Incannerax What a waste of my time!!!

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

mraculeated The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Tayyab Torres Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

funkyfry I was always looking forward to seeing this, because I love classic science fiction in general, and I also enjoyed the original book by Aleksei Tolstoy. Unfortunately, they messed up his story in the worst way, removing all the vague criticism of the revolutionary urge, and actually turning the bulk of his book into a dream sequence.Most of the film has nothing to do with science fiction..... the entire first half is setting up 3 characters who have nothing to do with each other until we are well into the final half of the film. The direction is tedious, mostly in medium long shots. The "Queen of Mars", who in the book was supposed to be the most beautiful woman in the universe, looks like a teenage boy.At the worst possible point, the film devolves into Soviet propaganda, complete with burning letters for the date of their revolution 10/25/17 and a hammer and sickle. I guess the Soviet government thought that this film would be popular abroad because of the sci-fi and the effects, and that it would indoctrinate people in their revolutionary ideas. But there are basically no ideas here, except that the workers on Mars have to wear boxes on their heads and live underground. The effects are not very impressive compared to what Lang was doing at UFA.There are some interesting design elements in the costumes, but that's about it as far as any kind of retro sci-fi appeal. The story is painfully ludicrous.... we're expected to feel sympathy for the hero's girlfriend, because she just can't resist the pleasures of pre-revolutionary Russia (like chocolate and waltzing). At the end, the hero burns his plans for a spaceship, because "we have more important work to do here" (hello.... Sputnik?). I'm sure a lot of fellow travelers felt quite that way about Protazanov's bulky film.

pontifikator Yakov ProtazanovDirected by Yakov Protazanov, who led an interesting life, when interesting lives meant death. Protazanov directed many films from 1911 through 1918, and was acclaimed by many as a genius. Some background in Soviet history helps set the scene for "Aelita." It was in a series of revolts in 1917 that the Tsars were overthrown and replaced by a provisional government. The Tsarist army had suffered setbacks and losses in World War I, and it was not capable of supporting the Tsar. The Tsar was deposed in February of 1917. (Or March. The tsars used the Gregorian calendar, and the soviets used the Julian calendar.)The October Revolution is usually dated to have occurred on October 25, 1917, a date you will see emblazoned in fire during the screening of "Aelita." The October Revolution overthrew the Russian Provisional Government which was set in place following the February Revolution. (The western world may know the October Revolution as the Bolshevik Revolution.) During the years from about 1918 through 1922, there was continual combat in the country as the White Russian army fought the Bolsheviks for power and control of the country. This is referred to as the Russian Civil War, and it led to the formation of the Soviet Union.It was during the period of the Russian Civil War that Protazanov was exiled or self-exiled, depending on who tells the tale, in Europe. He was persuaded to return to the new Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1923, and he directed "Aelita: Queen of Mars" which is probably the first soviet movie and may be the first soviet science fiction film as well. "Aelita" is a propaganda film, as all good soviet films are. However, it shows us life in the Soviet Union rather starkly, and it recounts life there as a struggle not only to survive but to be good communists as well. I'm somewhat surprised at the reality of life shown: abject poverty, horrible crowding and population dislocation, state control of who lives in your house (even in what rooms), rationing, and the like. I think part of the purpose of "Aelita" is to warn state bureaucrats not to turn to corruption, as a corrupt official is shown being investigated for his crimes.I would say the foundation of "Aelita" is showing the daily lives of regular people after the Russian Civil War as they try to rebuild the country into the Soviet Union, as seen by Lenin and the Communist Party. One of the regular people is named Los or Loss, depending on the translation of Лось, who is an engineer. Los daydreams of space travel, and his co-workers put up with him good-naturedly. A radio broadcast is received throughout the world with a cryptic message, and Los foolishly believes it's a transmission from Mars. He fantasizes about building a rocket ship and going to Mars, and he fantasizes what Martians are like. Meanwhile, back on earth, his wife works at what is referred to as a check point, processing travelers who are going from nowhere to another nowhere on crowded trains at crowded stations. A party bureaucrat is put into the home where Los and his wife live. The bureaucrat sweet talks Mrs. Los, and the engineer gets jealous. His fantasies of Mars include fantastic sets and fantastic costumes, with an attractive Queen of Mars who wears a fantasy top which seems to support three breasts. In his fantasy, the queen can see earth and in fact sees him and is intrigued. However, although she reigns, she does not rule, and she is ordered to stop spying on earth. After many, many twists and turns of plot, our hero finally takes off from earth and lands on Mars, where he leads a revolution.One of the faults of "Aelita" is its many subplots, and they take up a significant amount of time, leading to a movie that nears two hours in length. The Martian fantasies take up a very small portion of the movie, so I'm not willing to call it truly a sci-fi movie, but the alien life is certainly a major plot point. The thrust of "Aelita" is that the soviet life-style is best on earth and off and that we should stop our daydreaming and get some real work done. The Martian segments are metaphorically about life under the tsars with literal throwing off of chains and escape from serfdom.The propaganda is there, but it's not heavy handed. The movie is too long, too convoluted with subplots, but it remains interesting as a picture of life after the Russian Civil War. Nikolai Tsereteli is Los, Yuliya Solntseva plays the queen of his dreams, and Valentina Kuindzhi plays Natasha Los, his wife in the all too real world of 1924 Soviet Union. As an aside, although the movie took place over the course of a year, the city where the action occurred remained bitterly cold and snow-covered through out the movie. The Martian sets and costumes get some kidding today, so you may find it worthwhile to watch and compare to "Metropolis," "Buck Rogers" (the Buster Crabbe version), and maybe "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari."

FerdinandVonGalitzien The Old U.S.S.R. was quite a bizarre country; aristocratic balls were illegal and so was private property. This Herr Graf, for example, had to suffer the indignity of sharing the hundreds of empty rooms at the Schloss with homeless people. What's more, the caviar was rationed out-and even the commoners got their share.So the fact that a Bolshevist engineer has the dream to travel to Mars after having received a mysterious and coded message from outer space was not at all strange to this Herr Graf. It was not even a surprise that this dream comes true."Aelita" (1924) ,directed by Herr Yakov Protazanov, was the U.S.S.R.'s first science-fiction film and was a notable success and became known even beyond the frontiers of Russia. Even after all these years, the oeuvre maintains its singularity, artistic qualities and its weirdness.Obviously the film surprises the audience, especially with the Mars futurist part. This is skilfully intertwined with a parallel story of a Bolshevist couple whose relationship is endangered by jealousy and suspicion. Even the queen of Mars, Aelita (Frau Yuliya Solntseva) will get involved as she falls desperately in love with the Terrestrial Bolshevist, our hero, the engineer Losi ( Herr Nikolai Tsereteli ). The engineer dreams of travelings to Mars partly as a way of dealing with his earthly problems but, more importantly, to export the October revolution beyond the small confines of earth. Thus, the red planet must become truly red.The part of the film set in Mars astonishes even a German count with its particular costumes and sets, designed by Frau Alexandra Exter and Herr Isaac Rabinovich ( this Herr Von must add that Herr Protazanov's cinematographic background was influenced by European early avant-garde; he worked in Germany and France before the Bolshevists asked him to return to Russia) . This gives the film a suitably bizarre and fascinating atmosphere that is most appropriate for such an unusual story.It must be said that the film isn't all absurdity, extravagance and propaganda delirium. As this German count said before, the film combines science-fiction with a down to earth story that reflects the daily hardships of the Moscow citizens trying to make a living at the beginning of the 20's. There is also some humor about people feeling nostalgic for the old regime and who are not quite accepting of the new order. The character of Kratsov (Herr Igor Illynksy), an amateur investigator, adds a bit of humor and brightness. Overall, the film is a successful combination of realism, comedy and science fiction; surely, one doesn't expect all this from those rude Bolsheviks.And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must return to the aristocratic earthly world.Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com

bookbeat-1 Although it gets billed as a front for Soviet propaganda, this film seems to be outstanding in relationship to the time it wasmade and its phenomenal use of set design and productionvalues. As just a piece of visual decoration it stands as a faradvanced futuristic film in comparison to that red hot-pantsjunker METROPOLIS -- which owes a deeper, (or at least equal)debt to Russian constructivist design then to its GermanExpressionist roots. AELITA is one of the most seductive andrich films in silent cinema --if you can get past the deadendstoryline and plot development--which should never interruptWATCHING a film.