Hard to Be a God
2013 · Movie · NR · 177 min · ★ 6.5 · 93% critics
A team of scientists arrives on Arkanar to help a medieval society choose a better path forward. They’re restricted from violent interference and from killing, and one scientist tries to protect local thinkers while being forced to take a difficult position.
Based on Hard to Be a God
Also known as The Story of the Arcanar Massacre · It's hard to be a God
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Details
- Original title
- Трудно быть богом
- Years
- 2013
- Release date
- 2014-02-27
- Language
- Russian
- Rated
- NR
- Runtime
- 177 min
- Critic score
- 93/100
- TMDB rating
- 6.5/10 (165 votes)
- Box office
- $1,400,000
- Budget
- $7,000,000
About
If you enjoy bleak, image-heavy medieval-world immersions, you may like it; Not for you if you want a clear, conventional plot or lighter sci-fi, and you likely won’t want this if you disliked Alphaville or Stalker.
Pros: immersive grim medieval world; striking black-and-white visuals; ambitious sets | Cons: extremely hard to follow; relentlessly bleak; limited narrative clarity
Themes
- based on novel or book
- dystopia
- murder
- execution
- planet
- medieval times
Awards & recognition
- Nika Award — Best Costume Design · 2015
Cast & crew
Leonid Yarmolnik
as Rumata
Yuriy Tsurilo
as Baron Pampa
Natalya Moteva
as Ari
Aleksandr Chutko
as Don Reba
Evgeniy Gerchakov
as Budakh
Pyotr Merkuryev
as Gur
Juris Lauciņš
as Hangman
Vytautas Paukste
as Kabani
Konstantin Vorobyov
as Poet
Aleksandr Cherednik
as episode
Directed by Aleksei German