Re: A Brief History of Soviet Sci-Fi
Glenn Erickson <[email protected]> Thu, 21 Jun 2018 17:13:09 -0700
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--Apple-Mail=_14DA7E4D-C022-4C10-8A79-606419F8F51A Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Thanks Dennis =E2=80=A6 I caught a couple of mistakes, but they're = minor, and all the illustrations are appealing -- Glenn > On Jun 21, 2018, at 5:00 PM, Dennis Fischer <[email protected]> = wrote: >=20 > A Brief History of Soviet Sci-fi > Exploring the wild and woolly futuristic visions from behind the Iron = Curtain >=20 > Richard Viktorov's TO THE STARS BY HARD WAYS > by Todd Brown > Oct 12, 2017 > = <https://twitter.com/intent/tweet/?text=3DA%20Brief%20History%20of%20Sovie= t%20Sci-fi&url=3Dhttp://www.tiff.net/the-review/a-brief-history-of-soviet-= sci-fi/index.html&via=3DTIFF_Net> = <http://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=3Dhttp://tiff.net/the-review/= a-brief-history-of-soviet-sci-fi/index.html&title=3DA%20Brief%20History%20= of%20Soviet%20Sci-fi> > While they are now regarded as singular masterpieces of world cinema, = Andrei Tarkovsky=E2=80=99s Solaris <http://www.tiff.net/films/solaris/> = and Stalker <http://www.tiff.net/films/stalker/> descended from a long = tradition of science-fiction filmmaking from behind the Iron Curtain =E2=80= =94 one that was heralded by the visually dazzling epic Aelita =E2=80=93 = Queen of Mars <http://www.tiff.net/films/aelita-queen-of-mars/> 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-fi. > The science-fiction tradition in the one-time Eastern Bloc was as rich = and varied as anywhere 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 comedies, hilariously cheesy space operas and grand = adventures. And while there are 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 below a broad range of Soviet-era = science fiction, a mix of acknowledged classics and outright pulp from = Russia, the former Czechoslovakia, Poland and Estonia. Bearded ladies, = post-apocalyptic wastelands, robot companions, vampire cars and = outbursts of random dancing await =E2=80=94 join us, comrades! >=20 > Moscow-Cassiopeia / Adolescents in the Universe (USSR, 1973-74). When = radio signals reach Earth from a planet in a far distant star system, = the starship Dawn is readied for immediate dispatch to search 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 brightest = schoolchildren be sent in place of adult cosmonauts, as they will reach = the planet in their prime of life. Moscow-Cassiopeia, 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 voyage, while Adolescents in the = Universe finds the kids arriving on the planet 27 years ahead of = schedule (due to a handy, if unintended, light-speed jump), where they = must confront an army of disco-styled robots who wish to bring about = happiness by stripping their human creators of all emotions. >=20 > Dead Mountaineer=E2=80=99s Hotel (Estonia, 1979). An anonymous phone = call brings taciturn police officer Inspector Peter Glebsky (Uldus = Pucitis) to a remote mountain inn. The colourful residents all deny = placing the call and insist that nothing is amiss, but after an = avalanche cuts the hotel off from the outside 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 Union, Grigori = Kromanov=E2=80=99s Dead Mountaineer=E2=80=99s Hotel (adapted from the = novel by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky, authors of the original story and = screenplay for Tarkovsky=E2=80=99s Stalker) is a sly sci-fi take on film = noir, with its gritty, hardnosed antihero pitted against otherworldly = forces that calls his stubborn realism into question. >=20 > Ferat Vampire (Czechoslovakia, 1982). Ambulance medic Dr. Marek = (Ji=C5=99=C3=AD Menzel, director of the classic Closely Watched Trains) = is shocked and dismayed when his beloved nurse and driver Mima (Dagmar = Ve=C5=A1krnov=C3=A1) is lured away to become a rally-car driver for car = 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 fuelled by the blood of its driver, and 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 The Cremator 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. >=20 > Golem (Poland, 1980). In a dark and foreboding future, a nuclear = apocalypse has left the population decimated, leading shadowy government = forces to embrace genetics research and cloning as a means to maintain = the population. Humble watch repairman Pernat is one such creation, a = manufactured man stumbling through life unaware of his own origins and = trying to make sense of his fragmentary memories. Strikingly surreal and = remarkably grim, Piotr Szulkin=E2=80=99s futuristic reimagining of the = classic 1914 novel by Gustav Meyrink posits a future that looks = disturbingly like 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, while omnipresent advertisements for sleeping pills = and plastic surgery takes satirical aim at the excesses of Western = consumer culture. >=20 > Ikarie XB-1 (Czechoslovakia, 1963). In the year 2163, the starship = Ikarie XB-1 sets 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 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 = greatest 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-edited by Roger Corman for its American release = (under the title Voyage to the End of the Universe), the original Ikarie = XB-1 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 dynamics rather than special effects. >=20 > In the Dust of the Stars (East Germany, 1976). In the course of a = six-year space voyage, a spaceship 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 taken 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. 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 discovers that the = planet is on the verge of a class war, as TEM-4=E2=80=99s original = inhabitants have been enslaved in the planet=E2=80=99s mines for eons. = Space travel is swingin=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 exploiting it to work in some trippy music and = T&A. >=20 > Planet of Storms (USSR, 1962). Re-edited and expanded by Roger Corman = into two different but equally trashy American release versions (Voyage = to the Prehistoric Planet and Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric = Women), the original Planet of Storms is a technical marvel and a = beautifully 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 remaining ships are forced to land on the uncharted planet and = improvise to complete their mission, with nearly disastrous results. = Directed by special-effects pioneer Pavel Klushantsev, Planet of = Stormshas everything you could ask of a vintage sci-fi flick: stoic = heroes, imminent peril, a bizarre, treacherous environment, a dash of = romance (courtesy the one female cosmonaut) and, just because they can, = a robot named John. Throw in volcanoes, carnivorous plants, lizard men = and a few dinosaurs, and you have the prototypical Soviet space opera. >=20 > Test Pilot Pirxa (Poland, 1979). Corporate interests want to replace = human space crews with lifelike robots (=E2=80=9Cfinite non-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? Adapted from a story by Solaris author Stanislaw Lem (Solaris) by = director Marek Piestrak (an assistant to Roman Polanski on Rosemary=E2=80=99= s Baby), Test Pilot Pirxa is a gripping space adventure with a strong = undercurrent of social criticism, and a premise that intriguingly = anticipates Blade Runner. (And listen for the score by acclaimed = classical composer Arvo P=C3=A4rt!) >=20 > Eolomea (German Democratic Republic, 1972). When eight cargo ships = disappear and the space station Margot suddenly enters radio silence, = Prof. Maria Scholl (Cox Habbema) and the space council are forced to = decree a flight ban for all spaceships leaving Earth until the cause of = these events can be determined. Along with embittered cosmonaut Capt. = Lagny (Iwan Andonow), Scholl soon divines that the disappearances have = something to do with mysterious Morse code signals 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 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 filled with squabbling bureaucrats and isolated, = alienated, blue-collar space-workers, Eolomea is an impressively made, = tightly paced sci-fi mystery that daringly experiments with a = non-chronological narrative. >=20 > To the Stars by Hard Ways (USSR, 1982). A Russian starship finds an = abandoned and derelict alien space station drifting near Earth = containing the decaying bodies of artificial humanoid beings. The only = surviving inhabitant is the beauteous Niya (Yelena Metyolkina), who = seeks the help of the earthlings to restore her severely polluted home = planet of Dessa to its natural splendour. Divinely campy, with its = abundance of space-age leisure-wear outfits, cosmic mercenaries 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, = deeply affecting. Released in a shortened and dubbed version in the US = under the title Humanoid Woman (and subjected to the Mystery Science = Theater 3000 treatment in that form), To the Stars by Hard Ways was = carefully restored to its original version in 2001 by Viktorov=E2=80=99s = son Nikolai, who had previously acted in his dad=E2=80=99s kiddie sci-fi = opus Moscow-Cassiopeia (see above). >=20 > I Killed Einstein, Gentlemen (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 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 continuum naturally ensue in Oldrich = Lipsky=E2=80=99s hilariously lowbrow sci-fi comedy, which plays like = Sleeper/Bananas-era Woody Allen. Looking like a Czech version of Peter = Sellers in The Mouse That Roared, Jir=C3=AD Sov=C3=A1k makes for a = fabulous comedic lead. >=20 > Who Wants to Kill Jessie? (Czechoslovakia, 1966). A husband-and-wife = team of scientists have been working on developing a dream manipulator = which will supposedly produce 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 discovers when he wakes from = a comic book-inspired nightmare to find himself in bed with blonde = bombshell cartoon heroine Jessie (Olga Schoberova), who has been pursued = into the real world by the caped supervillain and gunslinging cowboy 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 = casting of the stunning Schoberova, Czechoslovakia=E2=80=99s first = Playboy model (from the epochal =E2=80=9CGirls from Behind the Iron = Curtain=E2=80=9D issue) and later the star of the Hammer Films potboiler = The Vengeance of She. >=20 > The Silent Star (German Democratic Republic, 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 flight recorder, and a = partial decoding of its contents indicate that it came from a spaceship = which originated from Venus. A multinational crew is sent to investigate = the planet, where they find only the shattered remnants of an extinct = civilization, and evidence of a terrible catastrophe that could portend = doom for the Earth. Adapted from Stanislaw Lem=E2=80=99s first published = novel and dramatically altered by Roger Corman for its US release (as = First Spaceship on Venus), The Silent Star 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 common good establishes it as = a kind of communist mirror image (and precursor) of the democratic = utopia posited by Star Trek. --Apple-Mail=_14DA7E4D-C022-4C10-8A79-606419F8F51A Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8 <html><head><meta http-equiv=3D"Content-Type" content=3D"text/html = charset=3Dutf-8"></head><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; = -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" = class=3D"">Thanks Dennis =E2=80=A6 I caught a couple of mistakes, but = they're minor, and all the illustrations are appealing --<div = class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">Glenn</div><div = class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div class=3D""><br = class=3D""><div><blockquote type=3D"cite" class=3D""><div class=3D"">On = Jun 21, 2018, at 5:00 PM, Dennis Fischer <<a = href=3D"mailto:[email protected]" = class=3D"">[email protected]</a>> wrote:</div><br = class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=3D""><div class=3D""><div = style=3D"background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: 'Helvetica = Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" = class=3D""><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin: 25px auto 0px; = font-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, = Arial, sans-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" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-right: auto; 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" class=3D"">A Brief History = of Soviet Sci-fi</div></div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; 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_83669" class=3D""><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" = class=3D"">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: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica = Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83671" class=3D""><img = src=3D"https://images.ctfassets.net/22n7d68fswlw/4pt6SDY45a2AyWmkcG06qq/68= dbfc7a717f424f3d48d90d177c5f78/Tothestars..1col.jpg?w=3D1200" = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; vertical-align: middle; min-height: auto; = width: 1280px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83672" = data-id=3D"08df6bdc-2e3a-70a9-1f83-d5bbfee2d597" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 2em; = line-height: 2rem; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 0.02em; width: = 1280px; max-width: 100%; text-align: center; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); = padding-right: 8px; padding-left: 8px; background-image: initial; = background-position: initial; background-size: initial; = background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; = background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83673" class=3D"">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%; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica = Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83674" class=3D""><span = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83675" class=3D"">by</span><span = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 600; transition: 0.25s = ease-in-out;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83676" = class=3D""> <span style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83677" class=3D"">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" class=3D"">Oct 12, = 2017</div><div style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83679" class=3D""><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: inherit; outline-width: 0px; border: 1px solid = rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: none; background-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_83680" = class=3D""><span style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; = font-variant-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; transform: translate(0px, 0px);" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83681" class=3D""></span></a><a = href=3D"http://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=3Dhttp://tiff.net/the-= review/a-brief-history-of-soviet-sci-fi/index.html&title=3DA%20Brief%2= 0History%20of%20Soviet%20Sci-fi" style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; = outline-width: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: = none; background-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" class=3D""><span = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; = font-variant-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; transform: translate(0px, 0px);" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83683" = class=3D""></span></a></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_83684" class=3D""></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_83685" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83686" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83687" class=3D""><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_83688" class=3D""><em = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83689" class=3D"">While they are = now regarded as singular masterpieces of world cinema, Andrei = Tarkovsky=E2=80=99s</em> <a = href=3D"http://www.tiff.net/films/solaris/" 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_83690" = class=3D"">Solaris</a> <em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83691" class=3D"">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" = class=3D"">Stalker</a> <em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83693" class=3D"">descended from a = long tradition of science-fiction filmmaking from behind the Iron = 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-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_83694" = class=3D"">Aelita =E2=80=93 Queen of Mars</a> <em = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83695" class=3D"">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-fi</em>.</div><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_83696" = class=3D"">The science-fiction tradition in the one-time Eastern Bloc = was as rich and varied as anywhere 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 comedies, hilariously cheesy space = operas and grand adventures. And while there are 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=99= t completely pass the Soviet world by. We present below a broad range of = Soviet-era science fiction, a mix of acknowledged classics and outright = pulp from Russia, the former Czechoslovakia, Poland and Estonia. Bearded = ladies, post-apocalyptic wastelands, robot companions, vampire cars and = 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-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_83697" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin: = 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83698" class=3D""><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_1529540029847_83699" class=3D""><img = src=3D"https://images.ctfassets.net/22n7d68fswlw/5ubVk2wJhYyA84uo6qwY0e/1f= c865238f346ab99ae666faac45f8c8/Adolescents-1.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_83700" = data-id=3D"9e55a084-9ef2-111b-f56f-b47095151ee3" = class=3D""></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_83701" class=3D""></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_83702" class=3D""></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_83703" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83704" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83705" class=3D""><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_83706" class=3D""><span = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: bolder;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83707" class=3D""><em = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83708" = class=3D"">Moscow-Cassiopeia</em></span> / <span = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: bolder;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83709" class=3D""><em = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83710" class=3D"">Adolescents in = the Universe</em></span> (USSR, 1973-74). When radio signals reach = Earth from a planet in a far distant star system, the starship <em = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83711" class=3D"">Dawn</em> is = readied for immediate dispatch to search 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 brightest schoolchildren be sent = in place of adult cosmonauts, 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" = class=3D"">Moscow-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 voyage, while <em style=3D"box-sizing: = inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83713" = class=3D"">Adolescents in the Universe</em> finds the kids arriving = on the planet 27 years ahead of schedule (due to a handy, if unintended, = light-speed jump), where they must confront an army of disco-styled = robots who wish to bring about happiness by stripping their human = creators of all emotions.</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_83714" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin: = 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83715" class=3D""><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_1529540029847_83716" class=3D""><img = src=3D"https://images.ctfassets.net/22n7d68fswlw/e2ATAWAfWSKQeyIcYaceE/f52= 574957e17d0c3be0a023eb8692f59/HAH4.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_83717" = data-id=3D"faca1696-c49d-0459-4c04-de23f58264bd" = class=3D""></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_83718" class=3D""></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_83719" class=3D""></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_83720" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83721" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83722" class=3D""><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_83723" class=3D""><span = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: bolder;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83724" class=3D""><em = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83725" class=3D"">Dead = Mountaineer=E2=80=99s Hotel</em></span> (Estonia, 1979). An = anonymous phone call brings taciturn police officer Inspector Peter = Glebsky (Uldus Pucitis) to a remote mountain inn. The colourful = residents all deny placing the call and insist that nothing is amiss, = but after an avalanche cuts the hotel off from the outside 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 Union, = Grigori Kromanov=E2=80=99s <em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83726" class=3D"">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" class=3D"">Stalker</em>) is = a sly sci-fi take on film noir, with its gritty, hardnosed antihero = pitted against otherworldly forces that calls his stubborn realism into = question.</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_83728" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin: = 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83729" class=3D""><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_1529540029847_83730" class=3D""><img = src=3D"https://images.ctfassets.net/22n7d68fswlw/2m1Zgog1iUISue8uIW0aa8/19= 11fe42dde83614674eba2b3e53f42b/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_1529540029847_83731" = data-id=3D"bca61055-6122-984e-1bd7-b01814ee7e50" = class=3D""></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_83732" class=3D""></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_83733" class=3D""></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_83734" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83735" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83736" class=3D""><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_83737" class=3D""><span = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: bolder;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83738" class=3D""><em = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83739" class=3D"">Ferat = Vampire</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" class=3D"">Closely Watched = Trains</em>) is shocked and dismayed when his beloved nurse and driver = Mima (Dagmar Ve=C5=A1krnov=C3=A1) is lured away to become a rally-car = driver for car 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 fuelled by the blood of its driver, and 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 <em style=3D"box-sizing: = inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83741" class=3D"">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; 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_83742" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin: = 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83743" class=3D""><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_1529540029847_83744" class=3D""><img = src=3D"https://images.ctfassets.net/22n7d68fswlw/3dJn8uV6QU4gUgOmKyqMci/e3= e6ded4eca5d025609eae113f47989d/Golem_1.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_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-family: Roboto, sans-serif, "Helvetica = Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83746" class=3D""></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_83747" class=3D""></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_83748" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83749" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83750" class=3D""><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_83751" class=3D""><span = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: bolder;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83752" class=3D""><em = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83753" = class=3D"">Golem</em></span> (Poland, 1980). In a dark and = foreboding future, a nuclear apocalypse has left the population = decimated, leading shadowy government forces to embrace genetics = research and cloning as a means to maintain the population. Humble watch = repairman Pernat is one such creation, a manufactured man stumbling = through life unaware of his own origins and trying to make sense of his = fragmentary memories. Strikingly surreal and remarkably grim, Piotr = Szulkin=E2=80=99s futuristic reimagining of the classic 1914 novel by = Gustav Meyrink posits a future that looks disturbingly like 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, while = omnipresent advertisements for sleeping 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" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin: = 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83755" class=3D""><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_1529540029847_83756" class=3D""><img = src=3D"https://images.ctfassets.net/22n7d68fswlw/68E2XGfON2K8ScSsoOIyqk/60= 07141c99d72617502aaa28df0fd1f7/Ikarie_XB_1_02.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_83757" = data-id=3D"3cf01bc4-0f8c-33cc-999d-95c6da5be355" = class=3D""></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_83758" class=3D""></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_83759" class=3D""></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_83760" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83761" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83762" class=3D""><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_83763" class=3D""><span = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: bolder;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83764" class=3D""><em = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83765" class=3D"">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_83766" class=3D"">Ikarie = XB-1</em> sets 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 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 greatest 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-edited by Roger Corman for its American release = (under the title <em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83767" class=3D"">Voyage 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" class=3D"">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 dynamics rather than special = effects.</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_83769" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin: = 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83770" class=3D""><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_1529540029847_83771" class=3D""><img = src=3D"https://images.ctfassets.net/22n7d68fswlw/4SKiRKIs5iMKqIiyU640A8/98= 692e31bd71c56cfc4f4460f384e795/Im_Staub_der_Sterne_PROGRESS_Foto_Heinz_Puf= ahl__3_.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_83772" = data-id=3D"e469cc50-3cb0-69ac-d954-34dd91d99975" = class=3D""></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_83773" class=3D""></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_83774" class=3D""></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_83775" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83776" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83777" class=3D""><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_83778" class=3D""><span = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: bolder;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83779" class=3D""><em = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83780" class=3D"">In the Dust of = the Stars</em></span> (East Germany, 1976). In the course of a = six-year space voyage, a spaceship 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 taken 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. 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 discovers that the = planet is on the verge of a class war, as TEM-4=E2=80=99s original = inhabitants have been enslaved in the planet=E2=80=99s mines for eons. = Space travel is swingin=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 exploiting it to work in some trippy music and = T&A.</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_83781" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin: = 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83782" class=3D""><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_1529540029847_83783" class=3D""><img = src=3D"https://images.ctfassets.net/22n7d68fswlw/2fLqRgy2UAo8Su2ic02Oe4/45= 2c9e51a1dea63fdb109347a71a4736/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"9d23a118-9244-2670-8646-0693b1e2eb8e" = class=3D""></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_83785" class=3D""></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_83786" class=3D""></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_83787" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83788" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83789" class=3D""><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_83790" class=3D""><span = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: bolder;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83791" class=3D""><em = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83792" class=3D"">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_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83793" class=3D"">Voyage to the = Prehistoric Planet</em> and <em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83794" class=3D"">Voyage to the = Planet of Prehistoric Women</em>), the original <em = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83795" class=3D"">Planet of = Storms</em> is a technical marvel and a beautifully 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 remaining ships are = forced to land on the uncharted planet and improvise to complete their = mission, with nearly disastrous results. Directed by special-effects = pioneer Pavel Klushantsev, <em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83796" class=3D"">Planet of = Storms</em>has everything you could ask of a vintage sci-fi flick: stoic = heroes, imminent peril, a bizarre, treacherous environment, a dash of = romance (courtesy the one female cosmonaut) and, just because they can, = a robot named John. Throw in volcanoes, carnivorous plants, lizard men = and a few dinosaurs, and you have the prototypical Soviet space = opera.</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_83797" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin: = 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83798" class=3D""><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_1529540029847_83799" class=3D""><img = src=3D"https://images.ctfassets.net/22n7d68fswlw/5VrjojYKC48QWCuke2ugY2/1b= ca1b910c824330511825ca15b041fc/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-09c1b087ed10" = class=3D""></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_83801" class=3D""></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_83802" class=3D""></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_83803" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83804" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83805" class=3D""><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_83806" class=3D""><span = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: bolder;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83807" class=3D""><em = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83808" class=3D"">Test Pilot = Pirxa</em></span> (Poland, 1979). Corporate interests want to = replace human space crews with lifelike robots (=E2=80=9Cfinite = non-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? Adapted from a story by Solaris author = Stanislaw Lem (<em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83809" class=3D"">Solaris</em>) by = director Marek Piestrak (an assistant to Roman Polanski on <em = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83810" class=3D"">Rosemary=E2=80=99s= Baby</em>), <em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83811" class=3D"">Test Pilot = Pirxa</em> is a gripping space adventure with a strong undercurrent = of social criticism, and a premise that intriguingly = anticipates <em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83812" class=3D"">Blade = Runner</em>. (And listen for the score by acclaimed classical composer = Arvo P=C3=A4rt!)</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_83813" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin: = 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83814" class=3D""><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_1529540029847_83815" class=3D""><img = src=3D"https://images.ctfassets.net/22n7d68fswlw/3466gikYfuq6giYQYqWQK4/5b= 2c129e544c2f8538c2788e5a8baaf0/Eolomea_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_83816" = data-id=3D"71a9a81e-7ac7-f99b-ca16-9d8096e05bb7" = class=3D""></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_83817" class=3D""></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_83818" class=3D""></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_83819" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83820" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83821" class=3D""><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_83822" class=3D""><span = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: bolder;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83823" class=3D""><em = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83824" = class=3D"">Eolomea</em></span> (German Democratic Republic, 1972). = When eight cargo ships disappear and the space station <em = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83825" = class=3D"">Margot</em> suddenly enters radio silence, Prof. Maria = Scholl (Cox Habbema) and the space council are forced to decree a flight = ban for all spaceships leaving Earth until the cause of these events can = be determined. Along with embittered cosmonaut Capt. Lagny (Iwan = Andonow), Scholl soon divines that the disappearances have something to = do with mysterious Morse code signals 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 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 = filled with squabbling bureaucrats and isolated, alienated, blue-collar = space-workers, <em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83826" = class=3D"">Eolomea</em> is an impressively made, tightly paced = sci-fi mystery that daringly experiments with a non-chronological = narrative.</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_83827" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin: = 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83828" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; position: relative; max-width: 100%; = margin: 1em auto 1.2em !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; = width: 1280px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83829" = class=3D""><img = src=3D"https://images.ctfassets.net/22n7d68fswlw/6AP8e2QwKIg4AmGgYOAUqs/bf= 357205340e80aba406d59907bc36d0/Tothestars..2col.jpg?w=3D1200" = 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"af02eb6d-e059-a43b-2ac7-a6d1a72a2bfc" = class=3D""></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_83831" class=3D""></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_83832" class=3D""></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_83833" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83834" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83835" class=3D""><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_83836" class=3D""><span = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: bolder;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83837" class=3D""><em = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83838" class=3D"">To the Stars by = Hard Ways</em></span> (USSR, 1982). A Russian starship finds an = abandoned and derelict alien space station drifting near Earth = containing the decaying bodies of artificial humanoid beings. The only = surviving inhabitant is the beauteous Niya (Yelena Metyolkina), who = seeks the help of the earthlings to restore her severely polluted home = planet of Dessa to its natural splendour. Divinely campy, with its = abundance of space-age leisure-wear outfits, cosmic mercenaries 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, = deeply affecting. Released in a shortened and dubbed version in the US = under the title <em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83839" class=3D"">Humanoid = Woman</em> (and subjected to the <em style=3D"box-sizing: = inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83840" class=3D"">Mystery = Science Theater 3000</em> treatment in that form), <em = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83841" class=3D"">To the Stars by = Hard Ways</em> was carefully restored to its original version 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: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83842" = class=3D"">Moscow-Cassiopeia</em> (see = above).</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_83843" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin: = 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83844" class=3D""><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_1529540029847_83845" class=3D""><img = src=3D"https://images.ctfassets.net/22n7d68fswlw/3Qa4zkYPpuK6CA44QEmcIO/cd= 3fc32e584e17263c6544aacdff3839/I_Killed_Einstein.jpe?w=3D960" = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; vertical-align: middle; min-height: auto; = width: 720px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83846" = data-id=3D"945db2cc-952f-d6db-4f09-ff1914ae5631" = class=3D""></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_83847" class=3D""></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_83848" class=3D""></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_83849" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83850" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83851" class=3D""><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" class=3D""><span = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: bolder;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83853" class=3D""><em = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83854" class=3D"">I Killed = Einstein, 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 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 continuum naturally = ensue in Oldrich Lipsky=E2=80=99s hilariously lowbrow sci-fi comedy, = which plays like <em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83855" class=3D"">Sleeper</em>/<em = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83856" class=3D"">Bananas</em>-era = Woody Allen. Looking like a Czech version of Peter Sellers in <em = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83857" class=3D"">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-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_83858" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin: = 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83859" class=3D""><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_1529540029847_83860" class=3D""><img = src=3D"https://images.ctfassets.net/22n7d68fswlw/7GDMEZ9MVUEumQIkcaGKEG/5c= 72f87cb9573693c4be05ac091341c6/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" = class=3D""></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_83862" class=3D""></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_83863" class=3D""></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_83864" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83865" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83866" class=3D""><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_83867" class=3D""><span = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: bolder;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83868" class=3D""><em = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83869" class=3D"">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 produce 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 discovers when he wakes from = a comic book-inspired nightmare to find himself in bed with blonde = bombshell cartoon heroine Jessie (Olga Schoberova), who has been pursued = into the real world by the caped supervillain and gunslinging cowboy 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 = casting of the stunning Schoberova, Czechoslovakia=E2=80=99s = first <em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83870" = class=3D"">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 potboiler <em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83871" class=3D"">The Vengeance of = She</em>.</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_83872" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin: = 0px;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83873" class=3D""><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_1529540029847_83874" class=3D""><img = src=3D"https://images.ctfassets.net/22n7d68fswlw/4YnyLBhrgkkWiGew2wwawY/8e= 157502a1db4e9276b5962e98a3b264/Silent_Star_3.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_83875" = data-id=3D"033cb8bc-fa62-bb1d-d930-7b9ad7985d9f" = class=3D""></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_83876" class=3D""></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" class=3D""></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_83878" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83879" class=3D""><div = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83880" class=3D""><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%;" = dir=3D"ltr" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83881" class=3D""><span = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: bolder;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83882" class=3D""><em = style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83883" class=3D"">The Silent = Star</em> </span>(German Democratic Republic, 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 = flight recorder, and a partial decoding of its contents indicate that it = came from a spaceship which originated from Venus. A multinational crew = is sent to investigate the planet, where they find only the shattered = remnants of an extinct civilization, and evidence of a terrible = catastrophe that could portend doom for the Earth. Adapted from = Stanislaw Lem=E2=80=99s first published novel and dramatically altered = by Roger Corman for its US release (as <em style=3D"box-sizing: = inherit;" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83884" class=3D"">First = Spaceship on Venus</em>), <em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83885" class=3D"">The Silent = Star</em> 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 common good establishes it as a kind of = communist mirror image (and precursor) of the democratic utopia posited = by <em style=3D"box-sizing: inherit;" = id=3D"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1529540029847_83886" class=3D"">Star = Trek</em>.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote></div><br= class=3D""></div></body></html>= --Apple-Mail=_14DA7E4D-C022-4C10-8A79-606419F8F51A--