The ScreenAnarchy-curated Attack The Bloc series of Cold War era science fiction films from the Eastern Bloc continues at the TIFF Bell Lightbox tonight at 9:15 with a screening of Marek Piestrak's Test Pilot Pirxa.
Watch the opening title sequence below and head out tonight for the full film!Corporate interests want to replace human space crews with lifelike robots ("finite non-linears"), arguing that it will be cheaper and safer than sending humans into space. But steely Commander Pirx (Sergei Desnitsky) is having none of it: he knows this isn't about safety or cost effectiveness, but rather about lining the pockets of big business. Determined to prove the superiority of humanity, he agrees to pilot a test flight commanding a crew made up of both humans and nonlinears, without knowing which is which -- but when disaster strikes, to which does the finger point? Adapted from the story by Stanislaw Lem (Solaris) by director Marek Piestrak, a former assistant to Roman Polanski on Rosemary's Baby, Test Pilot Pirxa is a gripping space adventure with a strong undercurrent of social criticism, and a premise that intriguingly anticipates Blade Runner. (And listen for the score by acclaimed classical composer Arvo Pärt!)