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| Images courtesy of Mosfilm |
Soviet science-fiction writer-director Andrei Yermash only
ever made two films in his lifetime, an adaptation of novelist Sergei Pavlov’s Moon
Rainbow in 1983 and Isaac Asimov’s The End of Eternity in 1987,
which is a shame because his kaleidoscopic hallucinatory psychedelic
metaphysical sci-fi is indeed something special to behold. Starting out with his short film The
Return of the Doctor in the film almanac Youth in 1980 before
landing the opportunity to direct Moon Rainbow only at the age of 27
thanks to his father Philipp Yermash’s tenure as the USSR State Committee for
Cinematography chairman.
Featuring
notable Soviet stars, arresting production design and an ethereal score by
legendary Andrei Tarkovsky composer Eduard Artemyev, the film recently saw a
new 4K restoration via Mosfilm which aired online in 2160p resolution. Following in the footsteps of Solaris with
the metaphysical machinations of Through the Thorns to the Stars by way
of Stalker, Moon Rainbow is an all but completely unknown Eastern
European space-thriller gem whose attention outside of its native country of
origin is only just beginning.
Throughout the Earth, mysterious black spots begin appearing
in areas where bizarre weather phenomena including magnetic storms transpire,
prompting a special team of astronauts who discover the black spots are the
result of a distant cosmic calamity on the other end of the Solar System which
marooned four survivors Timur (Georgiy Taratorkin), David (Vladimir
Gostyukhin), Jean and Eduard. The result
of a geological disaster stemming from a collapsed section of the Uranus moon
Oberon which took out nine of the astronauts, it becomes apparent the four
survivors begin experiencing physiological alternations to their genetic makeup
stemming from a mysterious cosmic green glow near the collapse site. Eventually, David is tasked with navigating a
deadly cosmic ‘Fire Snakes’ plateau rife with intergalactic lightning bolts and
rainbow color solar flares, a mission most others perished trying to
accomplish.
Phantasmagorical from the sour synth sounding score by
Eduard Artemyev across the opening credits, arresting production design of both
the interior ship corridors and the planetary surface by Vladimir Aronin,
lensed exquisitely in 1.33:1 by The Old New Year director Naum
Ardashnikov, Moon Rainbow doesn’t quite strike the intellectual heights
of Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris but audiovisually it is a real candy
colored treat. At once spooky and eerie
with ethereal opening credits signaling fear of the unknown cosmos, you’re
drawn into a nebulous atmosphere that reminds of Inquest of Pilot Pirx
which also saw a Soviet screen adaptation roughly around the same
timeline. Co-authored by the novelist
himself Sergei Pavlov whose final screenplay unfortunately disregarded many of
his contributions, the star-studded effort includes Dersu Uzala actor
Yuri Solomin, The Ascent actor Vladimir Gostyukhin, Letter Never Sent
actor Vasily Livanov and We Live Till Monday actor Igor Starygin
though the real stars of this show are the effects artist and Artemyev’s juicy
original score.
A taut Bavaesque little sci-fi gem featuring some of the
Soviet Union’s key recurring contributors to the science-fiction subgenre
working in it, Moon Rainbow in practice feels almost like an
amalgamation of two of Tarkovsky’s films Solaris being in space and the
metaphysics of Stalker. Reportedly
part of a trilogy of books whose counterparts remain unmade for the screen, Moon
Rainbow seen now is ripe for rediscovery as a distinctly Soviet era Eastern
European space thriller. Some of it is a
bit talky near the beginning but once it gets going into the far reaches of the
galaxy it becomes a sensory freakout of sorts not quite as intense as Solaris
but no less fun to look at and soak in.
With Mosfilm’s new 4K restoration out in the world, the film seems more
than ready for the coveted and now celebrated Deaf Crocodile Films treatment.
--Andrew Kotwicki
