2010-10-03

De Te Fabula Narratur

What are you laughing at? You are laughing at yourselves!

Act V, sc. viii

The genre of cyberpunk, without a doubt, came from the West. And, of course, without any doubt, Westerners would never think that a good cyberpunk movie can be created in such a country as Soviet Union. Why not though?

Georgi Daneliya created Kin-Dza-Dza which was unfortunately accepted by masses only as an extravagant prank of a talanted director. Practice shows that people tend to accept things as they are, omitting inner substance, signs and allegories. The movie on its own is full of symbols showing the comical similarity of the Pluke civilization to our own life.

"Patsak" - "Katsap" in reverse, which is an offensive name for Russians in Ukraine. Patsaks work for Chatlanians, who turn out to be just people having money, chatles.
"KeTse" - "TsK" in reverse, which is an abbreviation for Central Committee (highest administrative body in USSR). Both KeTse (which are simple matches in our life) and TsK symbolise power in the country. Whoever posesses KeTse possesses crimson pants - the symbol of respect and authority.
"Tsappa" - "TsAp" which is an abbriviation for central apparatus (central office). A very prominent conversation shows authors' attitude to it. Chatlanian Wef asks to repair Tsappa. And earthling Uncle Vova asks which is Tsappa. Wef replies "- The rusty detail. - But everything here is rusty. - This one is the MOST rusty." The authors impy that Central Apparatus is the oldest and the most worn out detail in the whole body of the government.
"Ecilop" - "Police" which is in no need for explanations...

The spritual poverty of the Plukanians is shown through the prism of art, which is money oriented. Contemporary pop culture is similar: compare meaningless love songs to the wild rasping on the violin in Kin-Dza-Dza Galaxy. People come to the art in the thirst for money, not being moved by their inner motives. "Workers" of art are purely random.

But not only art is being abandoned. Take a look at our language: curse words are spreading immensly and we substitute all our words with so-called "Ku". General cultural decadence on Pluke is blinded by the ligts of the high tech developments: spaceships, lasers, time machines and elaborate underground cities. However, this is not a proof of a highly developed society. Degradating minds, lack of spiritual power, hunger for money turned Pluke into a miserable and gruesome place which the Earth may turn into one day as well.

The movie is surely political satire. But without the planet Alpha it would stay just a bitter irony over modern state of things. Instead, authors split the evil into two types. The first one, low, coward, lustful and dirty is the Pluke civilization. But much worse is the Alpha: the world of endless pride, arogance and snobism. Alpha is a great depiction of outer welfare in connection with inner indifference and emptiness. This reminds me of the levels in hell in Dante's Divine Comedy. And Alpha stands much further away from Pluke in its sinfulness.

A trully sad and tragic movie.

Director Georgi Danelia +10
Actors' performance (Yuriy Yakovlev, Evgeni Leonov, Stanislav Lyubshin, Levan Gabriadze) +10
Plot (Georgi Danelia, Revaz Gabriadze) +10
Camera Pavel Lebeshev +10
Music Giya Kancheli +8


It's none of your business but I'm listening to

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