Kin-Dza-Dza!

Kin-Dza-Dza! (1986).

IMDb meta-data is runtime of 2 hours and 15 minutes rated 7.9 by 13,000 members of the MosFilm web farm.  

Genre: Sy Fy; Species: Turkmenistan. 

Verdict: [Fellinesque].

Tagline: ‘Koo,’ or is that ‘Ku.’

In the early evening of a mild winter’s day in Moscow Mrs Ivan sends hubby out to get some bread.  As he approaches the shopping centre he encounters a ragged, barefoot man, shifting from one foot to the other on the cold cement sidewalk, who claims to be an alien, talking to a feckless student with a violin case. The ostensible alien holds out a cigarette lighter which he says is his transporter. Ivan pokes it in derision only to find himself and Feckless now standing in a sea of sand that certainly is not the local Red Mini-mart in wintry Russia.Transported, indeed! Nice.

After that snappy start the descent thereafter is sharp and steep to incomprehensibility and indifference.

They encounter an Akim Tamiroff look-alike who says but ‘Koo.’  In time Ivan and Feckless work out some of the norms of this new planet of sand.  It is a rigid caste system for anthro students. All others may leave the room.

Mr Tamiroff to me

Even marooned on an unknown planet Ivan has unlimited supply of cigarettes to keep him puffing. Feckless has his fiddle, which he cannot play. [Made sense to someone, that did.] 

The IMDb User Reviews are ecstatic with their 10’s. How much did that cost the producers?  I got half way through the movie before I decided my toe nails needed trimming, a task requiring my full concentration.