A major Corporation produces human-like robots, despite public opinion, the press and the unions who oppose. The decision to send a spacecraft to Saturn to launch artificial satellites, and the crew will consist of robots and humans.
For the flight selected by the pilot Pirks, known for his honesty and integrity. Detractors from corporations fear that the opinion of Perks could disrupt profitable trade and take their own measures.
The work of the great Polish science fiction writer Stanislaw LEM, world cinema were treated unfairly rarely, perhaps only the novel “Solaris” has attracted the attention of filmmakers and screenwriters he had been filmed twice (A. Tarkovsky and S. Soderbergh). Meanwhile, a series of stories about the pilot Pirxa holds a special (if not favorite) place in the work of the writer. He is the most dynamic and extended over time. Starting in a calm, even slightly humorous tones (“Flight to the moon”), as maturation of the hero cycle is becoming more dramatic hue (story “Patrol”, “the Hunt for Satara”, “Albatross”), and finally rises almost to tragedy (“Ananke”, “Terminus”). The story of “Inquiry” belongs to the middle part of the cycle — Pirks has long been not inexperienced cadet, but have not yet reached the heights of astrogator the highest positions in the kosmoflot in the hierarchy of the author. What is the plot of the story “Inquiry”?
One known intelectron Corporation invites Perks to fly to Saturn and to act as expert in the evaluation of his unusual crew – a crew consisting of humans and humanoid robots, to distinguish which is impossible without use of special equipment (renren, etc.). On a direct question about the origin of the robot will not respond, as programmed, and to apply technical means to Perks banned. The purpose of the flight was to evaluate the crew, not knowing who is the robot and who is human. Pirks is aware that when a positive evaluation will begin mass production of robots, astronauts, and many people journey into space will be closed. So why is Pirks? He’s absolutely incorruptible, he has no family (in the whole cycle of stories you will not find mention of such), space for him is ALL. The clincher for the consent of Perks on this flight was a failed assassination attempt on him by people whose interests were not on the side of truth and on the side of the business any other it would be possible to intimidate, bribe, but not Perks. Flight mission included a risky element — the passage through Cassini gap (ring of Saturn is not uniform, there is a gap between the belt-ice and rocks with a width of from 20 to 200 km, named after the astronomer who saw it) and to reset there 2 satellites. It is the passage through the gap and was the culmination of the flight, the moment of truth for the crew, and there found the “who’s who”, and the whole crew together talking to his commander, trying to help him to calculate the robots.
Polish film Director Marek Pestrak, which is sometimes called Polish ed wood, in 1979, suddenly gave the film, which differs in style from all his further creative work, by definition of the genre is almost the perfect space Thriller where it is not easy to unravel the hidden authors charade “where is the man? where is the Android?”.
The tension keeps the viewer almost to the very end, a very even level removed plans of space and the Saturn, and trillerny action scenes, most notably about coming off the hands of Android, dropped almost to the level of world standards.
About the space ship it is possible to say “ark”, the ark of the New Covenant, where people are real and people are looking for artificial understanding with each other, only the path to this understanding is so difficult and dangerous that the viewer understands that not all will reach the target.
By the way, and until this film, the Director has appealed to the theme of the pilot Pirxa and to the works of LEM, putting a TV science fiction drama “Inquiry” (1973). However there Pirxa played by a different actor.
I must say that in the same 1979 year Ridley Scott put the famous “Alien” where was the image of the Android ash, the doers of wickedness among the people. Yes, and at atmospheric, literal darkness both ships these two films are similar.
“Inquiry of pilot Pirks” so, in essence, remained the best film of Pastrana, nothing like it in the future, and not removed. However, adventure fiction “Curse of the valley of the snakes” became an absolute leader of hire in the USSR, but that’s another story.
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