Kin-Dza-Dza

Title: Kin-Dza-Dza (Кин-Дза-Дза - original Russian title)
Rating: 4/5
Genre: Sci-Fi, Comedy
Director: Georgi Daneliya
Starring: Stanislav Lyubshin, Levan Gabriadze
Language: Russian
Release Date: 1986

Now let me be the first to admit whenever I think of Russia, it is the stereotyped portrayal of them so often seen in Western cinema that comes to mind first; cold and stern faced, deadly serious and they wouldn’t think twice about shooting you if you gave them an odd look. Comedy is quite far down the list of attributes, and yet this little known gem released from Soviet (communist) Russia succeeds in creating a satirical look of culture, garnering amusement from going from to ridiculous lengths to make their point, but unlike the likes of “Airplane” or “Top Secret,” it does indeed have one beyond simple satire. Surrounded by one of the earliest examples of a cyberpunk world put to film, this is a story of extreme racism and capitalism gone awry in a civilization that I promise is nothing alike anything you’ll have ever heard of.

Everything starts off fairly normally when Vladimir (Lyubshin) and Gedevan (Gabriadze) first meet on a street on their way to work, both drawn by the insane homeless man asking for directions back to his home planet. Naturally treated as mentally unstable, they humour him and look at his unusual contraption only to find themselves instantly teleported to the vast desert wastelands of the planet Plyuk. Inhabited by humanoid aliens technologically well beyond our abilities, if they are to survive then they shall need to quickly understand the strange customs and social hierarchy of this world, hoping that they might eventually escape back home. It is with two locals that they rest their faith, in the hopes of trading a box of matches – the head being an extremely rare and precious element on Plyuk – for safe passage home.

Much of the time is spent on exploring this culture, the plot facilitating this exploration more than being the source of interest in itself. The institutionalised racism emerging with a clear hierarchy; the ‘patsak’ identifying as green on the device used to distinguish between them and the superior ‘chatlanian,’ which show as orange. As a sign of respect the patsak needs to squat, hold his hands out and say ‘koo,’ as well wear a small bell from their nose when in their presence. Above even these are the police enforcers who answer to nobody, the ‘ecilop’ (hint: read it backwards) who patrol for rogue patsak’s, and at the top of the chain is the mysterious ‘PG’ who commands the respect of all others. But they don’t even stop here, with strict customs such as how much is permitted to give to ‘street’ musicans and how they are permitted to perform, the goal of all citizens the desire to achieve a higher social status determined by the colour of your trousers, even requiring you to learn an entire new language, but don’t worry about that as there’s only a handful of words and most of them are ‘koo’ anyway (not to confused with swear word ‘kyoo’).

Despite the evidently low budget, language barrier involved in learning the alien language through the subtitles and minimal experienced cast, none of this really becomes too apparent as you’ll find yourself fascinated and intrigued by the bizarre culture that so readily mimics an extreme capitalist society, where money determines your stance in life and the poor need to perform pointless rituals to appease those greater than them, treated like vermin to be shot at on whim by the police and the manner they consider our ways barbaric. The bad Russian ‘Frank Sinatra’ covers leaving no illusion as to the intended recipient of their mocking, this is a film that requires a fundamental understanding of the differences between capitalism and communism to fully grasp, and the willing to laugh at a satirical take on ones own ideals to enjoy. Fulfill these criteria and not only will you find an excellent comedy, but a sociopolitical satire of a plausible future.