Es ist nicht leicht ein Gott zu sein (1989)

Another planet in the period of medieval times. An employee of the institute of experimental history from Earth, who is send under the name of noble don Rumata of Estor as a spy with a ... See full summary »

Director:

Peter Fleischmann

Writers:

Jean-Claude Carrière (screenplay), Pierre Christin,

Stars:

Edward Zentara, Aleksandr Filippenko, Hugues Quester

4 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Edward Zentara	...	Rumata / Anton
Aleksandr Filippenko	...	Reba
Hugues Quester	...	Suren
Anne Gautier	...	Kyra
Christine Kaufmann	...	Okana
Andrei Boltnev	...	Budach
Pierre Clémenti	...	King
Mikhail Gluzskiy	...	Hauk (as Michail Glusski)
Elgudzha Burduli	...	Baron Pampa
Birgit Doll	...	Anka
Werner Herzog	...	Mita / Richard
Regimantas Adomaitis	...	Richard Kondor - a historian and scientist
Werner Hess
Thomas Schücke	...	John
Lev Perfilov	...	Budach Impersonator

Storyline

Another planet in the period of medieval times. An employee of the institute of experimental history from Earth, who is send under the name of noble don Rumata of Estor as a spy with a mission to contact the local resident of the institute, arrives in the city of Arkanar. But the resident perishes under an unlucky attempt to make a palace coup, and Rumata have to take his place as the resident. Soon he meets all the horrors of the medieval society - a peasant war, palace coups, mass executions. To continue to be an indifferent watcher of all these horrors turns out to be simply impossible...

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Plot Keywords:

space travel | claim in title | foreign language adaptation | spaceship | sword | 

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Taglines:

Wenn Macht zur Ohnmacht wird und Wissen zum Fluch...

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Genres:

Sci-Fi | Adventure | Drama

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Details

Country:

West Germany France Soviet Union

Language:

German

Release Date:

7 August 1991 (France)

Also Known As:

Hard to Be a God

Company Credits

Production Co:

B.A. Produktion, Garance, Hallelujah Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Version of Trudno byt bogom (2013)

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Soundtracks

"Hard To Be A God"
Performed by Grant Stevens

User Reviews

A deeply philosophical science fiction. A "gem"!

Although I agree with the impression of the previous commentator, I have several complaints. 1990 is not "a few years after the cold war" and in 1990 it was not "new Russia". This is exactly what makes this film great. It would have been only possible to make such a "gem" of a film during the existence of USSR. Especially, since this is an adaptation of Soviet Union's "domestic" science fiction writers, the Strugatsky brothers. I am just discovering the great works of Russian and Soviet science fiction (incidentally at the same time as the "American" Isaac Asimov). Years after I have enjoyed "Star Trek: The next Generation" TV-series. Although "Star Trek:TNG" raises similar questions through "The Prime Directive", "Trudno Byt' Bogom" is a full-length film and allows a deeper analysis of the question. But the book is certainly deeper.