The 1988 Soviet science fiction film Trinadtsatyy apostol is inspired by Ray Bradbury’s book The Martian Chronicles.

It begins with an inspector, played by Andrei Boltnev, going to see a former spaceship commander, Captain Amos, played by Juozas Budraitis. Captain Amos lives in what the Wikipedia article describes as a shelter for retired space explorers but it is presented like an insane asylum, and a pretty gloomy one at that.

The inspector wants to know how Captain Amos came to be the only survivor to return from his interplanetary expedition fifteen years earlier, and why the planet was closed to exploration due to some unspecified danger. If the planet was ever named, the name did not turn up in the captions available when I watched.

A flashback reveals events during the expedition. The story is recognizable as “And the Moon Be Still As Bright.” Later in the film, the poem “So We’ll Go No More a Roving” by George Gordon Lord Byron, from which the story title is taken, is recited, in Russian of course.

As events unfold, crew member Absalom, played by Vladas Bagdonas, arrives to announce that he has inspected dwellings of the local inhabitants and found they all died recently of disease. He does not say what disease but it is implied that the space explorers brought it. He is angry at the sometimes silly behavior of the others and rants about how explorers always destroy existing cultures. Captain Amos listens but no one else cares. The story progresses much as in the book, with a few important differences, but any further description would cause spoilers for the book and the film.

What particularly surprised me here was the presence of a priest on the expedition. Bradbury did write of priests on Mars, but they arrived later, after the expeditions. I was surprised because I was always taught that religion of any kind was heavily discouraged in Soviet Russia if not outright forbidden. For instance, anyone expressing a belief in God was sent to a psychiatrist under suspicion of being delusional, among many other restrictions. The title translates to The 13th Apostle, which hints at Biblical knowledge.

I couldn’t be sure whether this film mocked religion. The whole crew except for Captain Amos and Absalom acted fairly nutty which is not inconsistent with the original story. The priest poured water on each man’s head, hung a cross around his neck, gave him the communion host, and gave a word of advice about how to be. Absalom refused communion. Then a sort of religious ceremony was held with sometimes discordant music. The priest set up a Virgin Mary statue which one crew member disrespected in a blasphemous manner. Also earlier in the film, a nun worked in the shelter/asylum, and nuns appeared and a religious ceremony occurred later in the film as well.

Immediately following the events of “And the Moon Be Still As Bright,” the narrative shifts into “The Third Expedition/Mars is Heaven!” A crew member while exploring a supposedly deserted city encounters someone who appears to be his late father. His “father” takes him to a home to meet his “mother” who claims to have missed him. A gathering takes place, presumably also consisting of deceased loved ones. At this party people slow dance to an instrumental of “Michelle” by the Beatles. The lyrics are not used but they involve trying to communicate with someone who speaks another language which may be significant. The reunion does not end well.

Objectionable content includes violence in the form of shootings, a hanging, and someone being set on fire. There is also brief nudity from behind and odd religious happenings including disrespecting a Virgin Mary statue.

Back on Earth, the inspector has lost a young son and the first part of “The Martian” is enacted.

This was a weird offering, not necessarily in a good way. It is dark and downbeat. Recommended only for those who absolutely must watch every Bradbury adaptation out there.