Hard To Be A God (The Original)

Hard to be a God (Es Ict Nicht Leicht Ein Gott Zu Sein) (1989)

Runtime: 128 minutes

Directed by: Peter Fleischmann

Starring: Edward Zentara, Aleksandr Filippenko, Hugues Quester, Anne Gautier, WERNER HERZOG (no kidding)

From: Several companies in the Soviet Union, West Germany, France, and Switzerland

It was just earlier in this year that I stumbled upon the end credits song for this movie; it was randomly spotted on YouTube and to be frank, it was only at that time did I know there was another version of Hard to Be a God. Before then it was the Russian movie released in 2013 after a tortuous production schedule. I listened to the song (located on a channel featuring tunes from the most random 80's pictures) and imagine my surprise when it was an epic power ballad indicative of the 1980's, sung in English. I have not seen the 2013 film but from its reputation and a few clips I've seen, it has to be a 180 from something that would feature a tune from Grant Stevens, an Australian singer who found success when he went to the UK then Germany to sing in some random bands. As it turns out, the score from Hans-Jurgen Fritz also was a product from the decade of excess; think “moody synth score.”

Some serious ideas were broached and one scene has a sober discussion of philosophy. That said, this is still a cheesy movie from the past that at times makes its low budget readily apparent; brothers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky were reportedly not pleased that the novel they penned was turned into a standard “underdogs attempt to overthrow an oppressive regime” tale. While not complex, at least with the story that is presented, it is not too difficult to root for the heroes and think that the villains are horrible human beings. It's not a glamorous world, although it definitely is cleaner than the one in the 2013 movie. In addition, this having both male and female full frontal nudity: a genuine surprise, despite its European origins.

The cast is full of names I had never heard of before, except one. On IMDb there is an uncredited statement I can't find verification elsewhere for which state that in pre-production, both Peter Ustinov and my non-relative Kurt Russell were in talks to be in this. Kurt as the lead would have been something, as that would have meant seeing him a good amount wearing a wacky long hair silver wig that was part of his disguise as one of Earth's astronauts millennia in the future examining Earth's mirror planet that is still stuck in the Middle Ages. Like with Star Trek's Prime Directive, they are only to observe and not interfere; also like with the Prime Directive, that edict is eventually ignored. To steal a quote from elsewhere, Captain Kirk wipes his ass with the Prime Directive!


Anyhow, the one name I recognized in the cast: WERNER HERZOG. No kidding. He has a small acting role and I imagine there's a good story as to why this is an early acting credit for him in a movie he did not also direct.