IKARIE XB 1

Jindrich Polák’s IKARIE XB 1 (1963) is one of the most significant Science fiction films ever made yet it is also relatively unknown even though its fingerprints can be found on numerous Sci-fi works such as Gene Roddenberry’s STAR TREK series (1966), Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968) and even INTERSTELLAR (2014). In many ways, IKARIE XB 1 laid the template for future sci-fi works, especially regarding the interior spaceship design and multi-national crew, elements that are associated with STAR TREK. Michael Brooke has noted in his IKARIE XB 1 essay that both Gene Roddenberry and Stanley Kubrick had viewed Polák’s film while researching for their works. However, there appears to be more than simple set design that is borrowed from IKARIE XB 1. The camera movements and shots in IKARIE XB 1 around the spaceship command centre/bridge, corridors/hallways and outside the ship have been used in many other films over the decades. In addition, the depiction of crew dynamics and psychology of some crew members is another memorable aspect of IKARIE XB 1, although credit for that can be attributed in part to Stanislaw Lem. 

The names of Pavel Jurácek, Jindrich Polák are listed in the screenplay credits of IKARIE XB 1 but the movie is based on a novel by Stanislaw Lem as noted by Allan Fish in his memorable 2015 essay. Lem’s novel ‘Solaris’ is his more famous film adaptation but ‘The Magellan Nebula’ adapted into IKARIE XB 1 deserves worthy praise for exploring the dynamics of a multi-racial/multi-national crew consisting of both sexes and different age groups. Stanislaw Lem is known for his Science fiction writing but he also wrote non-fiction which brimmed with ideas about technology, artificial intelligence (although Lem called it “Intellectronics”), virtual reality (Lem called it “Phantomology”) and man’s place in the universe. Therefore, it is not a surprise that his work helped lay the groundwork for future Sci-fi films which showed machines/computers taking control and humans ultimately losing their mind on board a spaceship. The latter is something shown in IKARIE XB-1, although it takes place long after the music and dancing has stopped, long after all communication has ceased.

IKARIE XB 1 takes place in 2163, two centuries after the film was released in 1963. A multi-national crew is en route to find life in the Alpha Centauri solar system. We meet a captain whose thoughts and concerns are conveyed to us via a voice-over narration (if you listen carefully, you can see the birth of a future Captain Kirk here). The camera moves around the command centre depicting each crew member on their panel, a shot repeated many times in STAR TREK. Initially, we see the crew enjoying themselves, working out in a large gym with enough space for the members to practise gymnastics and even shower together (shown without the nudity of STARSHIP TROOPERS). One character (MacDonald, played by Radovan Lukavský) is shown talking with his wife back home on earth via a giant screen about what it will be like to be reunited with her and their unborn daughter who will be 15 years old when the ship returns to Earth (the father-daughter age gap dynamic is explored further in INTERSTELLAR).

The celebration and crew discussions are suddenly halted when a deserted alien ship is discovered, a story arc explored by numerous films over the years. Although, in the case of IKARIE XB 1, the alien ship turns out to be an old human exploration vessel from 1987. All the crew of the 1987 ship are found dead but their bodies are frozen in the last action they were doing before they met their end. The discovery of the old crew ship sets in motion events which cause confusion and some anxiety in the lives of the Ikarie crew members. In addition, radiation from a nearby dark star threatens their lives leading to one crew member, Michal (Otto Lackovic), losing his wits and demanding to go back to earth. The mental breakdown of a character is now a common element found in many Sci-fi films, an element that leads to either horror or plenty of blood. But in the case of IKARIE XB 1, there isn’t any horror or gory finale related to Michal’s breakdown. Instead, the film ends on a hugely positive note and indicates a new dawn lies in store for the crew.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that a Czech film like IKARIE XB 1 laid the foundations for many Sci-fi films set in outer space. After all, it was Karel Čapek’s 1920 Czech play that coined the word ‘robot’, a term that is now forever part and parcel of the Sci-fi genre and even our real world. In a similar manner, Jindrich Polák’s IKARIE XB 1 is a film that is a huge part of the existing Sci-fi genre and contains elements that have been used in many variations in a huge number of memorable Sci-fi films.

Note: cross-published on Wonders in the Dark as part of the Sci-fi countdown.