Kin-Dza-Dza!

Kin Dza Dza by grimmy3d

Kin-Dza-Dza! is a Russian Science Fiction movie from 1986. I watched it on YouTube, part 1 is here, part 2 is here. It is pretty wacko. Two guys from Moscow get magically transported to a desert. Is it another planet, or just a different part of Earth? Looks like Earth, feels like Earth, breathing air, like Earth, and they soon run into some human appearing natives. So, Earth. But the behavior of these natives is so very odd that doubt begins to creep in. More evidence comes along and, hey, maybe this is not Earth at all.

The natives seem to be a miserable lot, dirty, bedraggled, lacking in morals, common sense, and logical thought, but full up on the apparently idiotic forms of cultural mannerisms. They have undreamed of technology at their beck and call: fly half way across the galaxy instantaneously at the push of a button, or slice a twelve inch steel pipe in half at a distance of a 100 yards. But a simple thing like a match is apparently worth more than all the tea in China.

Kind of reminds me of Europeans in the age of exploration. Natives of other lands might have been overawed by European technology, but could not understand the Europeans fascination with things the natives thought of as ordinary. A good lesson on cultural differences.