Cosmic Voyage (Kosmicheskiy Reys: Fantasticheskaya Novella)

This is an amazingly insightful film from 1936 which shows Soviet scientists preparing a rocket ship for a voyage to the moon. However, there won't be a group of robust, well-trained cosmonauts making the trip. Instead, an elderly scientist, a young woman, and a boy get on board to make the journey. During flight they experience the joys of weightless flying about the roomy interior of the spacecraft. Once on the moon they can leap from one rocky plateau to another. While not an innovative film in its style and technique - Stalin was increasingly suspicious of the startling experiments of silent-era Soviet filmmakers - COSMIC VOYAGE is nonetheless a fascinating consideration of space travel and how "giant steps for mankind" on the moon might look. Accompanied by short film, "Interplanetary Revolution" (1924). -- Chale Nafus, Director of Programming, Austin Film Society