Thursday, March 7, 2019

3,900th Post Celebration: Hard to Be A God (1989)

Another 100 Posts already?!?  This time, let me do something a little different and cover a Film that was already done- sort of.  Back in 2016, I had Bob do the 2012 Film Hard to Be A God, because it looked bleak, long and pretentious.  It was all 3 things.  In one of the Comments, someone told me to check out the original Version.  I didn't know that there was such a thing!  Here we are in 2019 and I finally did it.  I was tempted to just give it to Bob again- I won't lie.  Instead, I watched it with him, giving us the mixed experience to compare.  Should he find that he has more to say after I'm done, he'll post some sort of compare-contrast piece.  The big difference here is the Language.  This one was made before 'The Wall' came down, so it is all in German- just still made by Russians.  Will a USSR Version be vastly-different?  So what is the Story?  Unlike that Remake, this one is easy to decipher.  Shocking twist- they explain everything!  Aliens are monitoring a Planet that is behind them technologically/sociologically to see more in themselves.  One of them goes down and gets too close.  Will he break the Prime Directive?  To find out, read on...
A man rides into a Village in a strange land after reports of weird lights and dragons.  His identity is called into question, but he's still allowed to see a Prisoner.
Said Prisoner is...Werner Herzog?!?  What in the what now?!?

Anyhow, he talks about how he refuses to 'observe' them and the pair talk about conspicuous stuff like 'trackers' and 'chips.'
In the very next Scene, said Prisoner is abruptly-killed (bye, Werner!) and we learn that something is clearly up with our Lead as we see...
So now the truth comes out- he's an Alien observing the Society come to find his (now dead) friend.

He decides to stay and take up the guy's work, since dead and all.
His goal- find proof that the Society will advance by way of a thinker (e.c. Aristotle).  All the while, he's being observed, so they can double-down on the Theme.
He's looking for a particular man, which is good.  You see, every other one he finds- like a man who invented a printing press or a man who made a telescope- are being killed after he meets them.
The bleak Film gets a little more fun with the arrival of a big, brutish Baron.  He was the only levity in the Remake, but he has a little less work to do here.
After things seem too bad and our Hero finally tires of his relative-non-interference, he just says 'screw it' and goes into Action-Mode.

He might as well play a Deus Ex Machina since they already think that he's a Deus.
He does his best to save everyone left by just straight-up using his technology.  His Deus Ex Machina is broken up by...another Deus Ex Machina as the others show up, knock him out and leave with him.  The End.
A bleak Film that has its moments of good storytelling and creativity.  Let's be clear- this Film is not exactly all that uplifting.  Our Hero watches everyone around him die and he can do nothing about it.  He only has one 'victory' to speak of- saving the guy he was after.  Yes, it appears that the Society might change on its own, but it's not clear.  Other than those victories, he struggles to maintain his status as a passive observer.  The conflict is an interesting one and the Film benefits from its maximizing of this idea.  We see him observing.  We see people observing through him.  We see people observing the World separate of him.  Hell, we later see that someone is observing the people as they observe him!  It's a pretty easy Theme to decipher.  The Film is an interesting contrast of look and feel.  It looks like an '80s Sword and Sandal Film- like Deathstalker, Conan, etc.- but definitely has a different take!  This look and style makes the Film more accessible, I think, than, say, stark black and white must.  It's still a weird, preachy Film in either color scale.  If you like the deeper stuff and want something weird, check this out.  Another up it has on the Remake- only doing shots like this once or twice (and for good effect)…
That sure was worth the wait, no?  Here's to whatever weird thing I'll dig up for the 4,000th Post!

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