Kin-dza-dza!

Infobox Film | name = Kin-dza-dza!


caption = VHS cover
director = Georgi Daneliya
producer =
writer = Georgi Daneliya
Revaz Gabriadze
starring = Stanislav Lyubshin
Yevgeni Leonov
Yury Yakovlev
music = Gia Kancheli
cinematography = Pavel Lebeshev
editing = Natalya Dobrunova
distributor = Sovexportfilm
released = December 1, fy|1986
country = USSR
runtime = 135 min.
language = Russian/Georgian
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
amg_id = 1:169964
imdb_id = 0091341

"Kin-dza-dza!" (Кин-дза-дза! in Russian, pronounced "Kin-dzah-dzah") was a 1986 Soviet dystopian comedy/science fiction film released by the Mosfilm studio and directed by Georgi Danelia, with a story by Georgi Danelia and Revaz Gabriadze. The movie was filmed in color, consists of two parts and runs for 135 minutes in total. It is a cult film, especially among Russians, and its humorous dialogue is frequently quoted in that country.

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. 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". 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 "lootz" and is made from water. All naturally present water has apparently been processed into lootz, so drinking water is a valuable commodity (in fact, it can only be made from lootz).

A good deal of the plot is based the fact that ordinary wooden matchsticks ("ketse") (or, rather, the chemicals of the match head) are considered to be extremely precious on Pluke.

The dystopian setting is often considered to be an allegorical depiction of Soviet society. Usually, Danelia's prominence and reputation is cited as the sole reason this bizarre and ambiguous motion picture made it past strict Soviet censorship.

A Concise Dictionary of The Plukanian Language

*Ketse (pronounced "keh-tseh") — matches
*Chatle — a form of money
*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 pepelats which allows intergalactic travel
*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
*Kappa — a button or lever
*Lootz — 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)
*Kew — a socially acceptable curse
*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. [ [http://www.ruscico.com/dvd.php?lang=en&dvd=316 DVD disk “Kin-Dza-Dza” - R · U · S · C · I · C · O - Russian Cinema Council ] ]

Cast (in order of appearance)

*Stanislav Lyubshin as "Vladimir Nikolayevich Mashkov (Uncle Vova)"
*Galina Daneliya-Yurkova as "Mashkov's wife"
*Levan Gabriadze as "Gedevan Alexandrovich Alexidze (Fiddler)"
*Anatoli Sirenko as "the Barefoot Wanderer"
*Yury Yakovlev as "Bi"
*Yevgeny Leonov as "Wef"
*Alexander Martynov as "one-handed smuggler with a mini tranklucator"
*Tatyana Rasputina as "woman smuggler with a mini tranklucator, girlfriend of the gang leader"
*Alexander Litovkin as "the gang leader"
*Valentin Bukin as "black-mustached ecilop in the egg-shaped pepelats, 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"
*? as "acrobat sectarian girl"
*Olesya Ivanova as "cage-banging white sectarian"
*Lyudmila Solodenko as "sand-throwing black sectarian"
*? (Ivan Krivoruchko?) as "bearded giant, leader of the "Children of the Sun" sect"
*Nikolai Garo as "Lord PG"
*Igor Bogolyubov as "the personal Patsak of Lord PG"
*Gennady Ivanov as "Patsak, working as watchman in the backyard of the Trade Department"
*? (Alexander Gorbachev?) as ""grey-mustached elderly ecilop in the egg-shaped pepelats, who will want "40 chatles" and "immediately press the kappa" in a scene later"
*? (Victor Frolov?) as "black ecilop, guarding the underground communications"
*Aleksandra Dorokhina as "colossal chatlanian woman, working as attendant in the subway station"
*Yuri Voronkov as "bearded Patsak"
*Tatyana Perfilyeva as "elderly patsak woman "I like Lord PG so much!"
*Georgi Millar as "old ecilop giving permission to proceed"
*Oleg Matveyev as "young ecilop, guarding the water factory"
*Victor Makhmutov as "the red-headed Chatlanian"
*Vladimir Fyodorov as "Mr. Yellow Pants, a rich merchant"
*Alexander Krasnoslobodtsev as "Mr. Yellow Pants' bodyguard"
*Tatyana Novitskaya as "an employee in the planetarium"
*? (Vyacheslav Patsap?) as "the judge"
*Gennady Yalovich as "secret agent"
*Veronica Izotova as "the gang leader's slave"
*Igor Kahn as "ecilop with muzzles"
*Nina Ter-Osipian as "Lord PG's noble mother"
*Harius Schweiz as "Lord PG's 1st bodyguard"
*Valentin Golubenko as "Lord PG's 2nd bodyguard"
*? as "Lord PG's 3rd bodyguard"
*? as "jailer in the Ecikh"
*Olga Mashnaya as "Dekont (from the planet Alpha)"
*Georgi Daneliya as "Abradox (from the planet Alpha)"
*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.

ee also

* Cinema of Russia and Soviet Union

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0091341|title=Kin-Dza-Dza!
* [http://www.divxsubtitles.net/page_subtitleinformation.php?ID=99972 English subtitles]
* [http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D0%B8%D0%BD-%D0%B4%D0%B7%D0%B0-%D0%B4%D0%B7%D0%B0-%D0%B4%D0%B7%D0%B0!_(%D0%BC%D1%83%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%82%D1%84%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BC) Kin-Dza-Dza-Dza! (animated film) at the Russian wikipedia]
* [http://kin-dza-dza.org.ru Forum "Kin-dza-dza" (Russian; English subforum)]