Original subtitles

ODESSA FILM STUDIO

Special thanks to Academician R. SAGDEYEV

USSR Pilot-Cosmonauts A. LEONOV and V. SEVASTYANOV

Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences I. SHKLOVSKY and N. KARDASHEV

for discussing the problem of extraterrestrial civilizations

I would say that, scientifically, the most difficult issue is

the question of how life originated from the most elementary forms.

It will take us a lot of time to have this question answered.

But assuming that life originated, one way or another, on the Earth,

why couldn't it also originate on one of the Universe's countless planets?

As our prehistory, as the civilization of intelligent man,

it's the knowledge of our environment, the knowledge of ourselves,

the knowledge of nature, the knowledge of man's inner self,

the knowledge of the laws of natural science, of the social laws.

And we, having not yet completed that process of cognition,

suddenly begin (are we interested in it?)

to study another nature

and, perhaps, another society in other civilizations.

I don't share the opinion of the most of my colleagues who believe in

the total inhabitation of outer space by intelligent creatures, among others.

I think that life, intelligent life,

is an exceptionally rare phenomenon,

and the closest seats of intellect are removed from us by distances

of hundreds or millions of thousands of light-years.

I think that there exist super-civilizations

and that we can discover them as early as the 20th century.

Who are they, those intelligent creatures?

Are they better than we? Or worse? Where will they come from?

We can only fantasize. And what does it all look like?

Painting, art, cinema

allow us to materialize our fantasies.

And the film you will see

is one of the attempts to tell the mankind how it's going to happen.

Only time will tell.

ORION'S LOOP

Screenplay by Alexei LEONOV Valentin SELIVANOV

Directed by Vasily LEVIN

Cinematography by V. AVLOSHENKO E. GUBSKY, Yu. LEMESHEV

Production Designers L. TOKAREVA, A. TOKAREV

Music by A. ZATSEPIN

Director assistant S.TSIVILKO

Chief Consultant Academician R. SAGDEYEV

USSR GOSKINO Symphony Orchestra Conductor — V. VASILYEV

Cast:

Belov — Leonid BAKSHTAYEV Goris — Gennady SHKURATOV

Tamarkin — Anatoly MATESHKO

Sagansky — Vitaly DOROSHENKO Dementyeva — Ludmila SMORODINA

Krechet — Anatoly AZO

Old man — Givi TOKHADZE Woman — Liya ELIAVA

Eya — Yelena KOKALEVSKAYA

With A. GRADOV, Yu. MANSHAGIN, B. RUDNEV

On the outskirts of the Solar system,

an unknown phenomenon appeared 2 months ago.

The few available videos, taken from spaceships, convince us

that the starships get into a powerful radiation field.

The astronaut's brain is greatly affected.

The radiation has the shape of a ring,

with its source located in the area of FU Star in the Orion Constellation.

The spaceships perish in the energy loop.

It originated in the area of Planet Diana near the Ephor Star

and in two-years time will reach the Earth.

We can claim

that the Earth is in danger.

We called that mysterious phenomenon Orion's Loop.

It remains unclear what exactly is the cause of the people's deaths.

This is the footage from the Roma starship.

You've just seen the return of Italian astronauts.

They had penetrated Orion's Loop farther than anyone before them.

They're now in a neurological center

and cannot tell anything either about how they were saved

or about the cause of the accident.

It can be supposed that their nervous system

is being destroyed by an unusually powerful radiation of unknown nature.

Please, Andrei Semyonovich.

It's urgent that we should solve this riddle.

The Institute of Space Problems designed a ship of a Phaethon type,

with the biological protection from all known kinds of radiation.

To send up a craft in outer space with people onboard is sheer madness!

Considering unpredictable conditions, I suggest sending a crew of robots.

Our institute has built such robots that are capable of working in space.

The robots are not perfect when creative tasks are to be carried out.

Only humans are capable of making hypotheses

and solving the mysteries of the level that we have got today.

The " Cosmos" Commission of the UN

is asking the Soviet scientists to send a Phaethon spaceship to Orion's Loop.

What would the head of space research say to that?

The preparation of Phaethon is nearing completion.

Pavel Belov will head a crew of the astronauts.

Each member of the crew is a specialist in astronautics

and is capable of making independent decisions.

The crew will also include androids of the Skryabin system.

They have been put to tests and judged fit for space flights.

Let's check your cyborg once more.

Attention, all!

Let's start!

Pavel!

Hold on, old chap!

5,000 degrees inside the chamber. Plasmochemistry.

Marking block 8.

- To the unique cyberneticist. - To the designer of a great computer.

- Hi! - Hi!

- Well, how is it? - The computer's doubles are okay.

Why did you create the cyborgs identical to us?

So that you work in space, and not get distracted by unfamiliar faces.

- Nikolai Savelyevich, the new data. - I'm listening.

Saturn-5 reports that the Loop will reach the Earth in 22 months.

What? According to our colleagues in Kharkov, in 30 months!

The Loop's speed is pulsating.

- That's nasty. - We caught it at acceleration.

We'll deal with it!

Phaethon placed in the specified orbit. Automation is on.

Cyberniticist-2.

Flight engineer-2.

Navigator-2.

Physician-2.

Captain-2.

Well, take your places, guys.

A swarm of meteorites in front of us.

Switching on meteorite protection.

- Navigator-2. - Entering Orion's Loop.

What's on our course?

Cyberneticist-2.

Computer shows an unknown radiation.

Engines are in norm. No changes. Screens are in order.

12th day of flight. The humans keeping watch.

Mitya!

Mitya!

Tamarkin!

Flight engineer, what have you got?

- I'll report in 5 minutes. - All right.

- August! - Yes?

- Why are we going off course? - I'm trying to find out.

- Why do you keep silent? - It looks like...

What?

No, nothing.

I'm just tired.

What happened?

Need any help?

Let's find out.

Stay here. Keep watch.

Got you.

What's happened?!

We've been trapped.

I saw it.

No, it's impossible.

I saw a strange figure.

I felt a headache.

What else?

The computer reports there's an outside radiation in the ship.

Well?

The system of life support and thermoregulation is jeopardized.

- What's the cause? - The screens seem not to hold.

Have you checked the protective systems?

Go to Dementyeva, let her give you a check-up.

Pavel!

All right. Show me where you met that strange figure.

I gave Sasha a check-up. An intense stress.

We came to unravel the mystery of the Loop,

but someone seems to be unraveling us.

The cyborgs may be of great use now.

Of course, they're your pupils.

Perhaps the computer's already prepared them for a spacewalk.

Let's take a look how they're doing.

- How do you like your double? - I can take pride in him.

- Screen No.6? - In norm.

No.7?

What is it?

2 bicrons off.

That's it.

- What's up there?! - It burned down...

What?

Damn!

Navigator-2!

Navigator-2!

Mitya, save him! You hear?

It's useless now.

We can't get him back?

Now I have to walk out myself and check it.

No, August. No.

We're in the Loop's energy belt.

Soon we'll get to its center.

It's too early to jump at conclusions. We have too little information.

The deeper you go into the woods...

Captain!

The computer gives us absolutely false information.

A fantastically dense energy field further on our course.

I ask: whence is this data? It answers: don't know.

Given it is controlling all the double circuits,

I fear for the fate of the ship.

Your conclusions?

The electronic equipment may fail any moment now

and Phaethon is under the threat of full disintegration.

- Your suggestion? - Perhaps we'd better return?

Alexander's words are not without reason.

I believe it's necessary to continue our flight.

We shouldn't tempt fate.

The Earth is expecting real help, and we still don't know anything.

We know something.

And if we take more chances, we will know nothing.

I'm not going anywhere from here!

Screen 7 has been shifted 2 bycrons off.

Nothing terrible. Its tolerance is 6 bycrons.

But what's going on?

The radiation penetrates the ship's plating. I'm feeling it!

- Check block 2 in the equipment room. - Yes.

Hello.

Hello. Who are you?

Eya.

Eya?

Does it hurt?

Very much.

- And now? - It's better.

But I feel anxious.

And now?

It's good now.

I'm not what you think I am.

I'm not the product of your imagination, not a hallucination.

The world is enormous and you don't know everything about it.

I think I'm sleeping and seeing an amazing dream.

When I leave,

you'll remember me.

And now listen to me and try to remember it.

Your planet is in for a misfortune.

We know. That's why we're here.

No. It's not the Orion's Loop that threatens the humans.

Not the Loop?

What, then?

Tell me!

Mitya.

Mitya, who were you talking to?

Why are you against our going back?

On Earth we'll work on the results of our findings.

The best scientists will join in our work. Mitya?

- What is this? - Nothing. An experiment.

- An experiment? - I'll tell you about it later.

I dozed off, didn't I?

It's strange.

I'm tired.

We're all tired. I'll go to my cabin.

You're late!

Sorry.

1 7th day of flight. Midnight onboard.

Astronaut Goris's duty hours.

Some nightmare!

August.

- Mother? - No. I only look like her.

I've come to tell you the truth. Can you listen without getting excited?

Yes.

We've learned about the galactic virus RZ.

Soon it will reach the Earth. One of your ships already got in its field.

Look.

They were stricken with a glass disease.

Captain Blosen.

Thomas.

Itjust can't be!

I asked you not to get excited.

The radiation getting into the ship has a dangerous effect on the psyche.

I made the decision to walk out and fix the protective screens.

Goris.

- Need any help? - Keep order here.

You must not leave the ship. There's no wall there, and it'll hurt a lot.

The damn wall!

CATAPULT

What happened?

I made the decision to walk out and fix the protective screens.

Goris.

I can't see him.

He walked far off.

His radio beacon doesn't work either.

Masha.

That's him! Him.

August.

August.

Do you hear me?

All right. He's on the other side.

- Look! Look! - Yes. Yes.

We'll pick him up into the shuttle.

Why did his radio beacon begin to work?

- Phaethon, do you copy? - Roger. We copy.

Found August. Alive. Coming back.

- They've docked, guys. - I see.

We're waiting, Captain.

- What do you say now? - We knew what we were in for.

- It was an unwarranted risk. - Quiet.

- You should... - Shut up!

Eya.

- Hello. - Our comrade got into trouble.

I know. We barely managed to save him.

Soon it'll be easier for him.

Sure. When we're all in a trap,

it'll be easier to experiment on us.

What experiments are you talking about?

- When you enter the Loop's center... - Right, the mousetrap.

Stop it. She wishes us well.

Then why did so many of our comrades perish here?

You see?

20th day of flight.

8 p.m.

It's the third day, and not a word.

What's the matter, Masha?

What is it? What?

- August is pretty bad. - Can you manage?

I'll try to. But it's very dangerous.

Come on, stop it.

Calm yourself, Maria.

Once August set off for the distant Pluto,

while his mother and I

were working on

the problem of psycho-contact.

Well?

She had heart problems, and once, during

a dangerous experiment, she wanted...

Please don't cry. I remember what happened then.

Yes, it was terrible.

Do you blame yourself for it?

No, but I had to prevent it.

It was not for nothing that ancient Greeks had the legend of Phaethon.

About that eternal conflict between Man and Cosmos.

- A conflict? - Of course.

As early as the 19th century Huxley maintained

that the Universe was in constant confrontation with Man.

The aim of Nature is to suppress Man, to destroy what he has created,

and Man defends himself and the products of his creation. Isn't it so?

Your Englishman is a liar, and you're a liar too.

Nature struggles only with those who approach it as an enemy and a user.

But if you look at it as a friend and an ally, you'll become much stronger.

And get in a deep shock, like August.

Everything should be done using one's brains.

And leave a little room for imagination and intuition.

You're an incorrigible romantic and utopian.

Will August be incapacitated for long?

I'll do my best to put him on his feet as soon as possible.

How? He's like...

There's a new method of treatment. It showed good results.

Ah... That new discovery. Psycho-contact.

- That discovery is 6,000 years old. - We need him to start speaking.

Yes, Captain.

Everyone has his own margin of safety. It can be calculated.

There's one more message.

What's getting into the ship are holograms.

They contain twice as much information as ours.

Only intelligent creatures could create them.

- You mean that... - Yes.

If they wanted to come into contact,

they wouldn't have sent us the holograms destroying the brain.

Their intentions are hostile.

Then how would you explain this?

- Where did you get it? - A gift from the Eya hologram.

I made an analysis of its composition.

This is an ancient ornament cast from a metal unknown to us,

circa 18-20th millennium B.C.

And this disc was on August. Let's check it.

Someone benefits from affecting our psyche.

The legendary Gryphon. How come he's in outer space?

Yes...

The disc is made of the same metal.

- Surprises, surprises... - Look.

Depicted on it are the planets of our solar system.

There're 10 of them. One is too many.

That's some food for thought.

What if it is an attempt at contact.

We should go to the Loop's center and wait for an encounter.

He's dreaming of rendezvous at night. We're not ready for such contacts.

Do you remember the Cork Pade tests?

- Tibet's cave towns? - Yes.

There's a mention there of the 10th planet,

from which people in fire chariots came to us.

These are the echoes of a catastrophe in the solar system.

This is no proof. We're serious people.

I'm looking for a possible connection, which might help solve the mystery.

Yes, of course.

But so far we've got only riddles.

...More things in heaven & earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

Make holographic copies of the ornaments.

What for?

Just in case they disappear as suddenly as they appeared.

And continue studying them.

August! What happened?

Mitya, help me.

August.

The same motifs.

I'm beginning to understand what happened to him.

He's feeling better.

We can start.

August, calm down.

Go to sleep. Try to remember what happened to you there.

You can turn it on.

Mother!

Why did you...

Is he all right?

Yes. His memory's alive, and that's something.

- How much time has passed? - About 30 minutes.

Change the poles. I'll be transmitting to August.

Masha, you must not take this risk. Have a rest.

Turn it on, Mitya.

What are you thinking about?

I don't know.

Do you have a headache?

The sea...

Did you think about you and me?

I don't remember.

I feel sad.

I forgot.

- Communication satellite here. - Krechet. When will we hear Phaethon?

Signals don't come through the Loop's field. We're waiting.

Get in touch with " Globe" and radio to all communication inter-satellites.

Earth is extremely worried about Phaethon's silence.

Earth.

Earth.

Earth.

Phaethon speaking. Over.

Can't hear you. I'm Phaethon.

What means my name to you? 'T wil die

As does the melancholy rumor Of distant waves or, of a summer

The forest's hushed nocturnal sigh.

Found on a fading album page, Dim will it seem and enigmatic,

Like words traced on a tomb, a relic Of some long dead and vanished age.

What's in my name? Long since forgot, Erased by new, tempestuous passion,

Of tenderness 'twill leave you not The lingering and sweet impression.

But in an hour of agony, Pray, speak it, and recall my image.

And say, " He still remembers me, His heart alone still pays me homage..."

- You're relieved. You can rest. - Yes.

Masha!

Masha!

Tamarkin! General communication!

We're in the electronic module.

- Dementyeva, go to your cabin now. - All right.

Listen, Captain.

I want to understand why the hologram can't transmit all the information.

Something scares them.

Yes.

I see a regular trend here: as soon as we get agitated, they disappear.

With agitation, the activity of the brain's biocurrents increases.

Certainly.

But why is the exposure to their effect so painful for our brain?

You suggest recording the fluctuations of the holograms' energy?

To stretch and decode them.

Bright boy!

Come on in.

Thank you for helping to find our comrade.

What happened to him?

We couldn't protect him from the broco in outer space.

Broco? What's that?

- The energy of thought. - Where does it come from?

From the Planet Diana.

Planet Diana, which is near the Ephor Star.

In the ornament of the disc that was left for us.

You want to ask about the 10th planet?

It perished long ago, in a cosmic catastrophe.

Its inhabitants moved to Diana, they want to save you from danger.

What danger?

You are to be saved by Orion's Loop, as you call it.

The Loop, is it the broco?

No. It's an energy belt built by Diana's inhabitants.

- Shall we meet them? - We're the guides on your way to them.

How do they know about humans?

We've met them.

Diana's inhabitants have visited your planet.

But the humans who met you all died.

Perhaps this lot awaits us too?

We didn't and don't want it.

- Does this wall protect us from broco? - Yes.

And what if it's removed?

You'll feel a lot of pain, like those others.

We need to know it to understand you.

Aren't you afraid?

No.

All right.

There's no wall between us any more.

- I feel sorry for him. - My cyborg struggled like a man.

Sasha, let the computer process the results of the experiment.

- You're not afraid either? - No.

All right.

There's no wall between us any more.

Be more specific, what danger threatens the Earth?

This is the Earth.

From here, outside the solar system, a cosmic typhoon's moving to Earth.

It is carrying a deadly virus of the glass disease.

We couldn't let the inhabitants of Earth perish,

so we built the protective Orion's Loop.

We wanted to inform you about it as soon as possible,

sending the information into the astronauts' brains.

Your brain couldn't stand that violence,

but you helped us.

And now we're beginning to understand each other.

- Main computer. - Listening.

Immediately send the information about the Loop and the virus to Earth.

Doing it, Captain.

Now we have to think 100 times before making the next move.

- What do we know? Those holograms... - You're right. They compress the data.

And the wall stretches the information code and protects our brains.

The cyborg held on for 20 seconds without protection.

- The man will hold on for only 6. - That's why August doesn't remember.

Anna Petrovna, allow me to make a test on myself.

No, Masha. Today we're completing the experiment. I'll do it myself.

You've got heart problems, and we're approaching the pain threshold.

Don't worry, everything will be all right.

- All right? Are you ready, Masha? - Ready.

All right.

Let's start.

We're beginning.

Turn it on.

- Maybe I'll try? - No.

- Shall I decrease the voltage? - Don't touch it.

Increase it, Masha.

- No. It's dangerous. - Masha, put it on!

No.

Ma-ma!

How could you?

I had to.

Phaethon. Phaethon.

Earth speaking.

Phaethon. Phaethon. Earth speaking.

Comrade Krechet, come here! Phaethon established communication.

Thank you.

Hello, comrades! My dear friends.

We were so worried.

Hello, Nikolai Savelyevich.

Great. We're together again.

How are you feeling, August?

- He's not quite well yet. - Everything's fine.

Come on, don't rush things. The doctor knows better.

Now down to business. Your research has made a lot of things clearer.

All the systems of protection are helpless against the unknown radiation.

Its source is on Diana. We're processing the data.

The Loop is a screen for holograms.

The holograms without the wall are dangerous for man.

But the Loop creates a protective wall, and it's moving to the Earth.

Suppose the Loop will protect the Earth from the glass virus.

In that case people will be killed by the broco.

We're thinking it over, but so far we can't give any safe recommendations.

Now the most important thing.

It's necessary to determine the maximum tension in the Loop's center

and the extent of its danger for man.

That won't give us anything. There're too many riddles in the Loop.

- What do you suggest? - Blowing up the Loop.

Sasha!

To close it on itself. To annihilate it.

What about the glass virus?

Let's finish off the Loop, then deal with the virus.

It's recklessness.

And what you're suggesting is suicide.

Sasha!

Excuse him.

The computer prognoses all kinds of troubles ahead,

and Sasha believes his child more than anyone else.

It's natural, but you hold in your hands the fate of Earthmen.

Don't do what you're planning to.

Why don't you believe us?

It's a trap.

No.

When you pass the Loop's center, you'll be protected from the viruses.

No radiation or illnesse will threaten humans.

I've never believed you. It's a trap.

You're in no danger.

Soon this wall will disappear forever.

Go away.

I hate you. I hate you.

We let so many people die.

Don't change the ship's course.

You can't stop me.

We'll have to stop you.

Though I don't want it.

I'm not afraid.

I'll save everybody.

I'll save everybody!

Sasha!

Stop!

- Masha, follow him, quick! - No.

Hurry!

Need any help?

He went to the electronic module.

- Stop him! - Yes!

I'm listening.

Change of the trajectory. Switch on the system of exit from a dangerous zone.

Exploring the task.

Do it.

I refuse. It contradicts the Captain's orders.

All right.

All right.

Careful.

You're in an electric field.

- The voltage is above norm. - Shut up!

Wait!

Wait!

- 3rd bar indicator doesn't work. - Try to replace block No.5.

Go ahead.

Everything's normal.

It's coming to.

Earth reports that two ships are ready to fly to our rescue.

How's it going, guys?

Now it's talking.

- You heard about the ships, Captain? - Yes.

What shall I answer to Earth?

Tell them that we'll make it home on our own.

Until we fix the computer, troubles will be chasing us.

Don't do what you're planning to. Why don't you believe us?

It's a trap.

It's Sasha!

No.

When you pass the Loop's center, you'll be protected from the viruses.

No radiation or illness will threaten humans any more.

If it is so...

And what if it's not?

Someone should walk out in space and try the power of the energy on himself.

Right.

Only one will be taking chances. And staying here, we'll know nothing.

- As a flight engineer, I must go. - No, this is my job.

Why?

I had a good rest, so I can take an energy blow.

August... August.

This is a medical experiment, therefore a doctor should do it.

How about my candidature?

- You're not quite well yet. - Health is a relative notion.

All go to the control room.

Let's go, Doc.

Strange.

There's a fracture here, but nothing here.

You conjurer.

- Does it hurt here? - No.

- Does it hurt here? - No.

- And here? - No.

- And now? - No again.

No trace of the wound.

Malingerer!

There're more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,

than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

Everyone has his own margin of safety, and it can be calculated.

If only we could calculate everything.

There're moments when one has to assume responsibility.

Like Pavel.

That's his music.

He wrote it a year before the expedition.

You know, Sasha has always loved one woman,

but she didn't love him.

That's the story.

27th day of flight.

- A meteor stream's approaching again. - I turned on the system of warning.

- Where're your friends? — They'll come. They know we expect them.

Perhaps they'll help us fix the computer.

We must use their knowledge and get outside the Galaxy.

That's too far-fetched! The nearest Galaxy is 55,000 light-years away.

I remember it. Yet I believe that Man will fly there.

We'll know beforehand that we're never to return.

Generations will be changing on the ship.

Hundreds of years will pass before the news of that victory reaches Earth.

And there will be a lot of sadness in it.

And yet I'm volunteering for that expedition.

Why did you believe so strongly in the encounter with the broco?

I refreshed in my memory all the expeditions of the perished ships.

The Italian navigator had gone deeper into the Loop than the others.

Therefore, he was supposed to be the first to perish.

But he was the only one to survive.

Right!

I've made calculations of the Loop's effect on man. Let me bring them.

You're late again?

- A meteor stream is approaching. - Turn the protection on.

Failure of the protection.

- Close the portholes. - Yes.

Danger.

What happened?

A meteorite got into the blister, any second the cosmos may break in here.

Mitya!

Mitya!

To the control room! Close the blister's shutter!

- Mitya! - What? Is it blocked?

Yes.

We must not close the door. We have to go out into the corridor.

Then our comrades will die.

I must save Tamarkin. Open the door.

Don't do it, pal.

Oh, damn it!

- What? What? - The shutter won't close.

Masha! August! Captain! Just a few seconds left.

Failure of block 8. What do you think has happened to it?

Hard to tell. It was connected to Mitya's cabin.

- Put on the block's feed. - Yes!

Masha! August! Captain! Just a few seconds left.

Block 8 contains my calculations on the Leonardo asteroid.

Its spectral analysis is identical to Chain A and the disc.

Probably it's the T-matter that Ambartsumyan was looking for.

I discovered on the asteroid the traces of intelligent life.

Possibly, it's a part of the perished Phaethon planet.

Farewell, my dear friends.

Tell Yulya... I'm short of breath!

A powerful radiation in the ship.

The crew is called to the control module.

We've come to you with peace.

Look.

When your comrade got in trouble, we managed to save him.

Soon you all will go home.

Prepare the Earth for contact with Orion's Loop.

Cameramen V. BREGEDA, M. NARODITSKY

Combination shooting by

Kiev Studio of Popular Science Films

Odessa Film Studio 1980

THE END