L'Étoile du silence

The amazing imaginative fiction author Stanislaw Lem wrote this visually stunning East German space exploration film with a dated but still thoughtful message. The Sets of Der Schweigende Stern are detailed and beautiful - giving the film an amazingly alien feel. The cinematography varies from excellent to mediocre, and the visual effects are cleverly done - relying on actual props and set devices as opposed to split screen and blue or green screen trick photography. Lem's plot is poignant and well-paced, but, unfortunately, most of the acting in this film is a bit difficult to watch. Finally, the overuse of voice-over narration in the early part of the film detracts from its otherwise good artistic and technical merit.

The story begins with the discovery that, in 1908, an extraterrestrial space vehicle crash landed on earth. An electronic recording from the ship is recovered and linguists set about trying to decode its message. An international team of scientists, astronauts and engineers who are scheduled to undertake a manned flight to Mars are then diverted to Venus to make contact with the Venusians. On the way, they decipher the electronic "cosmic document" and learn that the Venusians were planning to attack the earth using nuclear warheads. To venture further in the plot would involve spoilers.

This is a film full of mysteries, and a film of its time - near the height if the cold war. A powerful point concerning the proliferation of nuclear arms is well made in this film, though it is perhaps the only truly predictable aspect of the plot. Lem's plot heavy brand of highly imaginative science fiction is very dense reading and often carries similar ethical messages, but rarely translates well into visual media. This is a worthy effort, maintaining the slightly wild and surreal feel of Lem's aesthetics and yet driving forward the film's plot at an entertaining pace.

Recommended for Lem fans, serious sci-fi film fans, and those interested in the connection between film and the social history of ideas. Unfortunately for Der Schweigende Stern, the average movie fan won't be able to handle this one.

FIRST SPACESHIP ON VENUS (aka "The Silent Star") was a collaborative effort between film studios in East Germany and Poland and picked up by Crown-International Pictures for a 1962 US release. Far ahead of its time FSOV delivers the pacifist message in no uncertain terms. An international crew lands on the planet Venus to discover that a war has completely destroyed its inhabitants. Venusian landscapes are surrealistic and wonderous to behold and the spaceship itself gets my vote as the coolest cinematic craft of all time. The late Japanese/French actress and model Yoko Tani leads the cast and is fetching to look at and enjoy. Englewood Entertainment once again has delivered a flawless print of this film and is available in VHS or on DVD and is letterboxed at proper aspect ratio. The film is a bit slow even at its 78 minutes (originally it ran at 130 minutes!) This critic would love to see the uncut version someday. Superior sci-fi from the Eastern Bloc!

An artifact from the planet Venus is found buried on Earth, and scientists learn that the object is the log of an alien spacecraft which crashed. After attempts to contact the Venusian civilization are unsuccessful, a multi-national (and multi-racial) flight to Earth's sister planet is launched.

When the expedition arrives on Venus they find a dead world whose civilization has been destroyed by some kind catastrophe. The story contains good ideas, but the plot seems to race along with no regard for dramatic timing or narrative clarity, undoubtedly because of the thirty minutes of footage which were removed from the American version. The obvious dubbing is a major distraction, and the sound effects are garish and unappealing. For some reason, there are very few shots of the rocket traveling through space during the voyage. Generally speaking, the special effects run hot and cold.

The spaceship itself, however, is a beauty (both the interior and exterior), rivaling the best rockets for the 1950s. The little robot is memorable and well designed (it looks like a miniature tank).

The exterior shots of the strange Venusian surface are imaginative, with superimposed wisps of vapor constantly drifting past. Listen for several segments of music borrowed from "Destination Moon" and "This Island Earth".

European history always fascinated me nearly as much as early science fiction. This film stood out to me one day when I decided to watch a film, but couldn't quite decide on which one to watch. I was pleasantly surprised by an interesting plot and very nice effects for such a film. This was a rare as well, as the film is dubbed in different languages, and Polish is not an easy language to dub. I would say this film is definitely worth a watch on a rainy day. I wouldn't call it a Classic, but I would say go for it.

Rarely a rating was so unfair.At my time of writing,the film only gets a poor 4,1.Something has to be done,it's all the more revolting as the users generally wrote favorable reviews.

"Der schweigende Stern" is an adult responsible movie closer to "forbidden planet" or "planet of the apes" than to "close encounters of the third kind".Its special effects might seem laughable to some ;if the first part has not worn well,as far as these effects are concerned,the second one and Venus landscapes retain a strange charm.

But the main thing is somewhere else.The movie was made in 1960,when WW2 was not far behind.Culpability hangs over the whole work.After all,it's a German movie ,and hints at Hiroshima and the building of the bomb abound.Like Charton Heston and his mate riding along the sea,the astronauts will meet their fate on "der schweigende Stern",Venus.