Kin-dza-dza! (1986)

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

The movie is quite depressing - because it (metaphorically) depicts how Russians (and many other countries) lived back in 80's. What is more depressing - very little has changed in Russia (and the whole world) 23 years later. The Danelia's symbolism applies to many traits of the modern society. For instance, in the movie colored pants show social status the same way as designer clothing, expensive cars and real estate do it in our reality.A spectator who speaks both Russian and Georgian has a definite advantage, because many of the made-up alien words have Georgian roots. I am not sure of the subtitles are adequate in this case. If I could ignore all the cultural references and loaded words - I would probably find this flick amusing.

It is an outstanding movie! In order to really appreciate it, I had to see it twice. One of the themes is the Soviet Perestroika, but a lot of other themes are treated: friendship, social & cultural rituals, racism, bureaucracy, communication and many others. Moreover, the film is very sound from a Sci-Fi perspective: The machines look a bit old-fashioned, but there is nothing that isn't convincing. The behavior of the aliens seems to be odd at first sight, but after some time (and esp. if you watch the film more than once) it has a certain logic. The dialogs are very funny. The Moscovites' strategies how to tackle with the aliens and their culture are quite interesting.

English/American culture (for the most part) tends to be rather reclusive, for example, there are virtually no foreign language songs on the radio. Because of this, many classics are missed, simply because people do now know about them.This movie is the best example of a great classic unknown. If it would be made it Brittan in the sixties, it would have defiantly achieved cult status, and be widely regarded as all-time sci-fi classic. Alas, it is in Russian, and made at the end of the cold war, and therefore virtually unknown outside of the former Soviet Union.The movie is full of wonderfully black humour (if you are higher up on the social scale, you sleep on a bed without nails, and they cannot beat you in the middle of the night), desert world with rusted metal structures, and wonderfully eccentric telepathic aliens with bizarre social structures.This movie is truly a must see – a word of warning however, this is so far from a Hollywood movie, it is it's evil twin. Unlike Hollywood it has: A story Strong characters Crap special effects Complete lack of "touchy feely"To get the best experience: 1. find subtitled version 2. find a Russian to watch it with you

If you want to have an idea of what it is - well, it's a kind of Soviet HGTTG. However, the cultural basis of HGTTG (all this British towel-and-robe-and-almost-but-not-quite-entirely-unlike-tea stuff) is much easier to understand for an average Western person compared to the Soviet culture of this movie. Also, it's a much darker comedy compared to HGTTG - but I think everyone knows Russians rarely smile...You expect it to be funny? No, there are too many cultural references, too many hard-to-translate jokes. And the available translations are hardly close to giving you a hint on what this movie is about. Maybe there exists a good translation somewhere, adapted to western world and still retaining the humor, but I haven't seen it yet.You expect some good sci-fi? No, it's got crappy special effects, no action, and there are huge holes in the plot in everything relating to sci-fi. You will be cursing about stupid and illogical usage of things like "planet", "galaxy" and "instant travel" all the time. There's even less of sci-fi in it than in HGTTG.However, if you're adventurous, open, if you want to learn something new, and if you like movies not for special effects but for the pieces of soul the directors, the writers and the actors put into them, and for their efforts to make you think - try this movie, it won't fail you.Also, it is a cult classic in Russia, and millions of Russian fans just cannot be wrong :)It's best to learn Russian first, of course :)