User reviews

Recently, Aleski German's adaptation of Hard to be a God, a science fiction novel by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, hit DVD and Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Video. Meanwhile, the first adaptation of the novel has remained obscure and hard to see.

For those unfamiliar with the novel or its adaptations, the story concerns a planet similar to Earth that is undergoing its own version of the middle-ages. A group of scientists from Earth are studying the planet. To do so, they are living among the people as if they were natives. The scientists are to remain objective, interacting enough with the King and his court to keep up appearances but not enough to upset the time period. When Don Reba, a rising lord, tries to seize power with the help of the church, one scientist finds it hard to remain objective.

The novel's two film adaptations take very different routes. Aleski German's 2013 adaptation is an art film very concerned with its ambiance. It places the viewer in an unknown world and forces him to decipher it, much like a scientist. This results in a unique, visually striking film but also an often inaccessible motion picture. On the other hand, director Peter Fleischmann's 1989 adaptation is a far more viewer friendly film. It sets up its story and characters in a traditional and easy to follow way. The viewer does not need to be familiar with the source novel to understand the film (something not always true of the Aleski German adaptation). The downside of this approach is that Fleischmann's film seems merely ordinary, unremarkable.

Fleischmann's adaptation follows the Strugatsky novel fairly closely. I don't remember the peasant revolt taking up so much space, and it certainly didn't play into the climax. I was disappointed by this ending because the scientist Rumata never loses himself in the violence the way he does in the novel. An optimism shines through the ending of Fleischmann's Hard to be a God that is absent from both the Strugatsky and Aleski German versions.

Another point of contention is that while the Aleski German adaptation seems timeless, Fleischmann's film shows its era. The desert look and stone walled castles remind one of other fantasy films from that decade (Krull; Hundra). The hero in his white wig calls to mind Connor MacLeod in the Scottish scenes from the first Highlander movie. Finally, the 1989 film has an ill-advised ending theme song (in English) whose chorus bears a passing resemblance to Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is."

Nonetheless, the Peter Fleischmann film is a fair adaptation of the source novel. Fans of the book should be modestly satisfied. Finally,it should be noted that film director Werner Herzog appears at the beginning of the film playing an imprisoned scientist.

Although I agree with the impression of the previous commentator, I have several complaints. 1990 is not "a few years after the cold war" and in 1990 it was not "new Russia". This is exactly what makes this film great. It would have been only possible to make such a "gem" of a film during the existence of USSR. Especially, since this is an adaptation of Soviet Union's "domestic" science fiction writers, the Strugatsky brothers. I am just discovering the great works of Russian and Soviet science fiction (incidentally at the same time as the "American" Isaac Asimov). Years after I have enjoyed "Star Trek: The next Generation" TV-series. Although "Star Trek:TNG" raises similar questions through "The Prime Directive", "Trudno Byt' Bogom" is a full-length film and allows a deeper analysis of the question. But the book is certainly deeper.

A great European movie, nothing like the Hollywood stereotypes. A few years after the cold war made by people from France and west-Germany and the new Russia. So it has some kind of "pilot character" and is charming. The very famous Strugatzky brothers, well known for their inspiration for "Stalker" by A. Tarkovsky, wrote the book to this movie. (Of course the book is even better). Post-modern people, with possibilities like God confronted with the dark-ages and the moral fight, better than ever seen in Star Trek, that's the stuff the film made with. Just look it and enjoy it, it's far away from main stream. Warning: in the uncut version is more blood and violence than usual for an European movie and even more than a "Schwarzenegger-stealed" watcher would expect.

It's like a materialist version of David Lynch's Dune crossed with an episode of Star Trek TNG. The ideas at play in this film are wonderfully powerful. The more recently released version of this film is a choppy mess that fails to attain a coherent plot. By focusing on telling a story rather than pioneering a pointless visual style, the 1989 version manages to get the point across without sacrificing character. Locations are fairly bland but also excellent choices for this story. It's a sword-and-spaceship epic with important social and political messages. I would highly recommend watching this film whether or not you enjoyed Aleksei German's film of the same English title.