Hard to Be a God

2013

2h 57m

Sci-Fi

Drama

List

93%

Tomatometer

44 Reviews

66%

Audience Score

1,000+ Ratings

Scientists are sent to the planet Arkanar to help a medieval civilization and rescue intellectuals.

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Critics Consensus

A sci-fi epic with palpable connections to the present, Hard to Be a God caps director Aleksei German's brilliant filmography with a final masterpiece.

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Nick Pinkerton

Sight & Sound

A profoundly, wilfully destabilising experience.

Jan 15, 2016

Full Review

Jonathan Romney

Observer (UK)

The result may be an awe-inspiring folly rather than a fully realised masterpiece, but it's radically out of the ordinary.

Rated: 5/5

Aug 9, 2015

Full Review

Tara Brady

Irish Times

Oblique and dense in a manner that makes those other great Strugatsky-inspired films look like Star Wars episodes, the film relentlessly hammers out humanity's propensity for barbarism.

Rated: 5/5

Aug 8, 2015

Full Review

Alonso Díaz de la Vega

El Universal

[Filmmaker Aleksei] German exalts the grotesque sensuality of Arkanar with a visual style that surpasses the expressiveness of Khrustalyov, My Car! [Full review in Spanish]

Dec 9, 2021

Full Review

Anton Bitel

Projected Figures

...goes on (and on), loose of shape and mostly free of characters (despite a horde of extras), for another 2 1/2 hours of aimless wallowing in the mud. German becomes as mired in his world as his hero.

Nov 16, 2021

Full Review

Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

Those welcoming the sensation of being overwhelmed will relish German's uncompromising vision.

Rated: 5/5

Oct 27, 2020

Full Review

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S R

My brother recommended it for its uniqueness and unique it was. It was so medieval and painfully frustrating, but it still had some crazy staged choreographed scenes. Did I enjoy it? Not especially, but it deserves respect for its ambitious sci-fi plot. It took guts to make and to take a box office bomb. RUS.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

04/13/24

Full Review

Frisian W

Absolutely amazing. I really like the unique hypnotic and otherworldly vibe. I watch the trailer often to relive this feeling. A very creepy planet that I'm happy not to live on.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/17/23

Full Review

Honest D

One of the most intense experiences of my life.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/23/23

Full Review

tink l

3 hours of my life I will never get back. Sure, the camera work is great, black & white sets an interesting mood, the changes from normal acting to 4th wall breaks have their merits. Yes, the middle ages were dark and nasty. Had it been 5-10 minutes it might have made for a great short. But flogging the gross, decaying, dead horse covered in sh*it and vomit for 3 hours was just unbearable. I watched this at a movie theatre (during a film festival, so people would be a bit more open to unusual experiences, you'd think). But after an hour more than half the audience had left. The people I went with found refuge in sleep...

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Rich S

Like most Russian literature and the movies that result from those novels, Hard to Be a God has its own beauty. It's not the beauty of a sunset, but rather the beauty of dark clouds rolling in to wash away the filth of the movie's stagnant culture.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/19/21

Full Review

chris w

9 9 10 9 10 10 7 7 8 10 = 89 2021/4/20 導演故意打破原先故事行進方式，透過美術與破碎敘事呈現混亂、汙穢與絕望的另一個星球。構圖時常透過角色切割前、中、後景，人物時而望向鏡頭、時而突兀穿過攝影機或以物件遮擋觀影者的視線，透過長鏡頭與跟拍鏡頭使其以觀察者的角度浸淫在這個世界。

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

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Aleksey German

Director

Leonid Yarmolnik

Don Rumata

Valentin Golubenko

Arata

Yuriy Tsurilo

Don Pampa

Evgeniy Gerchakov

Budakh

Aleksandr Chutko

Don Reba

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Synopsis

Scientists are sent to the planet Arkanar to help a medieval civilization and rescue intellectuals.

Director: Aleksey German
Producer: Viktor Izvekov, Leonid Yarmolnik
Screenwriter: Aleksey German, Svetlana Karmalita
Genre: Sci-Fi, Drama
Original Language: Russian
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 30, 2016
Runtime: 2h 57m

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