Valery Druzhbinsky
	IT'S HARD TO BE A GOD
	An SF film is being made after the Strugatsky brothers'
novel "It's Hard to Be a God". IT is the first co-production of
Soviet and West German film studios (Alleluja Film of the West
Germany and the Alexander Dovzhenko Film Studio of the USSR).
According to Stanislaw Lem's winged definition good science
fiction treats present-day problems, wrapping them in galactic
garments.
	There is a kind of civilization on a planet far from the
Solar System. The inhabitants of the Earth send a manned
spaceship to explore it. The members of the space mission get a
strict orders not to intervene in the affairs of the inhabitants
of that planet. The astronauts must only look on and explore the
civilization. These are the galactic garments of the film.
	But at the very beginning of their stay on the planet, the
astronauts come upon various evils: vices and lower instincts
that ceased to exist on the Earth long ago. The action takes
place in the far future, after all, doesn't it? And Reba, the
arch evil-doer, acts as villains have always acted since time
immemorial: he flatters, he plays mean tricks, he is a
blackmailer and walks over corpses, striving for the heights of
power. Despite their explicit instructions, the humans can't
remain in the role of dispassionate observers and join in the
struggle against tyranny. They are all killed by Reba and his
followers, except for Rumata. His orders categorically forbid him
to "sink to the petty low instincts" of the planet. Because he,
the man of the future, is almost a God for the local inhabitants.
But Rumata intervenes in the course of events...
	The script was written by Dal Orlov, Peter Fleischman and
Jean-Claude Carrier. Peter Fleischman, who is also producer and
director of the film, has said that the plot has several layers
connected with Rumata (his part is performed by the well-known
Polish actor Edward Dzintara). An integral part of the script is
the story of Kira, whom he is in love with. We will see Anne
Gotier in this part - a young French actress, and a disciple of
Stanislavski: "I am not a performer, I am an actress who lives
the life of the character she has got to portray ". The part of
the scientist Gauk who invents the printing machine is performed
by Mikhail Gluzsky. The inventor will be crushed in that same
machine at Reba's order. This is an interpretation of the idea
that every invention can be used against man and mankind. To
underline it once more at the end of the film Reba destroys a lot
of scientists and cultural figures with a similar but bigger
machine, specially adapted for executions...
	The role of the singer Surena, leader of the peasant's
uprising, is played by French actor Hugnes Quester. The part of
the terrestrial Mita is performed by the popular West German
actor Berner Herzog. In the part of the king we will see the
French actor Pierre Clementy, and his favorite Okana is performed
by the West German theatrical and film actress Kristina Kaufmann.
Andrei Boltnev, Elgudzha Burduli, Regimantas Adomaitis and other
Soviet actors are also taking part in the film. Alexander
Filipenko plays the part of Reba. We should also add that popular
Polish director Jerzi Hofmann is the artistic director of this
production.
	The Dovzhenko Film Studio team has never had to make such
large-scale settings before. A giant lot was built in Yalta, on
the Black Sea coast: "Mita's house", "a medieval street", "the
royal square and the royal palace", "the underground town", "the
Tavern", "Gauk's shop". After the filming is over, Soviet film
studios usually abandon the settings as they no longer need them.
They just get written off. Beaten by the weather - the sun, winds
and rains - they are good for nothing, a monument to human
negligence. It seems that now times have changed: the settings
made by the Dovzhenko Studio were handed over to the Gorki Film
Studio where Genady Vassiliev and Shahsi Capur are already 
working on the Soviet-Indian film "The Black Prince", using the
same settings.
	"It's Hard to Be a God" was filmed in Yalta, in the cave
town of Chifut-Kale near Bahchisarai on the Crimea and in Isfara
in Tadjikistan. Isfara seems to be cut out for the making of such
a movie. Millions of years ago an ocean raved here. Then the
ocean receded and the land and the mountains in this place have
wonderful, unexpected colors. When the director asked the artists
to draw a huge circle on the earth, to mark the place where the
spaceship had landed, they found out nature had already made a
jet black circle round a vast area. The work on the film is
nearing its end. There is no need to delude yourselves - the
filming went on with hardships, pauses, debates and re-writings -
that's why it took more than four years to make. And not
everything went smoothly in the partners' legal and financial
relations either. Reciprocal loyalty and good will are always
needed to settle such problems to the satisfaction of both
parties. Let's hope that the Dovzhenko Film Studio will draw the
necessary morale: a partnership should go smoothly and be to all
parties' advantage.