Schmollywood Babylon

Eolomea (Herrmann Zschoche, 1972)

Red scifi (from the behind the iron curtain) is often a lot more interesting than the American counterparts from the same period. They effectively mix serious drama and interesting concepts with a blockbuster-sensbility. Compared to the rest of the world the sci-fi is more focused on a mutual world. It’s rarely we see – for example – evil Americans or well, any enemy at all. In Silent Star there’s even a multi-political and cultural cast, everyone with their own pros and cons. I like that a lot. Eolomea belongs to those movies that slums around in the middle, it really don’t know where it belongs: the sixties kitsch or in the post-2001 sci-fi’s. Usually I think the kitsch aspect wore out quite early and it really doesn’t belong in the 70’s, even if I love movies like Logan’s Run. But let us focus a little bit on the story told in Eolomea…

Eight spaceships disappear and the contact with the main space station is broken interrupted. The only clue is a complicated Morse code decrypted as “Eolomea”. Everyone thinks this is a planet, but because of the danger surrounding the case every flight to the area is forbidden. A female scientist and a bored pilot takes on the mystery and travels there to find out what really happen…

The story is a big too convoluted and fragmented (it feels like three different movies sometimes) to be really enjoyable. Instead a very, very silly robot (I HATE comic relief robots!) is introduced and it gets a bit too talky from time to time. The basic premise is good and the actors are good, but there’s something missing. I’m not sure what, I need to see it again, but I think the idea of bureaucrats versus scientists is excellent. Because is it worth checking something out if it endangers the lives of people? Is a new world somewhere worth discovering if it means our generation never will see the expedition again? Eolomea asks a lot of questions and gives a reasonable good and effective ending.

I think my main problem, except that fucking robot, is that they really don’t know where to stand. Should it be corny kitsch or serious sci-fi. In this case I would prefer the latter, because it’s such a big and epic theme. To joke around is a waste of time. I guess some people might be annoyed by the Jess Franco-esque flashbacks set on a luxury beach hotel somewhere, but for me it kinda was the highlight. The scenes, the dialogues is good and it’s a welcome sight instead of the cheap (sorry to say that) spaceship sets and pretend-o-futuristic clothes.

Eolomea is one of those flicks you need to watch in peace. You need to listen to it. It needs to be analyzed and picked apart to reach the maximum effect. It’s a great idea and the characters behave like humans and not like supermen. People swear and smoke and drink, even in space. If it was made 30 years earlier it would have been set on a ship somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, and instead of a mysterious planet it would be a mysterious island.

It’s not a bad movie, but it’s far from perfect. It delivers some nice space scenes, miniatures, interesting drama and a mystery…kinda. One sequence almost feels like a throwback to the old German Bergfilms, mountain climbing films made as an excuse to show gorgeous landscapes.

Oh shit, now I’m referencing Bergfilms! Time to stop.  Have a nice day and remember that big brother sees you. ALL the time. Yeah, even when you do that “thing”. 

The Dead Mountaineer Hotel (Grigori Kromanov, 1979)

I think this might be the first Estonian movie I've seen, Grigori Kromanov's The Dead Mountaineer Hotel. I've heard about it for several years and been searching for a subtitles, not to expensive, DVD - and suddenly one appeared on amazon.com and of course I had to buy it. As usual. I can't stop myself from buying stuff. I would be a much richer man if I downloaded all this crap like everyone else. But nooooo! 

I hate being honest.

Written by the Strugatskiy brothers, Boris and Arkadiy, who - what I know - was quite famous genre authors in Russia. They also wrote the novel the script's based on. What first strikes me is how fitting this story would be to the stage. Most of it is in the literary black mountain hotel, with stylish neon-details, black wall papers, very stylish - and quite modern - furniture. It's like a chamber play, but very bizarre and absurd.

Inspector Peter Glebsky (Uldis Pucitis - I know, it's sounds like the latin name for a squid or something!) is a hard-working cop and now he's on a mission to solve what the hell is going on up at the hotel. Someone called the cops, but when he arrives everything seems calm and nice... or is it? Soon the guests starts to behave strange, people disappear and the paranoia is growing among everyone. Is there terrorists hiding there? Or what about those bank robbers? Glebsky tries his best... but the question is if he's ever gonna be able to handle the mystery of The Dead Mountaineer Hotel...?

This is such a strange, strange movie. The characters are absurd, the sets surrealistic - but still minimalistic. It looks gorgeous, the snowy mountains surrounding the place, the clear sky... and yet something is terribly wrong. It's more of an absurd play than a typical thriller, even if its also a very typical Agatha Christie-esque mystery - who did it? And what did that person do? Because nothing is straight here, everything zick zacks through the twisted melodrama. 

When the final revelation comes... it's not that surprising. It's quite clear everything can happen in this story, but it's a fun twist - and a bit sad. Why? Because it leads us to the cynical world of us, the people. How some of us are so obssessed with doing the right thing we doesn't understand that it might be wrong to follow the rules. 

It's a story about how we (= Glebsky) should live our life a little more by the rule of civil disobedience. I've always felt that's the right thing to do, but there's too many stupid fucks out there destroying mankind. 

Maybe that's the punishment for us - for being so damn stupid?