Movie | Kin Dza Dza | Pass

I've been really looking forward to seeing this wonderfully wacky Russian scifi flick for a loooooooong time. Finally, I got around to it and was very pleased that I did!

The story begins with two men meeting on a Russian street corner in modern times. They help a homeless man who is shoeless and raving about being from another planet. He shows them a cryptic map and wants to know the coordinates of the planet they are on. They humor him and try to get him to a bakery, where they plan to give him something to eat and call the police. Inadvertently, they set off a small device in his hand and the two men are transported to another planet - an alien world dominated by sand dunes.

There are a lot of things going on in the slow-paced film. Social commentary, racism, and survival in a brutal world with minimal resources are just a couple of themes in this fascinating film.

This isn't the sort of film that's about high-tech flying saucers. No, this is old, grungy tech that barely works. The FX are low-budget but they succeed wholeheartedly in being thoroughly charming. At times, I was reminded of Time Bandits. This movie had a definite Terry Gilliam feel to it. There are most definitely some similarities with A Boy and His Dog, too, in terms of feel, themes and pacing.

The acting is excellent, the soundtrack foreign and otherworldly in the process and I just loved everything about it.

Two words of warning: it's long - over two hours - and don't see this movie dubbed. I don't even know if there's a dubbed version, but if there is, it would utterly ruin it.

A must see for fans of "way out there" cult movies. Two thumbs way up!

PS: Koo!