Ijon Tichy: Raumpilot

Poland has one big contribution to science fiction literature, and he is Stanislaw Lem. Most known for Solaris, Lem has also written many other standing contributions to science fiction: Indestructible, His Master's Voice and Cyberiad come to mind. And then there are the adventures of space pilot Ijon Tichy.

Lem's Ijon Tichy short story collection Star Diaries and full-length novels The Futurological Congress and Peace on Earth are good examples of sci-fi at its best: they are thought-provoking, clever, and most of the time brilliantly funny. You've really not read a time travel story before you get to meet more Ijon Tichys from different days than you can count, arguing and fighting over who has to do what to save himself/themselves from a time vortex. And schizophrenia pales aside an Ijon Tichy who finds his left side of the body battling the right side because his brain halves have been separated. Et cetera, et cetera.

"Ijon Tichy: Raumpilot" (Space Pilot Ijon Tichy) is a short TV series loosely based on Lem's original Ijon Tichy space adventures. All in all, the Ijon Tichy novels provide lots of good source material for a TV series. The good news is that all this insanity has been quite nicely transferred to the little screen with "Ijon Tichy: Raumpilot". Sure, there are many shortcuts as the episode length is only 15 minutes (and thats the bad news: not enough of it). On the other hand, the episodes are compact and the obviously low budget has been offset with extensive CGI usage, hilarious aliens, fast pace, and, perhaps above all, good direction and deadpan acting.

The only real problem as I am writing this is that it seems to be impossible to get one's hands on non-German language versions (I mean subtitled, not dubbed, which should be defined a crime against humanity). However, if you speak even tourist Deutsch, have a look at this series. You cannot lose more than a few euros and six times fifteen minutes of your time.

To the makers of this series: please make more. And subtitle it in at least English. If the quality remains, I promise to buy it all. You know as well as I do that The Stanislaw Lem Ijon Tichy Well(tm) isn't nearly dry yet.

Ijon Tichy: Raumpilot is a German series based on the novels of Stanislaw Lem (The Star Diaries). If you liked 'The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy' then you will probably like this. Unlike boring old, finger wagging, formulaic 'Star Trek: The Next Generation,' this series simply ignores the laws of physics if they get in the way of the plot. In the Tichy world no one needs to have their style cramped by an unflattering space suit, you just ban the vacuum of space altogether and go outside in your vest. Remember those living room door handles they used to put on spaceship airlocks in early Dr Who episodes? The interior of this ship is basically a student bedsit complete with a deckchair for the captain and an ordinary glazed window for a viewing screen. Picard wouldn't have put up with that. The stories are imaginative, the aliens comical, and the whole thing zips along nicely to a catchy theme tune. I think Stanislaw would have been pleased.

Do you really want to watch Picard constantly swanning around the cosmos telling all the locals how great the human race is whilst secretly counting up his tax payer funded Star Fleet pension, or would you rather give the job to a friendly chap in a vest who would make them a nice omelette (not the chicken based lifeforms obviously)?

Series one episodes are fifteen minutes long and the second series are twenty four minutes. The whole thing is in German with English subtitles but don't let that put you off, it is worth it.

As a big fan of Polish sci-fi author Stanlislaw Lem, I was eager to see this series, but apprehensive; I was not impressed with either version of Solaris, since both went for the romance and ignored the truly mind-bending natural phenomena described in Lem's novel. To do Lem, a filmmaker needs to really "go big"...or go small, as happens here, with a delightful take on Lem's satirical stories about space pilot Ijon Tichy.

The filmmaker/star has done a brilliant job of capturing Lem's humor, as well as the Polish/Eastern Bloc "thing" that gives his work an extra dimension. The actor's own (rather shabby) apartment is the rocket interior; a coffee-maker serves as the rocket ship; and amazing things are done with cheese graters, canister vacuum cleaners, and many other odds and ends. Does this sound cheesy? Yes, but it's also surprisingly sophisticated and wonderfully creative and colorful. Who knew space travel, time loops, and holographic companions could be so much fun?

English subtitles are out there, and they are pretty good. See more info in the Message Threads for this movie.