Through thorns to the stars (film)

XXIII century. The long-range patrol starship “Pushkin” discovers a dead ship of unknown origin in space, on it are the corpses of humanoid creatures, artificially deduced by cloning. One of the clones, a girl of about 18 by earthly standards, turns out to be alive thanks to the spacesuit in which she was obviously at the time of the death of the ship. At the quarantine near-earth station, the Contact Commission decides the fate of the alien. Exobiologist Nadezhda Ivanova insists on isolating and conducting a comprehensive study of the clone at the Institute of Space Genetics, since the purpose of removing alien humanoids in vitro is unknown . However, the commission takes the side of the expert on contacts with the alien mind, Sergey Lebedev, who suggests that he place the alien in his house on his own responsibility, since he is sure that communicating with the human family is more productive for establishing contact. Nadezhda Ivanova entrusted with biocontrol over the creature.

The girl lives in Lebedev’s house, is being mastered in his family, consisting of Sergey’s elderly parents (father is an oceanologist, mother is a professor of medicine, an obstetrician) and his son Stepan is a cadet at the Space Institute. Soon, thanks to the efforts of Sergey, a long-awaited contact is established, - Niya (the girl calls herself so) begins to communicate with others. As a result of this communication, some superhuman abilities of an alien are discovered, such as instant reaction, telekinesis , teleportation . Extraordinary abilities, inhuman strength and endurance are manifested independently in emergency situations. At the same time, there are obvious signs of amnesia , - Niya can tell almost nothing about herself. Only occasionally separate episodes of the past pop up in the girl’s brain: father-professor, sisters and clone brothers in the laboratory, acid rain , poisoned soil and water. Time after time, memories from the past are superimposed on the safe earthly present of Niyi, influencing her actions. Meanwhile, Nadezhda discovers an artificially introduced “center of obedience” in Niyi’s brain, by acting on which a certain radiation can be completely controlled.

Niya likes earthly life and earthlings, but she does not leave the thought that she was created for some important mission and must fulfill it. Soon, chance helps to resolve its torment. A television report shows the visit of envoys from the planet Dess. They flew in to ask earthlings for help: all natural resources were spent on Dess and the biosphere was destroyed, the population has no water and air, people are at risk of imminent death. Seeing one of the messengers, Rakan, Niya recognizes him and remembers that her home planet is Dessa. The girl makes a decision: return to their home planet.

Niya enters the ship "Astra", sent on an assassination mission to Dessa. The crew includes her friends: Nadezhda Ivanova, who is one of the experts sent to Dessa, and intern Stepan Lebedev, who was late for his long-range reconnaissance ship and transferred to Astra. On the same ship, Racan and his colleague Torquay return home. On the way to Dessa, the Astra meets the dead Gaia, the ship in which they found Niya a year ago. Racan and Torquay recognize in it the ship of a prominent scientist from Dessa, Professor Glan. At the risk of his life, Niya teleports to Gaia and turns off the "call of Glan" - the installation for monitoring and tracking clones. From imminent death, Stepan saves her.

The envoys finally reveal to the earthlings the secret of a dead laboratory ship, Professor Glan and the past of Niyi. Glan really wanted to save Dessa from an environmental disaster , but no longer believing that the inhabitants of the planet could do this, created artificial people, endowing them with superpowers so that they could stop Dessa's death by force. Not understood by compatriots, Glan was forced to flee Dessa on the last spacecraft-laboratory, hoping to return when his friends come to power and give a signal to return. However, the signal never arrived. When the supply of food and fuel came to an end on the ship, Glan decided to return, but did not return - judging by preliminary analysis of earthlings, the Gaia was blown up.

Once on Dess, earthlings begin an operation to clean the planet. But they are opposed by the influential tycoon of Dessa Turanchoks, who is afraid of losing profits from the sale of gas masks , masks, air, water, food, and with them real power and power. Earthlings successfully carry out the first stage of sewage disposal, condensing the deadly atmosphere of Dessa with plasma discharges, while for a short time demonstrating to the Dessians a blue sky and real pure rain. In response, the people of Turanchoks, led by Torquay, throw an aggressive chemical into the last active water source and accuse earthlings of spoiling the water, fomenting public discontent. However, earthlings save the source. Turanchox resolves to extreme measures. Using the only remaining clone control center, he decides to detonate the Astra using Niyu. She again feels the influence of the obedience center, shares this with Rakan, and he realizes that Turanchoks, who placed his headquarters in the former Glan Institute, got to the clone control center. Hesitant before, in fact betraying Glan for fear of harming his career, now Rakan is ready to give his life for the sake of saving Dessa. In addition, Rakan is preoccupied with the fate of Niyi, he was a donor of biomaterial for the Clans of Glan, Niyya is his daughter biologically.

When meeting with Turanchox, Racan asks him not to interfere with the earthlings, but does not find sympathy. Turanchoks shows Rakan the control center and calls Niyya to carry a powerful bracelet bomb to Astra. Rakan tries to stop this, but one of Turanchoks's servants mortally wounds him. The dying Rakan decides to destroy Turanchoks and with the last effort releases from the secret laboratory of the institute the last brainchild of Glan - biomass (material for future generations of the population of Dessa). Biomass is extremely aggressive and instantly spreads, devouring organic matter.

At this time, Niya goes to the "Astra", obeying the commands of Turanchoksa. Hope stops her, but Torquay, who is on the heels of Niya, shoots at Hope. Seeing her death, Niya overcomes the "call of Glan" and throws a bomb. Biomass quickly fills the Glan Institute, in the depths of which Racan and Turanchox die, and breaks out. It is disastrous for the whole planet. However, the “Astra” with the emitters turned on is already flying to the aid of Niye and the earthlings, who are trying to tame biomass together.

In the final, the crew of Astra, having completed its task of pre-cleaning Dessa, is preparing to return home. Saying goodbye to Niya on the field with the plantings of young greenery, Stepan asks her to return to Earth with him, but Niya refuses - she takes the mental "cast" from Stepan's face, leaving his image in her memory. She now knows for sure her mission - establishing a normal life on her home planet.

• 1982 - USSR State Prize . This prize was awarded for the creation of the film “Through thorns to the stars” and the animated film “ The Secret of the Third Planet ” to the following people: R. N. Viktorov (director), A. N. Rybin (cameraman), K. I. Zagorsky (artist), R. A. Kachanova (animation director), N. V. Orlova (animation artist), Kira Bulychev (scriptwriter) ^[1] .

Scoring 2001

• Lyubov Germanova - Niya
• Igor Taradaykin - Sergey Lebedev
• Mikhail Kononov - Pyotr Lebedev
• Irina Savina - Nadezhda Ivanova
• Alexey Serebryakov - Victor Klimov
• Dmitry Kharatyan - Oleg Dreyer
• Sergey Bystritsky - Eduard Kolotun
• Igor Ledogorov - voicing himself
• Oleg Strizhenov - Glan
• Tatyana Chernopyatova - Selena
• Nikolay Kochegarov - Barmaley robot
• Andrey Mezhulis - Li
• Klara Rumyanova - Glasha's robot

All discrepancies between the script ^[2] and the film are mainly due to budget cuts and censorship requirements of the Goskino ^[3] .

There are no episodes (or differences) in the film

• flight of Sergey and Niyi from orbit to Lebedev’s house on a flyer;
• Arrival on a flyer to Lebedev by a team of specialists led by Nadezhda and with biocontrol equipment;
• Grishka’s home robot in the film was renamed Glasha;
• night scene in the house of Lebedevs;
• absent in the scenario: the game of grandmother and Niyi in “little things” (“swallow, swallow, black little tail”);
• before leaving for Nadezhda at the institute, Niya breaks the flyer stabilizer;
• on the beach, Selena is surprised at Niyi's lack of a navel;
• in the scenario: aggression against Selena is stopped by the order of Nadezhda through the control center, Nadezhda disagrees with Sergey and considers her actions true;
• in the film: the order of Hope sounds a second after Niya releases Selena herself, Hope repents of her actions;
• scene of the second convocation of the Contact Commission;
• scene in the hospital;
• Stepan arrives in Chichen Itza (in the film "Southern Cross" plateau) after exams; Niyya is scared of staging a local troupe at the sacrificial well; Stepan gives Niyye a half of branzulit as a keepsake; after a telereport with envoys from Dessa, Niya escapes from Mexico, Stepan is late for his ship in search of Nii;
• dialogue between Stepan and Prul (“it is harmful to be upset”)
  • It is worth noting: the alien non-humanoid living creature is presented rather modestly: the “ animal that sneezed all the time is Sonya’s legocephalus ” is mentioned .
• Earth biostation on the planet Ocean, attack of karrus, Niya rescues Stepan;
• absent from the script: episode with Kolotun’s pen (“Victor, is this not my pen?”)
• scenes of the dialogue between Leah and earthlings about Turanchox, caves with predators and exploration of the Dessian reservoir were changed;
• scene "Oversights of earthlings";
• absent in the scenario: episode of the meeting of earthlings before sewage disposal;
• an episode of Barmaley following Niyah;
• Niya after the death of Nadezhda hijacks a planetary boat of earthlings, and searches the order of the “control panel” that sounds in her brain, takes the boat away from the “Astra” and breaks it.

Viktorov set himself the task of making a film for viewers of all ages ^[4] and telling him about the real problems of today: “removing organisms with predetermined properties” and human relationships with the outside world ^[5] . He did not pretend to be a scientific prediction of the future, although he wanted to show a reliable world with reliable characters ^[4] . The director chose both his favorite actors I. Ledogorov, N. Sementsov, E. Karelskikh, V. Nosik, V. Ledogorov, with whom he worked before, and those who did not act in film with him - G. Strizhenova, E Fadeev, A. Lazarev, B. Shcherbakov, V. Fedorov ^[4] .

The critic A. Plakhov noted that “Through thorns to the stars” are addressed to the audience of all ages, in contrast to the dilogy “ Moscow - Cassiopeia ” and “ Adolescents in the Universe ” ^[6] . He praised Metelkina's successful debut, the type of appearance and plastic of which is consistent with the idea of ​​a cosmic being ^[6] . The environmental issue raised by the director, according to Plakhov, sounds like a warning ^[6] . The critic noted a reliable image of the houses of the people of the future, starships, but it seemed to him that in the appearance of the inhabitants of Dessa there are eclecticism, features of "common infernality" ^[7] .

From the point of view of the reviewer of the magazine “ Art of Cinema ” S. Istratova, Viktorov in his films “Moscow - Cassiopeia”, “Adolescents in the Universe”, “Through Thorns to the Stars” created his own version of science fiction - a psychologically specific “earth science fiction” ^[8] . The theme of contact with extraterrestrial civilization is traditional for fiction, but in the film of Viktorov, the psychological core of the plot becomes the transformation of the main character from a half-robot to a person ^[9] . Istratova praised the successful choice of the leading role, which is characterized by plasticity, exotic appearance, natural behavior ^[10] . The director used entertainment and fascination to pose serious problems ^[11] . In the image of a dying Dessa, he depicted one of the terrible options for the development of mankind, which can lead to environmental pollution, which allows us to attribute the film to the dystopian genre ^[12] . At the same time, the director showed the ideal future of the Earth, where people live in harmony with nature, travel through space, enthusiastically engage in their work ^[13] . Istratova noted the reliability of the image of both the Earth of the future and Dessa ^[14] .

The critic V. Revich , reviewing the letters of readers who came to the Soviet Screen magazine, writes that if you combine these letters, you get a qualified review of the film ^[15] . Readers gave an enthusiastic assessment to the film as a whole (“This film turned us over!”), To the actress Metelkina, and to the convincing portrayal of Dessa ^[15] . Some readers drew attention to “awkward“ little things “”: gas masks produced in the USSR on the inhabitants of another planet, chewing gum and Golden Ring beer in the world of the future, a modern airport, which is presented as a spaceport ^[16] .

In 2001, the director’s son Nikolai Viktorov released a revised version of the film ^[17] . Digital image processing, color restoration, some special effects have been redesigned, a completely new sound track in Dolby Digital format has been recorded. The duration of the film is brought into line with the standards of modern film distribution, as a result it is reduced by 20 minutes. According to the authors, in the revised version the stretched episodes were reduced, which reduced the dynamics of the film, and the episodes that bore Soviet ideological coloring were thrown out. The new version of the film adds, in particular, frames of starships hovering in clouds above the spaceport (the landing site exactly copies the famous "shot glass" of Sheremetyevo-1 airport) ^[18] , frames of a ship hanging from outer space from Dessa Gaia ^[19] .

Kir Bulychev wrote: “When the film was shot, Richard had an idea, instead of the word“ end ”write“ All the shots of the dead planet Dess were shot on Earth today. ” It’s a pity that they were frightened at Goskino, and the picture ends as usual ” ^[20] . Only in the new version of the film in the final credits can we see the phrase: "All the shots of the dying planet Dess were shot on planet Earth."

Almost the entire film was reduced, especially the first series. The following scenes are noticeably reduced:

"Niya - an artificial man" (1 series)

• Meeting of the contacts commission at the quarantine near-earth station, at which the future of Niyi was determined (00:06:30).
• Mention of Peter Petrovich about the earthly adept of cloning Zagorsky (00:07:58; 00:20:57)
• Niyya sneezes at Lebedev’s house during a televised commission on contacts (00:08:04)
• The episode with brunsulite that Sergei brought to Stepan from the planet Senik (00:13:53).
• Conversation of Maria Pavlovna with the Glasha robot about Niya (00:21:01).
• The scene of establishing contact with Niya in Sergey’s office (00:21:20)
• Niyi’s quick somersaults on the grass and Glasha’s discontent with the mess in the house: “If I saw, I would not allow this disgrace!” (00:22:54; 00:24:12)
• Episode on the beach about the moral standards of earthlings and the view of the naked Niyi (00:36:45)
• Part of the conversation between Sergey and Nadezhda about the “center of obedience” (00:37:34)
• Dialogue of Stepan and exobiologist Klimov on the significance of the work of the crew of the Astra (00:59:25)

“Angels of the cosmos” (2 episode)

• Barmaley and Stepan's visit to the laboratory to Niya after she regains consciousness (00:02:10)
• Report of Ivanova and Klimov on the study of Dessa Dreyer with a video sequence of general plans for the empty corridors of Astra (00:22:54)
• The final part of the meeting of earthlings before the first phase of purification (tunnel absorption) (00:30:05)

Also, the authors of the new version in places remounted the order of the episodes according to the literary and directorial script.

It is no secret that the composer Alexei Rybnikov partially used the same musical themes for the opera Juno and Avos and the movie Through Thorns to the Stars. In the new version, most of the themes were replaced by the music of Dmitry Rybnikov, the son of Alexei Lvovich. However, the main theme of the new version is the so-called “Thunderstorm” theme, written by Alexei Rybnikov exclusively for “Thorns”. In addition, both versions of the film begin with the well-known theme “Light of the Stars”, in the new version the arrangement is only slightly changed.

• Not the actress was invited to the role of Niyi, but the fashion model Elena Metyolkina ^[21] .
• Initially, it was thought to shoot the alien completely bald, but because of criticism of officials from Goskino, I had to make short white wigs for all the clones ^[22] .
• The mannequins, who “played” the role of the clones that died on Gaia, were made from a plaster cast of Metelkina, pouring it with liquid foam ^[23] .
• The study of the destroyed alien ship was filmed in the scenery installed on the bottom of the pool of the Yalta Hotel ^[24] .
• Some cosmic scenes were filmed under water, using the "hydraulic weightlessness" to simulate the present ^[25] .
• The flyer was supposed to be shown in the film - an apparatus that lowers Niyu and Sergey Lebedev from orbit right to his house on the landing site. Но на это транспортное средство не хватило бюджета, пришлось показать, как на площадку сходят Сергей и Нийя, а откуда — неясно. Также, в сцене, когда Степан Лебедев просит у Надежды разрешение «покататься», он идёт за кусты, где виден обычный автомобиль.
• Робота Бармалея предполагалось сделать из металла. Но первую конструкцию реквизитор сварил из железных вёдер, проигнорировав режиссёрские эскизы, и Викторов её отверг. На другую не осталось ни времени, ни средств, и робота сделали надувным ^[26] .
• В эпизоде, где Нийя раздевается на пляже, изначально было задумано показать, что у героини отсутствует пупок . Партийное начальство сочло такую сцену недопустимой в советском киноискусстве. Пришлось ради сохранения сцены выдумывать диалог про «моральные нормы землян» ^[27] .
• Плато «Южный крест» снимали недалеко от Бахчисарая в пещерном городе Чуфут-Кале ^[28] .
• В роли одного из археологов на плато «Южный крест» снимался сын режиссёра Николай Викторов, впоследствии ставший режиссёром новой версии «Терний» ^[29] .
• На информационном табло космопорта можно заметить название звездолёта «Заря» и пункт его назначения — Альфа Кассиопеи. Этот звездолёт, очевидно, назван в честь звездолёта «Заря» из другого фильма Ричарда Викторова: « Москва — Кассиопея » ^[30] .
• Виды гибнущей планеты Десса снимались в Таджикистане , в окрестностях заброшенного нефтеперерабатывающего завода возле города Исфары . До этого там планировались съёмки фильма Андрея Тарковского « Сталкер », но не было найдено места для размещения съёмочной группы, и съёмки были перенесены в Эстонию ^[31] . Необычный вид ландшафтов был получен за счёт использования технической спектрозональной киноплёнки «СН-6М», один из эмульсионных слоёв которой обладает светочувствительностью к инфракрасному излучению ^[32] .
• Подземные сооружения Дессы снимали в подвалах Солянки .
• Вездеход, на котором земляне исследуют Дессу, изготовили на Ялтинской киностудии из армейского гусеничного бронетранспортёра и деталей самолёта. Там же снимали и биомассу, состоящую из противопожарной пены и муки, а плавающие в этой смеси аквалангисты создавали визуальный эффект живого бурления массы ^[33] .
• В конце фильма новой версии ошибочно указан актёр Владимир Носик , сыгравший Лия. На самом деле эту роль сыграл его брат, Валерий Носик ^[34] .
• Актёр Улдис Лиелдидж был известен в советском кинематографе ролями офицеров нацистской Германии. Однако режиссёр Ричард Викторов именно этому типичному латышу отдал роль советского космонавта Сергея Лебедева ^[35] .
• Упоминание бабушкой Степана Марией Павловной Плутона , где «нашли каких-то Странников» — явная отсылка к «полуденному» циклу романов Стругацких. Странники присутствуют также и в некоторых произведениях самого Кира Булычёва (например, в романе « Гай-до »).
• 8 октября 2015 года в Лондонском музее науки в рамках российской выставки «Cosmonauts. Birth of the Space Age» состоялась премьера полностью восстановленной оригинальной версии фильма «Через тернии к звёздам» ^[36] .
• 28 января 2016 года состоялся премьерный показ в России и встреча с создателями отреставрированного фильма в известном московском кинотеатре « Иллюзион » ^[37] .
• В фильме должен был принять участие актер Анатолий Калабулин, но он умер незадолго до начала съёмок в фильме.

• Викторов Р. «Через тернии к звёздам» // Советский экран. — 1981. — № 7 . — С. 10—11 .
• Самир Джабер. Секреты кинофантастики // « Техника — молодёжи » : журнал. — 1984. — № 5 . — С. 26—28 . — ISSN 0320-331X .
• Г. И. Зеленин. Из опыта работы над подводными кадрами кинофильмов // « Техника кино и телевидения » : журнал. — 1982. — № 10 . — С. 35—42 . - ISSN 0040-2249 .
• Истратова С. Земная фантастика Ричарда Викторова // Искусство кино. — 1983. — № 3 . — С. 44—53 .
• Плахов А. Достоверность неизведанного // Советский экран. — 1981. — № 11 . - S. 2-4 .
• Ревич В. Чтобы Земля не стала Дессой... // Советский экран. — 1981. — № 23 . — С. 14—15 .

• Official movie website
• «Через тернии к звёздам»: кинозал культового фильма
• «Через тернии к звёздам» (англ.) на сайте Internet Movie Database  
• Американский постер фильма
• «Через тернии к звёздам» (оригинал, 1980 год, 01 серия) (на Youtube)
• «Через тернии к звёздам» (оригинал, 1980 год, 02 серия) (на Youtube)
• «Через тернии к звёздам» (новая версия, 2001 год, 01 серия) (на Youtube)
• «Через тернии к звёздам» (новая версия, 2001 год, 02 серия) (на Youtube)