Der Schweigende Sterne (1960 - GDR)
Put the silhouette of theatre seats behind you for a moment and look at this film. The Stasi may be watching as you look, so be sure to keep your heroic-realist faces on and applaud at the appropriate moments.Â
This episode features a version of this film edited for American release and titled âFirst Spaceship on Venusâ. The original title of the film, translated from German, is âThe Silent Starâ. We tend to prefer this title -- surely the ship from Venus that crashed, creating the Tunguska explosion, is the first spaceship on Venus. Or, perhaps the people of Venus made other spaceships before that one, in which case whichever one they built first was definitely the first spaceship on Venus.
Anyway, let us give you the Peopleâs Democratic Plot Summary. Weâve got some kind of rusty âspool,â found in the Gobi desert, and circumstantially linked to the mysterious Tunguska explosion. Some mumbling and hand-waving takes place and we, the audience, are assured that the Tunguska impactor must have been an alien spacecraft, and that it must have originated on our sister planet Venus. Naturally, an expedition is mounted post-haste.
On the way to Venus, the message within the spool is deciphered. We would have suggested deciphering the message before leaving, but of course they didnât consult us in planning this mission. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the message is one of doom and destruction: the details of a Cytherean war-plan for the extermination of all life on Earth. The crew debates turning back to warn the doomed Earth, but they determine that this would only incite panic and press on.
Of course, the message isnât deciphered until the expedition arrives at Venus, where some kind of interference conveniently disables any communication with Earth. It would be too easy if they could just call, you know, so a contrivance was needed. With the help of the least interesting robot you may ever see in a film, the surface exploration commences.
After the airing out of several tongues and the dispensation of great volumes of hot air, we finally arrive at another plot development: the peoples of Venus are all gone, annihilated by their own atomic weapons run amok. Along the way, we meet some kind of storage medium in the form of little robotic bugs, and some of our heroes flee up a tower from some kind of weird sludge. Rest assured, none of this is particularly interesting or spectacular.
At this point, with the danger to Earth apparently gone, another contrivance is needed. The doomsday device which was to irradiate the Earth is accidentally activated, a member of the crew is running out of air, and all sorts of contrived action suddenly takes place. The desperate plan to deactivate the doomsday machine is a success but it flings the ship back into space and away from Venus. By amazing coincidence, and definitely not yet another plot contrivance, this unplanned flinging sends the craft directly home to Earth. The stranded crew member and the man sent to rescue him are both abandoned to their fates.
Thatâs the price of progress and exploration, ostensibly. Itâs not enough to put a damper on the celebration as the ship returns to Earth. At the heroic return of our heroes, the film takes the time to hammer down on its rather contrived message: Nuclear bombs is bad, guys. Trite.
Youâd never know if it wasnât in the credits, but this film is ostensibly based on The Astronauts (Astronauci), an early novel by the legendary science fiction author StanisĆaw Lem (Solaris, The Cyberiad, Fiasco, Solaris, His Masterâs Voice, Solaris, and of course most notably Solaris. [Editorâs note: Read Solaris.])Â
It may not surprise you to learn that Mr. Lem was rather unimpressed with the final product. We are inclined to share his opinion.Â
Go read Solaris, my friends. Or, watch the film.
[Editorâs Note: If George Clooney is in it, thatâs the wrong film.]
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