Eolomea (1972) User Reviews

Sci-fi made in the East, with interesting results

[Burchardus · 7/10 · 26 December 2000]

Science fiction made in East Europe usually has different perspectives of life as Western science fiction. This is one example.

Not about technology or the future of our society, not even about the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence (that it claims to be about), but about humans, their character traits, and their quest for the final frontier.

Accordingly the visual effects by Kurt Marks and Boris Trawkin, though awarded the Grand Prix of the UNIATEC, suffer in comparison with other fx-heavy movies made about the same time, like Academy Award-winning The Poseidon Adventure or Douglas Trumbull-directed Silent Running.

Still it creates a future that could happen any time, showing technology only in outer-space, and the stations in space and on asteroids look pretty much like good old MIR, the Russian space-station.

And yet it is rewarding for those who love the human desire for knowledge...

This was the third science fiction movie of the legendary DEFA studio and the first one to be based on an original concept (by Bulgarian Angel Vagenstein), starring Dutch Cox Habbema, Ivan Andonov (a director in his native Bulgaria) and Russian actor Vsevolod Sanayev (who died January in 1996), and German actors Rolf Hoppe and Wolfgang Greese.

Pretty good

[mim-8 · 7/10 · 20 August 2010]

I recently discovered East German Sci-Fi, which didn't produce large numbers but a few very interesting films of that genre. One of these is Eolomea, rather good and in many ways cerebral film which requires all of viewer's attention. Story is carefully constructed and the sets aren't any worse then US films of that period such as "Silent Running,(not counting the "2001 Space Odyssey", of course, which is impressive even by today's standards). No, the sets and the effects are very decent, giving the budget and conditions of the production and if you compare it to big budget US flops such as "Marooned" it's on another level. Beautiful Dutch actress Cox Habbema is a real treat to watch, leading the international cast in which Ivan Andonov (a Bulgarian actor/director) and Vsevolod Sanayev, stand out. This is a first of three DEFA Sci-Fi Collection films, released by First Run Features, I had a chance to watch and it's pretty good.

Solid 70s Sci-Fi? Yes. Tarkovsky? No.

[wkduffy · 6/10 · 8 September 2005]

Eolomea is a trippy, serious-minded, interesting, Utopian, richly-colored 1970s spaced-out timepiece of a film. But Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" it's not. Indeed, Tarkovsky's "Solaris" it's not. Oh, this East German film strains mightily to compete with either of these epics, but the slightly threadbare production values, the "challenged" model work (apparently shot on 70 mm film), the sometimes circular plot, and strange (incomplete?) visual and sound edits ultimately makes for an inferior product. If you are a lover of 70's era sci-fi, this one has got to be on your list--in one sense it is a real find. Me? I'll gladly put it on my bookshelf right next to "Zardoz," "Soylent Green," "Zero Population Growth," and "Idaho Transfer." (Unlike most of those films, though, "Eolomea" is Utopian in nature instead of dystopian.) The fact that this DEFA film is now available on DVD is a triumph, really. You should snap it up. The widescreen transfer looks great, the colors are nice, the images are carefully crafted.

But the interior of the ships and space stations--though they tend toward realism rather than the fantastic--look tiny and unimpressive (the budget is showing), the robot hardware is quaint (and silly, on purpose), the spacesuits look like pajamas...you get the picture (because you've seen this sort of thing before). At times, the visuals of this film seem stuck 20 years in the past from when it was made; at other times though, it tries very hard to excel (especially in the 70's loungey space rock score and the trippy use of those oil-n-water color gel slides that spread out across the screen in a variety of colors and shapes to represent the liquid and alien "unknown" of space).

My expectations for this film were probably way too high--I thought I was going to be discovering another "Solaris" honestly. But the plot is tension-less and the characters are, ultimately, wooden. (And that's a problem when a film relies mainly on the interaction of characters to push the action along.) If the writers and directors were making a thrilling space adventure, they failed miserably. The story surrounds a group of some 160 cosmonaut-scientists who go off in search of the mythological planet of Eolomea. Oh, sorry, I just gave the ending away. But I haven't really given away very much. Everything that comes before the unimpressive take-off at the end is two hours of bickering about whether or not they should go. Don't get me wrong; there's a whole helluva lot of talking in "Solaris" too. I love a talky, inventive, idea-oriented sci-fi film as much as the next guy. But this didn't even really trade in interesting ideas. The plot: "Should we go look for this planet or not? Yes? No? Why? Why not? OK, let's go. The End." But instead of getting depressed thinking I've seen every cool 70s sci-fi flick that exists, along comes "Eolomea" just in time--with its feet planted firmly in the future and its style planted firmly in 1972. For that fact alone, I am in debt.

Surprisingly good.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 16 July 2008]

This film is set in the future and space travel is much more commonplace. There are space stations and ships all throughout our solar system and there is a certain predictability about such travel. However, suddenly several ships disappear and are assumed lost. The space authorities on Earth are so concerned that they put a halt to all space travel until they can unravel this mystery--ships DON'T just disappear!

When most people think of sci-fi films, they usually don't think about East German. However, this nation produced several that were surprisingly good. Now you must understand, however, that this was NOT Hollywood. The budgets were not nearly as large and so the sets looked a little less sophisticated--but considering everything, they actually did a good job with the money they had. Quality-wise this film looks rather similar to ITV's "UFO" series from the same era.

As for the style film, I wasn't thrilled with how the plot bounced around so much--from the past to the present. It made the film a bit confusing at first. However, the plot itself was excellent--bringing up some wonderful points about just how far other intelligent life might be from our planet. Unlike most sci-fi movies where they go from one planetary system to another in what seems like minutes, this film realizes such a journey would really take several lifetimes. The utter loneliness and commitment to such a project was well captured here and the film really makes you think.

Lost East bloc Cold War effort deserving of your attention...

[marshalskrieg · 6/10 · 17 December 2020]

A Communist East German production from 1972, this has all the cramped yet lived-in interior spaceship shots, the hardware is a mix of what you see in low budget sci-fi films from a decade earlier, plus attempts at some futurism, as interpreted by Communist central Europeans from the early 70's- throw in a dash of LSD psychedelia and Gerry Anderson, and you get the picture.

One unique thing about Eolomea is how it juxtaposes and treats two story lines- one is the space mission and the other is a romance. Both are intriguing and play off the other, there are some very scenic flashbacks, it is a delicate touch between the two and they blend wonderfully. You have the nuts and bolts plot- some spaceships disappear, and 'ground control' has to sleuth to get to the bottom of the issue. This investigation is spearheaded by a lovely female scientist... who meets a jaded carefree yet cynical space pilot named Dan, they share some time together. In the end , Dan plays a pivotal role in the finale, one that is bittersweet and quite sad to watch ... yet you sense a playful ruefulness to the concluding action/ decision. This is a thinking mans existential sci fi film, the theme of our aspiration to transcend our limits and the boundaries of knowledge is contrasted with the utter loneliness or even futility of the human dilemma, or, are all these things tied together? 6 + stars.

Mostly forgettable East German SciFi film

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 12 August 2016]

"Eolomea" is an 80-minute live action film from 1972, so it will have its 45th anniversary next year. The director is Herrmann Zschoche and he was among the most known East German filmmakers and he is still alive today in his early 80s. The writer who adapted the original work by Angel Vagenshtain was Willi Brückner. There are actually a handful GDR science-fiction films that have become more known than most of the other (non-war themed) films from that country and it was a bit of a popular genre fitting in with the time back then as it was the age when space was explored. The cast here is a colourful mixture of actors from all kinds of countries, such as the GDR, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Bulgaria and the Soviet Union, maybe even more.

This film is about a woman (Cox Habbema) examining the disappearance of several space ships and other mysterious developments surrounding space stations and astronauts. And in the center of it all, apparently knowing much more than he admits, is Prof. Oli Tal, played by Rolf Hoppe, one of the most known GDR actors and he is also still alive today way into his 80s. I thought his scenes with Habbema were probably the highlight of the film and really the only moments where I genuinely cared somewhat about the action and the characters. Most of the other supporting characters felt entirely bland and uninteresting to me sadly. Oh yeah, this is a color film which is not to be taken for granted for GDR films of the early 1970s. All in all, I give this one a thumbs-down, but I also may be a bit biased as I have never been too big on SciFi. Only worth checking out for huge lovers of this genre.

Mixing Sci-Fi with political matters almost encrypted!!!

[elo-equipamentos · 7/10 · 13 October 2022]

Unknown movie from Iron Curtain this weird picture somehow follows de steps of 2001's Kubrick which touch in the same premise, Eolomea that means "Spring" sounds heavily complex to my taste, the summarized storyline is about in the unnamed future the world who has twelve millions people and has a worldwide space project gathering all powerful countries whose geared by a closed council, meanwhile some spaceships disappears without a trace, an after this they tries understand why it happened there, without coming in a fair conclusion, a mission is assigned to find out the truth, between comings and goings the finally faced the unexpectable.

The picture itself is slow down and hugely pointed out in political matters as always movies from eastern Europe, quite often encrypted and sometimes boring, nonetheless has a stunning visual overall, but if you have enough forbearance certainly will go to the end, aware above all don't excite too much previously, more suitable for nerds or something alike, it quite sure isn't a regular western standard science fiction palatable for us!!

Thanks for reading.

Resume:

First watch: 2022 / Source: DVD / How many: 1 / Rating: 7.

Eastern bloc sci-fi

[lee_eisenberg · 5/10 · 27 January 2015]

Herrmann Zschoche's "Eolomea" is an OK, not great sci-fi flick. It contains material similar to what we saw in "2001" and "Solaris", but doesn't have the philosophical content inherent in those two. I guess that East Germany wanted to try out the genre, so they made this adaptation of an Angel Wagenstein screenplay. It's about an investigation into the disappearance of some spaceships. There's some jumping back and forth, and even a few scenes that look filmed in a Mediterranean country, so it gets confusing at times. Nonetheless, I thought that it was an OK movie. The movie won't be for everyone, but most people are bound to enjoy the robot scene.

Why Deny It? It is Incredibly Stupid.

[Sturgeon54 · 3/10 · 28 September 2012]

Communist East Germany. Great Filmmaking. Stellar technology and science fiction. Do these things seem to fit together in any conceivable way? No, they do not.

Why the DVD production company has the nerve to even compare "Eolomea" with the likes of Tarkovsky's "Solaris" or "2001" is beyond me. At best, this "lost classic" is more like an Austin Powers / Benny Hill rendition of a serious space epic, with a Burt Bacharach soundtrack and plenty of lava lamp space imagery. Movies like this were what "Mystery Science Theater 3000" in the 1990s was made for.

Others here have attempted to explain the storyline , which is so convoluted and fragmented throughout that there is not a shred of suspense or even empathy for the characters. Strangely enough, I still think this movie does have one important historical value: like a representation of Communism itself, it shows what at the time must have been wild scientific/philosophical idealism in its home country, but in hindsight is just robots made of ugly hunks of metal junk and astronauts with holes in their socks.

Long Winded and Boring

[Breumaster · 4/10 · 6 February 2020]

The movie made in the Democratic Republik of Germany (East Gemany) is a document of filmmaking in the days as the GDR still existed. Not more. It's a dull and boring space movie about how people behind the iron curtain saw the space race of the bigger nations. It was made for the "inmates" of the strongly closed country to feel big and patriotic, but is only embarrassing and boring. The dialogues are unemotional sober, wooden and the acting wasn't good. No go!