Russian director Aleksei German’s final film breaks all the rules of science fiction in the best way possible. Drenched in filth, the visibly fetid array of characters that inhabit the planet Arkanar appear to exist in a perpetual state of delirium. Their history mimics that of Europe, with one exception: The Renaissance never occurred here, and the population remains stuck in the barbaric, and unspeakably unsanitary Middle Ages.
Dark times never saw the light. Thrown into this putrid environment, it’s only what we can glean from the sporadic voice-over and key lines of dialogue in , Russian director Aleksei German’s final film, that serve as insufficient tools to grasp where we are and why. A group of earthlings, all of them scientists, traveled from Earth to Arkanar but never revealed their origin to the locals.
In this society ruled by violent anti-intellectualism, “bookworms” or “wisemen” (anyone who knows how to read or write) are persecuted and executed. Their task is merely to observe and they are forbidden from interfering with their worldview or prompting enlightenment. Among those voyagers, Don Rumata (Leonid Yarmolnik) has attained a privileged position.
Those around him believe he is the human embodiment of a divine power and thus obey his will. Rumata, a charismatic bearded man, uses his untouchable status to try to prevent the killing of other men of science from Earth. Part of the self-constructed lore he tells his servants is that his holiness pr.
