></span> (Czechoslovakia, 1970). In the distant year= 1999, a group of terrorist physicists drop nuclear =E2=80=9CG-bombs=E2=80= =9D that render all women bearded and infertile (though still buxom) =E2=80= =94 a situation which is both scratchy and detrimental to the survival of t= he human race. So the world=E2=80=99s greatest scientific minds come up wit= h a foolproof plan: build a time machine, travel back to 1911 and kill Albe= rt Einstein before he can concoct the theories that paved the way for nucle= ar technology. Mishaps, hijinks and drastic alterations in the space-time c= ontinuum naturally ensue in Oldrich Lipsky=E2=80=99s hilariously lowbrow sc= i-fi comedy, which plays like <em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D= "yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83855">Sleeper</em>/<em style=3D"box-sizin= g: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83856">Bananas</em>-era = Woody Allen. Looking like a Czech version of Peter Sellers in <em styl= e=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83857">The= Mouse That Roared</em>, Jir=C3=AD Sov=C3=A1k makes for a fabulous comedic = lead.</div></div></div></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-left= : auto; margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-wi= dth: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "= ;Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id= =3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83858"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inheri= t; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin: 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_15= 29540029847_83859"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 14px; line= -height: 2em; position: relative; max-width: 100%; width: 720px; margin: 1e= m auto 1.2em !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_= ym19_1_1529540029847_83860"><img src=3D"https://images.ctfassets.net/22n7d6= 8fswlw/7GDMEZ9MVUEumQIkcaGKEG/5c72f87cb9573693c4be05ac091341c6/Jessie_2.jpg= ?w=3D960" style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; vertical-align: middle; min-height:= auto; width: 720px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83861" data-id= =3D"5edc5899-02ab-767c-ed07-b5d6377d984b"></div></div></div><div style=3D"b= ox-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-right: 1= 5px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-fa= mily: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, san= s-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83862"></d= iv><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto= ; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51= , 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Hel= vetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_152954= 0029847_83863"></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; = margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 114= 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helveti= ca Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_= 16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83864"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"= yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83865"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83866"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inhe= rit; margin: 1.5em auto; line-height: 2rem; font-size: 19px; letter-spacing= : 0.02em; width: 720px; max-width: 100%;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_152954002= 9847_83867"><span style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: bolder;" id=3D= "yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83868"><em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83869">Who Wants to Kill Jessie?</em>= </span> (Czechoslovakia, 1966). A husband-and-wife team of scientists = have been working on developing a dream manipulator which will supposedly p= roduce happier, more productive workers by exorcizing their bad dreams and = affording them a good night=E2=80=99s rest. However, it soon becomes clear = that the invention does not only banish dreams, but brings them out of the = dreamer=E2=80=99s mind into the real world =E2=80=94 which the husband disc= overs when he wakes from a comic book-inspired nightmare to find himself in= bed with blonde bombshell cartoon heroine Jessie (Olga Schoberova), who ha= s been pursued into the real world by the caped supervillain and gunslingin= g cowboy who want to kill her. V=C3=A1clav Vorl=C3=AD=C4=8Dek=E2=80=99s hil= arious, visually inventive postmodern comedy benefits considerably from the= casting of the stunning Schoberova, Czechoslovakia=E2=80=99s first <e= m style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_8387= 0">Playboy</em> model (from the epochal =E2=80=9CGirls from Behind the= Iron Curtain=E2=80=9D issue) and later the star of the Hammer Films potboi= ler <em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540= 029847_83871">The Vengeance of She</em>.</div></div></div></div><div style= =3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-rig= ht: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); fo= nt-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial= , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83872= "><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin= : 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83873"><div style=3D"box-sizi= ng: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 2em; position: relative; max-wid= th: 100%; width: 720px; margin: 1em auto 1.2em !important; padding-bottom: = 0px !important;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83874"><img src=3D"h= ttps://images.ctfassets.net/22n7d68fswlw/4YnyLBhrgkkWiGew2wwawY/8e157502a1d= b4e9276b5962e98a3b264/Silent_Star_3.jpg?w=3D960" style=3D"box-sizing: inher= it; vertical-align: middle; min-height: auto; width: 720px;" id=3D"yui_3_16= _0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83875" data-id=3D"033cb8bc-fa62-bb1d-d930-7b9ad7985= d9f"></div></div></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto= ; margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1= 140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helve= tica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_= 3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83876"></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;= margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15px; padding-left: = 15px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto, sans-= serif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size:= 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83877"></div><div style=3D"bo= x-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-right: 15= px; padding-left: 15px; max-width: 1140px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-fam= ily: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans= -serif; font-size: 16px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83878"><div= style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83879= "><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847= _83880"><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin: 1.5em auto; line-height:= 2rem; font-size: 19px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; width: 720px; max-width: 10= 0%;" dir=3D"ltr" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83881"><span style= =3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: bolder;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529= 540029847_83882"><em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1= _1529540029847_83883">The Silent Star</em> </span>(German Democratic R= epublic, 1960). In the year 2003, with communism having conquered the globe= and a new era of international peace, prosperity and cooperation secured, = engineers discover what appears to be an alien artifact in the Gobi Desert.= Scientists determine that the object is some kind of extraterrestrial flig= ht recorder, and a partial decoding of its contents indicate that it came f= rom a spaceship which originated from Venus. A multinational crew is sent t= o investigate the planet, where they find only the shattered remnants of an= extinct civilization, and evidence of a terrible catastrophe that could po= rtend doom for the Earth. Adapted from Stanislaw Lem=E2=80=99s first publis= hed novel and dramatically altered by Roger Corman for its US release (as&n= bsp;<em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_152954002984= 7_83884">First Spaceship on Venus</em>), <em style=3D"box-sizing: inhe= rit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83885">The Silent Star</em>&nbs= p;is a chilling cautionary tale of the dangers of technology run amok =E2= =80=94 and its vision of a future where all nations cooperate for the commo= n good establishes it as a kind of communist mirror image (and precursor) o= f the democratic utopia posited by <em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83886">Star Trek</em>.</div></div></d= iv></div></div></body></html> ------=_Part_606202_1049491946.1529625618137--