} Crítica Retrô: Aelita – A Rainha de Marte (1924) / Aelita, Queen of Mars (1924)

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Friday, April 28, 2023

Aelita – A Rainha de Marte (1924) / Aelita, Queen of Mars (1924)

 ESTA CRÍTICA TEM SPOILERS / THIS REVIEW HAS SPOILERS


Marte! O sonho de muitos aventureiros, astronautas e lunáticos. Um local que já foi visitado, através do cinema: eu já escrevi sobre viagens cinematográficas para Marte antes, mas há uma lista infindável de filmes com passagem por Marte. Um destes filmes, feito na União Soviética na era muda, é o estranho filme de propaganda “Aelita – A Rainha de Marte”, de 1924.

Mars! The dream of many adventurers, astronauts and lunatics. A place that was already visited, through cinema: I’ve talked about movie trips to Mars before, but there is a never-ending list of films with a passage to Mars. One of these films, made in the Soviet Union in the silent era, is the strange propaganda flick “Aelita, Queen of Mars”, from 1924.

Em Marte, a rainha Aelita (Yuliya SoIntseva) vê num telescópio os habitantes do planeta vizinho, a Terra, com genuína curiosidade. Ela se apaixona por um dos terráqueos. Enquanto isso, na Terra, muitas pessoas em laboratórios recebem uma estranha mensagem: “Anta Odeli Uta”. Acreditando ser uma mensagem de Marte, o engenheiro Loss (Nikolai Tsereteli) decide construir uma nave espacial para visitar o planeta vermelho.

On Mars, Queen Aelita (Yuliya SoIntseva) sees throw a telescope the inhabitants of the neighboring planet, Earth, with genuine curiosity. She falls in love with one of them. Meanwhile, on Earth, several people in laboratories receive a strange message: “Anta Odeli Uta”. Believing it’s a message from Mars, the engineer Loss (Nikolai Tsereteli) decides to build a spaceship to visit the red planet.


Depois de seis meses trabalhando numa usina, Loss volta para casa e encontra a esposa Natasha (Valentina Kuindhzi) numa pose comprometedora com um canalha. Loss atira em Natasha e decide que é hora de ir para Marte. No planeta vermelho, ele encontra Aelita e causa profundo impacto com mudanças para os menos afortunados.

After six months working on a power plant, Loss returns home to find his wife Natasha (Valentina Kuindhzi) in a compromising pose with a scoundrel. Loss shoots Natasha and decides it’s the ideal time to go to Mars. On the red planet, he meets Aelita and has a deep impact on changing how things happen there for the less powerful.


Marte em “Aelita” é futurístico, mas não muito. As roupas usadas pelos marcianos são brilhantes e curiosas – mais curiosas que belas. Não há equipamentos futurísticos mostrados além do estranho telescópio do começo do filme. É futurístico em Marte, mas a norma social vigente é construída em cima da escravidão.

Mars in “Aelita” is futuristic, but not so much. The clothes worn by the Martians are shiny and curious – more curious than charming. There is no futuristic gadget shown other than the weird-looking telescope from the beginning. It’s futuristic on Mars, but the societal norm is built on slavery.


Loss acredita que pode ajudar a “reconstruir a Rússida” com sua missão para Marte. A mensagem “Anta Odeli Uta” é recebida em quatro de dezembro de 1921: apenas quatro anos após a Revolução Russa. Neste sentido, “Aelita” é um tipo estranhíssimo de propaganda, pois os russos vão para Marte para ajudar a estabelecer uma União de Repúblicas Socialistas Soviéticas por lá.

Loss believes he can help “reconstruct Russia” with his mission to Mars. The message “Anta Odeli Uta” is received on December 4th, 1921: only four years after the Russian Revolution. In this sense, “Aelita” is the oddest kind of propaganda, as the Russians who go to Mars help establish a Union of Socialist Soviet Republics there.

Yuliya SoIntseva é mais lembrada hoje como a primeira mulher a ganhar o prêmio de Melhor Direção no Festival de Cinema de Cannes, com o filme “A Epopeia dos Anos de Fogo” (1961). Yuliya foi casada com o diretor Aleksandr Dovzhenko e estreou como assistente de direção no seu filme “Terra” (1930), hoje um clássico cult. “Aelita” foi o primeiro trabalho de Yuliya como atriz, e ela apareceu em outros sete filmes até 1930, quando fez a mudança para trás das câmeras. Yuliya dirigiu 14 filmes entre 1939 e 1980.

Yuliya SoIntseva is best remembered today as the first female filmmaker to win the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival, with the film “The Story of the Flaming Years” (1961). Yuliya was married to the director Aleksandr Dovzhenko and debuted as assistant director in his film “Earth” (1930), now a cult classic. “Aelita” was Yuliya’s first role as an actress, and she appeared in seven more films until 1930, when she went behind the cameras for good. Yuliya directed 14 films between 1939 and 1980.

O director Yakov Protazanov estava voltando do exílio. Ele havia deixado o país durante a Revolução Russa, e fez filmes na França e na Alemanha enquanto estava exilado. Protazanov fazia filmes desde 1909, quando dirigiu seu primeiro curta, e escreveu boa parte dos filmes que dirigiu.

Director Yakov Protazanov was coming back from exile. He had fled the country during the Russian Revolution, and made films in France and Germany while on exile. Protazanov had been making films since 1909, when he directed his first short, and he had written a good amount of the movies he directed.

Algo que ninguém esperava: o filme é baseado num romance de Tolstoy. Mas não é Lev Tolstoy: o autor é Alexei Tolstoy, um homem provavelmente assombrado por ter o mesmo nome de um autor conhecidíssimo. Mais lembrado hoje exatamente por escrever o material que deu origem a “Aelita”, Alexei Tolstoy é também o autor de “The Golden Key, or Buratino’s Adventure”, algo que surgiu como um fanfic de Pinóquio.

Something nobody expected: the movie is based on a novel by Tolstoy. But it’s not Leo Tolstoy: the author is Alexei Tolstoy, a man probably plagued by having the same last name of a remarkable writer. Best remembered today exactly for writing the material that gave birth to “Aelita”, Alexei Tolstoy is also the writer of “The Golden Key, or Buratino’s Adventure”, something that was originally a Pinocchio fanfic.

Eu ouvi falar tanto de “Aelita” nos últimos anos e estava animada por finalmente poder conferir o filme. Infelizmente, minhas expectativas eram altas demais, e acabei a sessão frustrada. Eu esperava mais cenas em Marte e, o pior de tudo, o filme tem meu tipo mais odiado de Deus ex machina: a resolução “foi tudo um sonho” – neste caso, foi tudo um sonho acordado. Eu reconheço a importância de “Aelita” para a história da ficção científica e como o filme influenciou o retrato de Marte e dos marcianos em filmes subsequentes. Há muito para se gostar em “Aelita” – isto é, se você não estiver esperando um filme só sobre Marte. É possível fazer uma viagem melhor para Marte em outros filmes.

I’ve heard about “Aelita” so much over the years and was excited to finally see it. Unfortunately, my high expectations weren’t met and I left the session underwhelmed. I expected more scenes in Mars, and, the worst of all, the movie had my least favorite kind of Deus ex machina: the “it was all a dream” resolution – in this case, it was all a daydream.  I recognize the importance “Aelita” has in sci-fi history and in shaping the overall look of Mars and Martians in future films. There is plenty to like in “Aelita” – that is, if you don’t come expecting a huge Mars festival. You can take a better trip to Mars elsewhere..

 

This is my contribution to the Futurethon, hosted by Gill and Barry at Realweegiemidget Reviews and Cinematic Catharsis

8 comments:

  1. Thanks for bringing this quirky film to the blogathon Le, it does look good fun. Does look an interesting one to watch too.

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  2. I've never heard of this film, but it sounds interesting, even with the rather lame ending.

    I enjoyed learning about this other author named Tolstoy! That must have been a frustrating predicament for him

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  3. I have read about Aelita, Queen of Mars, but I never have seen it. I am glad you got to, even if it was a bit underwhelming. You did a fine article on it, Le.

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  4. Way back when, a work colleague, knowing that I was a big science fiction buff, recommended this to me. I never got around to seeing it, but I have seen stills over the years. As far as the ending goes, I think back in that era, filmmakers were cautious about how audiences would handle fantastic or scary material, so "it was all a dream" was employed a lot to spare fragile sensibilities.

    After Stalin died, Eastern bloc filmmakers were able to tone down the propaganda, and made some of the best sci-fi of the mid-twentieth century, with sophisticated stories and elaborate visuals and effects: Planeta Bur (1962) and Ikarie XB-1 (1963) are two of the best.

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  5. Hi Le, this looks visually sumptuous - Gloria Swanson's Norma Desmond was right...with all these striking visuals and amazingly expressive faces, silent films didn't need sound or words. I have never heard of this one and will look for it!
    -Chris

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  6. Nice review! I agree that this is a bit of letdown, for the reasons you mentioned. The costumes are fun, though. Thanks for joining the Futurethon!

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  7. I must see this, because (A) the costumes and (B) Soviet propaganda which can be a little much sometimes. Thanks for sharing this review. I'll be tracking this down.

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  8. It's funny that the women in these movies always wear lots of spikes. Like Lady Gaga before Lady Gaga.

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