Film Forum

(1963, Jindřich Polák) A visionary work of Eastern Bloc science fiction, IKARIE XB 1 (adapted from a novel by Solaris author Stanisław Lem) melds Cold War ideology and utopian futurism into a tour de force of space-age modernism. In the year 2163, a band of astronauts embarks on a fifteen-year voyage deep into outer space, in hopes of discovering life in another galaxy. It’s a perilous journey during which they will confront the wreckage of the twentieth century, the chilling vastness of the cosmos, and their own mortality. A triumph of avant-garde production design that may have served as a model for Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, IKARIE XB 1 – long known internationally only through a mangled and dubbed reedit – is a singular sci-fi landmark that finds both terror and wonder in the unknown. In Czech with English subtitles. Approx. 86 min.

A JANUS FILMS RELEASE

Reviews

“PACKED WITH SUBLIME MOMENTS UNLIKE ANY FILM BEFORE IT… A game-changing film that profoundly influenced the genre and showed that science fiction movies weren't only about special effects; they were also high art. Kubrick must have seen it before making 2001.”
– Alex Cox