Budapest Classic Film Marathon 2024: Hard to Be a God

Director: Peter Fleischmann

Written by Arkadiy and Boris Strugatskiy
Screenplay by Jean-Claude Carrière, Pierre Christin, Peter Fleischmann, Dal Orlov
Director of photography: Jerzy Goscik, Pavel Lebeshev, Klaus Müller-Laue
Music by Jürgen Fritz
Cast: Edward Zentara, Aleksandr Filippenko, Hugues Quester

Future of the Past

Introdution: Stephanie Plappert, Exhibitions Curator at DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum (Frankfurt)

Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, the masters of Soviet sci-fi, wrote the original novel that demonstrates with unyielding honesty how thin the line between civilization and barbarism really is. Set in the distant 22nd century, humans dispatch scientific observers to another planet where medieval conditions still prevail. The researchers, including skilled swordsman Rumata, study how society develops amidst natural conditions. But can they truly refrain from interfering? It says a lot about the role of the genre that the name of one of the characters in the novel had to be changed before publication because it happened to be an anagram of Beria, the name of the feared head of Soviet state security.

Supporting film: Fight (6)
Hungarian animation, bw, 1977, dir: Marcell Jankovics, No dialogue, 3’

More information on the Budapest Classic Film Marathon's program at Uránia >>