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Kin-dza-dza! (Russian: Кин-дза-дза!, translit. Kin-dzah-dzah!) was a 1986 Soviet comedy-science fiction film released by the Mosfilm studio and directed by Georgi Daneliya, with a story by Georgi Daneliya and Revaz Gabriadze. The movie was filmed in color, consists of two parts and runs for 135 minutes in total.
The film is a dark and grotesque parody of human society and may be described as an anti-utopia. It depicts a desert planet, depleted of its resources, home to an impoverished dog-eat-dog society with extreme inequality and oppression. It is a cult film, especially in Post-Soviet countries, and its humorous dialogue is frequently quoted.
Plot
The story takes place on the desert planet "Pluke" in the "Kin-dza-dza" galaxy, where two Soviet humans previously unknown to each other ("Uncle Vova", a gruff construction foreman from Moscow, and "The Fiddler", a student from Georgia) are stranded due to an accidental encounter with an alien teleportation device. The movie describes their long quest to find a way back home.
The natives of the planet appear human, with deceptively primitive-looking technology and a barbaric culture, which satirically resembles that of humans. They are telepathic; the only spoken words normally used in their culture are “ku” (koo) and “kyu” (kew), the latter being a swear word. However, the Plukanians are able to quickly adapt to understand and speak Russian (and Georgian too). The society of Pluke is divided into two categories: Chatlanians and Patsaks. Chatlanians are privileged, and a system of rituals must be followed by the Patsaks to show flattery. The basis of their difference is unexplainable (a source of a humorous episode), and for all practical matters they are distinguished with aid of a small handheld device (visator).
The only group empowered to use weapons (“tranklucators”) and enforce their will is the ecilops ("police" spelled backwards). The nominal leader of the Plukanian society is named PG; everybody makes their best to display fervent worship to him, but, when encountered in person, he appears harmless and dumb. The fuel of Pluke is called lutz and is made from water. All naturally present water has apparently been processed into lutz, so drinking water is a valuable commodity (in fact, it can only be made from lutz).
A good deal of the plot is based on the fact that ordinary wooden matchsticks (ketse) (or, rather, the chemicals of the match head) are considered to be extremely precious on Pluke.
A Concise Dictionary of The Plukanian Language
- Ketse (pronounced "keh-tseh") — matches (or, rather, the chemicals ordinarily used on Earth for match heads)
- Chatle — a currency unit
- Tsak — a small bell worn on the nose to indicate the low social status of the wearer
- Tenture and Antitenture — two opposite parts of the Universe. Some planets and galaxies exist in Tenture and some (including Earth) in Antitenture. (Compare with the Light Universe and the Dark Zone in Lexx).
- Pepelatz — an interplanetary spacecraft (from the Georgian word "pepela" for butterfly)
- Gravitsapa — a component for the pepelatz which allows intergalactic travel (from 'gravity' + 'tsapa'; also, Georgian phrase "rah-vitsi-ah-bah" means "I dunno...")
- Tsapa — a component for different machines. A big tsapa is a very important component for the pepelatz. A small tsapa is a component for the gravitsapa; without the small tsapa, a gravitsapa will not work. Tsapa is similar to a very rusty screwnut
- Tranklucator — a weapon
- Visator — compact device, detects difference between Patsaks and Chatlans.
- Kappa — a button or lever
- Lutz (pronounced loots) — the fuel used by the pepelatz, it is made of water
- Ecilop — a policeman ("police" spoken backwards)
- Ecikh — a box for prisoners; also the inprisonment in such box (as a penalty); also the Ecikh is a jail with many such boxes ("Ecikh" is from the Georgian word "tsikhe" for prison). Ecikh with nails is extremely hard punishment.
- Kyu (pronounced kyew) — a socially acceptable curse (meaning 'shit')
- Koo — All other words
Video
The movie has been released on DVD in Russia but has gained virtually no notice elsewhere. This is largely due to the fact that there was no official release of the movie with English subtitles for a long time. This has led many people to download copies of the movie from popular peer-to-peer services: most English-speaking people who have seen the movie have seen a fansub.
There are currently no plans to release the DVD in Europe or North America.
In the year 2005 RUSCICO (Russian Cinema Council) released a version with Russian original sound and with English and French dubbing, It has also subtitles in English and other languages.[1]
Cast (in order of appearance)
- Stanislav Lyubshin as Vladimir Nikolayevich Mashkov (Uncle Vova)
- Galina Daneliya-Yurkova as Lyudmila (Lucya), the Mashkov's wife
- Levan Gabriadze as Gedevan Alexandrovich Alexidze (The Fiddler)
- Anatoli Serenko as the Barefoot Wanderer from Uzm
- Yury Yakovlev as Bi the Patsak, a wandering singer
- Yevgeny Leonov as Wef the Chatlanian, a wandering singer
- ? as one-handed smuggler with a mini tranklucator
- ? (Tatyana Proshina?) as female smuggler with a mini tranklucator, girlfriend of the gang leader
- Alexander Litovkin as the gang leader
- Valentin Bukin as black-moustached ecilop in an egg-shaped pepelatz, demonstrating how a tranklucator works
- Irina Shmelyova as Tsan, the cart driver (tachanka-driving woman, a wandering singer and dancer)
- Lev Perfilov as Kyrr, the dissident Chatlanian with a tranklucator
- Nina Ruslanova as Galina Borisovna, the vice-dean
- Yuri Voronkov as bearded Chatlanian, leader of the "Children of the Sun" sect (later seen in the subway train, pretending to be a Patsak)
- ? as sinister man in a grey cap (leader's helper?)
- ? as acrobat sectarian Patsak girl
- Olesya Ivanova as cage-banging white sectarian woman
- Lyudmila Solodenko as sand-throwing black sectarian girl
- Vitali Leonov as Shorty (from the sect)
- ? as sectarian in a red cap
- ? as Longshanks (from the sect)
- ? as tall sectarian woman in bridges
- ? as sectarian woman in yellow shirt
- ? as sectarian watcher on the big wheel ('Danger, ECILOP!!!')
- Nikolai Garo as Lord PG
- Igor Bogolyubov as Lord PG's Personal Patsak
- Victor Marenkov as Patsak, wearing a coil pipe for a mask and working as watchman
- ? as grey-moustached elderly ecilop in an egg-shaped pepelatz, who will want "40 chatles" and "immediately press the kappa" in a scene later
- Yelena Mashkova-Sulakadze as watchman's wife (redheaded Patsak woman in the trapdoor)
- Gennady B.Ivanov as black ecilop, guarding the underground communications
- Aleksandra Dorokhina as colossal Chatlanian woman, working as attendant in the subway station
- ? as Patsak in the subway
- ? (Tatyana Perfilyeva?) as old Patsak woman "I like Lord PG so much!"
- ? as old ecilop giving permission to proceed
- ? as young ecilop, guarding the water factory
- Victor Makhmutov as the red-headed Chatlanian
- ? (Valeri Svetlov?) as muzzled little man
- ? as fat Patsak woman with a purple purse on her backside
- Vladimir Fyodorov as Mr. Yellow Pants
- ? as Mr. Yellow Pants' bodyguard
- ? (Yelena Antonova?) as Mr. Yellow Pants' girlfriend
- ? as Mr. Yellow Pants' wife
- Tatyana Novitskaya as an employee in the planetarium
- Yuri Naumtsev as the judge
- Gennady Yalovich as secret agent
- Veronica Izotova as the gang leader's female Chatlanian slave, wearing a collar
- Vladimir Razumovsky as ecilop with muzzles
- Nina Ter-Osipian as Lord PG's noble mother
- Harri Schweitz as Lord PG's 1st bodyguard (bearded fatman)
- Valentin Golubenko as Lord PG's 2nd bodyguard (long-nosed powerman)
- Oleg Matveyev as Lord PG's 3rd bodyguard (young man wearing gloves)
- ? as jailer in the Ecikh
- Olga Mashnaya as Dekont (from the planet Alpha)
- Georgi Daneliya as Abradox (from the planet Alpha)
- ? (Varvara Vladimirova?) as young Alphian mother
- ? (Anya Andriyanova?) as little blonde Alphian girl
- ? as young Alphian man
- ? as young Alphian girl
- Rene Khobua was not in the cast, but present in subtitles
Animated version
An animated version of the same story, named Kin-dza-dza-dza!, is being made in Russia, and is planned for release in December 2008. This version will be targeted more at children and the international audience. Work began on February 12, 2005, and it has a budget of three million rubles. The finished film is expected to be 100 minutes long.
See also
References
- ^ DVD disk “Kin-Dza-Dza” - R · U · S · C · I · C · O - Russian Cinema Council
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