L'Étoile du silence

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.

Recently shown at the Viennale Filmfestival, this movie (one of only five East German sci-fi films) was spoken of rather than of a trashy museal antique stuffed with communist ideology. I had thought it would be about the quality of Plan 9 from Outer Space, so I was surprised to discover that First Spaceship on Venus is not at all trashy! A lot of money seems to have been invested in the design of the mysterious landscape on venus and the spacecraft. The technical effects look highly professional!

As regards ideology, one can't make out more than a slightly pathetic call for peace in the world (which is perfectly agreeable, really) and a casual remark on how well Soviet astronomy is developed. The crew of the spaceship, though, includes an American and a Japanese as well, so it is openly international.

The moment the spacecraft starts, however, the science-fiction story stands in the foreground. It was written by Stanislaw Lem and is therefore quite interesting, shocking and full of suspense - another aspect I wouldn't have expected to get in a film like that. Of course, the acting is stiff, dialogues are reduced to a necessary minimum and the romantic element in the plot is too weak to be convincing. Probably, the screenwriters have removed most of the depth of Lem's original novel. Nevertheless, the whole film manages to evoke Kubrickesque feelings at times (note that it was made before 2001: A Space Odyssey!) and serves as an interesting historical document but also as good sci-fi fun on a Sunday afternoon.

In the late 50s Russia changed the world by launching Sputnik. This really was a shock; modern readers may not appreciate it as of the magnitude (in the US) of 9-11. In terms of national will, there was a more universal mobilization and commitment of resources than after 9-11, that's for sure.

Both the Russian and American space efforts were at root militarily motivated, but wrapped in more glorious notions or exploration. And both depended on "captured" Nazi scientists. At the time, East Germany was considered the most oppressed of all the communist clients, and the leaders there tried so very hard to establish itself as the center of the communist world for technology (which is how Germans see science).

East Germany as a region was cut out of the space program proper, something they wanted to change. So huge government monies went into this movie, including permissions to use Americanfilm stock and technology.

As it happens, this film proved enormously popular across the communist world and did have a profound effect on the Soviet space program. See my comments on "Planeta Bur" for that background.

The avowed goal was to show Germany as the leader and catalyst of a future international collaboration, peace led by a cleansed nation. So look what we have: a rock from the Gobi desert, a meteor from Siberia, a team mobilized for a trip — a team from all continents: American, African, several Asians. And a story from someone widely considered the father of modern science fiction, a sibling through Warsaw Pact.

It really is true that large fortunes, on the order of a trillion dollars, was swung in part by this film, money that could have eliminated all hunger and disease everywhere for generations.

But it has cinematic history as well. Was it the first one to open moving through a starfield as 3D points of light (with titles that recede ahead of us)? A totally fictitious effect that has become necessary since. Otherwise audiences won't think it "real."

The west already had "Forbidden Planet," of course, itself perhaps the most influential science fiction film in the west. In a way, the travel technology was incidental there and in fact the design of the rocket was V2-like. Here, matters of the technology of travel are central.

You have some shades of "Forbidden Planet:" a lost, powerful race. You have some by now staples: lava flows and meteor showers (even in "Star Wars"). There's an Orrery as a model of and control of the attack plan. The black man is less racistly portrayed than Americans would have. That's the point. But he still is the "don't worry, be happy" personality in the group.

They discover a geodesic dome on the planet. In the 60's this was an architectural icon of modern architecture. Interestingly, there is a wonderful sequence where the explorers come upon this thing and are amazed by it. They are talking to the space ship — cut to the interior of the space ship and what is the ceiling? Yup, a geodesic dome!

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

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".

Since this movie was covered fairly early on by the MST3000 crew (along with "Rocketship XM" and "King Dinosaur"), my initial perception of this movie was something on the lines of 'Ehhhh, pretty cheesy', although it was clearly one of the better films they covered. Undoubtedly I saw the chopped up 93 minute version, instead of the longer, more coherent original version mentioned by other reviewers.

However, I saw a standalone DVD edition on sale at a clearance store and picked it up for a couple of bucks on some obscure impulse, and one fine evening I gave it a spin.

You know...in spite of the dated message and foreign cultural references and the problematic dubbing and "Engrish" translations, "1st Spaceship To Venus" does have a certain quality about it that I've come to respect. There's a certain gravity and solemnity to the proceedings. There's a certain wildness and inventiveness to the art direction and the sound design. And while none of the actors here are going to win any awards (or even by remembered by American audiences), if you pay attention you will see humane, approachable performances (undercut by poor dubbing) that make the film much more watchable than glib junk like "Rocketship XM" or space flight oriented stuff out of the Roger Corman sausage factory.

When I first saw "1st Spaceship", I had the impression that it definitely had an East European vibe to it, and the only Slavic speculative fiction author I was familiar with was Stanislaw Lem (whose best known work is probably "Solaris", although my favorite piece is "Non Serviam"). Sure enough, this movie turns out to be based on a Lem piece from decades back. Lem's dispassionate, Kabbalistic voice and speech rhythms, and his gift for oddly moving plots and characters somehow survived the adaptation to film and the tiny budget and the "Engrish" translation, leaving a dignity and substance to the proceedings that many contemporary American sci fi flicks can't match.

No, this will never be anyone's first choice for a space opera shoot-em-up, but under the crappy dubbing and hacked-up editing, the sympathetic eye can see that there is some good work being done here. A good item to add to the collection of the sci fi completist and archivist.