Im Staub der Sterne (1976)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Gottfried Kolditz

Writer:

Gottfried Kolditz (writer)

Release Date:

8 May 1978 (Hungary)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Cast

Jana Brejchová	...	Akala
Alfred Struwe	...	Suko
Ekkehard Schall	...	Chief
Milan Beli	...	Ronk
Silvia Popovici	...	Illik (as Sylvia Popovici)
Violeta Andrei	...	Rall
Leon Niemczyk	...	Thob
Regine Heintze	...	Miu
Mihai Mereuta	...	Kte
Stefan Mihailescu-Braila	...	Xik
Aurelia Dumitrescu	...	Chta
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Zephi Alsec

Also Known As:

In the Dust of the Stars (UK)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

East Germany | Romania

Language:

German

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Babelsberg Studios, Berlin, Germany

Company:

Deutsche Film (DEFA)

Trivia:

According to director of photography Peter Süring, the scenes in Romania (mud volcanoes and salt mines) were the first to be shot. The film laboratory at the Romanian National Film Studios in Buftea were used to processing Eastman Kodak stock, and were initially unable to process the East German ORWO negative. After re-calibrating the Romanian lab equipment, it was able to process the ORWO stock, albeit with a soft contrast look that the director and DP liked. As a result, all of the footage subsequently shot at the Babelsberg Studios in East Germany was shipped on a daily basis to Romania for processing.

someone was dipping into the stardust

There's not a lot of East German sci-fi floating around but I got this as part of a box set from First Run Features, and I've not been disappointed with the quality of the films nor the content. This is a rather interesting (and amusing) tale of a spaceship that goes to a planet to investigate a call for help, only to find there's seemingly nothing wrong. The people that live on the surface of the planet are party-animal types, and give the impression that all is well, but they seem to be hiding something, like, the fact that they imprisoned the real inhabitants of the planet to do slave labor in the mines underground. Most interesting is "the boss", who is kind of a combination of David Bowie and Liberace, maybe, who wears interesting spangled outfits and has his hair dyed in strange colors for no apparent reason. Both campy and creepy. The cast also has Leon Niemczyk, one of the main characters from "Knife in the Water". Anyway, the supposed rescuers do discover the dirty secret of the planet and set about to make things right, but with dire results. This is quite entertaining in a strange way, and a very odd sci-fi offering but quite fun. If you get the chance and are of a mind to, check this out. 7 out of 10.