A group of research scientists has been sent to the planet Arkanar living under an oppressed regime in a period equivalent to the Earth’s Middle Ages. The local population is suffering from a ban issued on anyone who knows how to read and write. The scientists must refrain from influencing political and historical events on Arkanar. They must work incognito, and they must remain neutral. Don Rumata, recognized by the locals as a sort of futuristic god, tries to save the local intelligentsia from being punished. He cannot avoid taking the stance: “What would you do in God’s place?”
Adapted from the 1960’s cult sci-fi novel by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky (Stalker), Hard to be a God is a project Russian master director Alexeï Guerman had been pondering since the mid-1960s. Guerman depicts a metaphoric world of violence, filth and crudeness.
FESTIVALS
- Torino Film Festival 2013 (ITALY)
- Rotterdam Film Festival 2014 (NETHERLANDS)
- Goteborg Film Festival 2014 (SWEDEN)
- Riviera Maya Film Festival 2013 (MEXICO)
- Vilnius International Film Festival KINO PAVASARIS 2013 (LITHUANIA)
- Odessa Film festival 2013 (UKRAINE)
PHOTOS
TRAILER
TECHNICAL SHEET
- Original Title: Trudno Byt Bogom
- Year: 2013
- Country: Russia
- Adapted from the novel by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky
- Cast: Leonid Yarmolnik (Don Rumata), Aleksandr Chutko (Don Reba), Yuriy Tsurilo (Don Pampa), Evgeniy Gerchakov (Budakh), Natalia Moteva (Ari), Dmitriy Vladimirov (Don Ascarol)
- Director: Aleksei German
- Screenwriters: Svetlana Karmalita, Aleksei German
- Cinematography: Vladimir Ilyin, Yuri Klimenko
- Production Design: Sergei Kokovkin, Georgi Kropachev, E. Zhukova
- Costumes: Yekaterina Shapkaitz
- Makeup: Olga Izevekova, N. Ratkevich
- Music: V. Lebedev
- Sound: N. Astakhov
- Editors: Irina Gorokhovskaya, Maria Amosova
- Story Editor: Yevgeny Pritzker
- Production Manager: Marina Dovladbegyan
- Producers: Viktor Izvekov, Rushan Nasibulin
- Production Companies: Studio Sever (Russia), Russia 1 TV Channel (Russia)
- International sales: Capricci Films
- Length: 170 Minutes
- Shooting Format: 35mm
- Screening Format: DCP, B&W
- Image: 1.77
- Sound: Dolby Digital