Inhabited Island, part one (Obitaemyj Ostrov, chast pervaya)
Fedor Bondarchuk’s Inhabited Island is divided on two parts. The movie is based on Strugatsky Brothers’ novel and tells the story of Earth’s 20 y.o. boy Maxim, who got onto the totalitarian planet Saraksh in 2157.
Short synopsis:
The year 2157. The blossom times for the human civilization. Pilots of the Freelance Search Group enjoy interstellar travelling. A Russian spacecraft, piloted by a 22 year old Maxim Kammerer, crashes on the distant inhabited Saraksh planet. After long years of a nuclear war, an environmental crisis reigns over the planet, the society is overburdened with social problems, and the established peace is quite shaky. The brave astronaut will explore a mysterious land governed by the Unknown Fathers who are five anonymous rulers manipulating the inhabitants consciousness using special emitters. There Maxim will meet new friends, make enemies, find his love and, after getting through dangerous trials, hunger, mortal hazards and losses, will lead a rebel movement challenging the five greedy rulers.
Extended synopsis:
Year 2157. The Noon of Humanity. Armed with the great theory of enlightenment the people of Earth forgot wars, famine and terrorism. Nature regenerated. Medicine triumphed over disease, and science unlocked the hidden resources of the human body. People from the Earth explore distant planets. New generations of earthlings are brave, strong, and naive.
The story of Inhabited Island begins when the spacecraft of a 20-years old student Maxim Kammerer makes a crash-landing on the planet Saraksh. Maxim finds himself in the world that is totally opposite to the Earth. Saraksh just went through the nuclear war. The planet is divided into several states, which are on the verge of new wars. The country that Maxim finds himself in is ruled by the group of dictators the Unknown fathers - who control the population through the system of emitting towers.
For Maxim this sorry planet becomes the place where he finds his first real friend and first great love. He would become a soldier, a revolutionary, a prisoner and an outcast. And he would have to make a choice: should he try and save this planet, or just leave it to its fate?
Watch the trailer with English subtitles:
Date of release: 1 January, 2009
Russian title: Îáèòàåìûé Îñòðîâ
Transliteration: Obitaemyj Ostrov
Translated title: The Inhabited Island
Script: Eduard Volodarsky / Marina and Sergei Dyachenko
Director of photography: Maxim Osadchy
Concept designer: Kirill Murzin
Second unit director: Rezo Gigineishvili
Second unit director of photography: Petr Brate, Artem Aksenenko, Boris Levkovich, Ivan Shurkhovetsky
Art director: Pavel Novikov
Dress designer: Tatyana Mamedova
Make-up designer: Dmitry Kirillov
Computer graphics superviser: Leonid Volosatov
Special effects director: Vladimir Karpovich
Composer: Yuri Poteyenko
Cast: Vasili Stepanov, Julia Snigir, Peter Fedorov, Aleksei Serebryakov, Fyodor Bondarchuk, Mikhail Yevlanov, Sergei Garmash, Gosha Kutsenko, Andrei Merzlikin, Anna Mikhalkova, Yuri Tsurilo, Ignati Akrachkov, Sergei Barkovsky, Maxim Sukhanov, Yevgeni Sidikhin, Kirill Pirogov, Aleksei Gorbunov, Alexander Feklistov and others
Production: ÑTÑ Television Network, Art Pictures Group, Non-stop Production Studio
| Editor's rating: 5/10 |