Aelita
| Aelita: Queen of Mars | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Yakov Protazanov |
| Written by | Fedor Ozep |
| Starring |
Yulia Solntseva Igor Ilyinsky Nikolai Tseretelli Nikolai Batalov Vera Orlova |
| Cinematography |
Emil Schünemann Yuri Zhelyabuzhsky |
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Release date
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Running time
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113 min. |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Language |
Silent film Russian intertitles |
Aelita (Russian: Аэли́та, pronounced [aɛˈlʲita]), also known as Aelita: Queen of Mars, is a silent film directed by Soviet filmmaker Yakov Protazanov made at the Mezhrabpom-Rus film studio and released in 1924. It was based on Alexei Tolstoy's novel of the same name. Mikhail Zharov and Igor Ilyinsky were cast in leading roles.
Though the main focus of the story is the daily lives of a small group of people during the post-war Soviet Union, the enduring importance of the film comes from its early science fiction elements. It primarily tells of a young man, Los (Russian: Лось, literally Elk), traveling to Mars in a rocket ship, where he leads a popular uprising against the ruling group of Elders, with the support of Queen Aelita who has fallen in love with him after watching him through a telescope. In its performances in the cinemas in Leningrad, Dmitri Shostakovich played on the piano the music he provided for the film.
In the United States, Aelita was edited and titled by Benjamin De Casseres for release in 1929 as Aelita: Revolt of the Robots.
Moscow, 1921. A mysterious wireless message is received by various stations: its text is 'Anta Odeli Uta'. Someone facetiously suggests it has come from Mars, in order to tease Los (Nikolai Tsereteli), an engineer who is obsessed with the idea of going to Mars. This inspires him to daydream about Mars and a strange civilization there. We see Aelita (Yuliya Solntseva), the queen; Tuksib (Konstantin Eggert), the actual ruler; and Ilhoshka (Aleksandra Peregonets), Aelita's mischievous maid. They live in a society where aristocrats rule over slaves who are confined underground and put into cold storage when not required.
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