Hard to Be a God

Hard to Be a God is a 2013 Russian epic medieval science fiction film directed by Aleksei German who co-wrote the screenplay with Svetlana Karmalita. It was his last film and it is based on the 1964 novel of the same name by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. A team of scientists travel to the planet Arkanar that is culturally and technologically centuries behind — progress is stuck way back in the Middle Ages. Anybody the inhabitants of the planet consider an intellectual is instantly executed. The scientists are ordered to not interfere and work undercover, but one of them, Rumata, wishes to stop the senseless murders of brilliant minds and is forced to at last pick a side. Plot The entirety of the film takes place on another planet, in the city of Arkanar, in a society that closely resembles the Middle Ages on Earth. History here has gone its own way: no Renaissance has occurred, the little glimpses of science and culture that exist are suppressed and killed off under the influence of a proto-fascist police state; dirt and dullness is everywhere. Around thirty Earthling scientists are sent to the planet incognito, in order to observe the outcome of this society. However, they are barred from influencing the local civilization or interfering with the city's natural course. One of the Earthlings has been living on the planet for twenty years, in a large house filled with his multitudes of slaves and servants. Disguised as a Noble Don named Rumata of Estor, he has become known among some of the townspeople as the son of Goran (a local pagan god). In duels, Rumata does not kill enemies, but only cuts off their ears, as it is forbidden for him to kill. At night, he dreams of murder. He is tasked with saving the intellectuals of this society - bookworms and wisemen, who are constantly persecuted by the so-called Gray troops under the leadership of Don Reba, who has usurped power in the state. From Muga, his head slave, Rumata learns of a certain tobacco-grower from Tobacco Street who is supposedly one of the clever inhabitants of Arkanar. On rocky islets among the swamps that surround the city, Rumata hides Arkanarian scientists to safety. From time to time, other Earthlings also gather in these swamps, more and more alienated from each other, and constantly drunk (as is Rumata). A doctor named Budakh, who was supposed to be taken to shelter, had disappeared along with his escort.