Test pilota Pirxa

Test pilota Pirxa
File:Test pilota pirxa.jpg Film poster
Directed by	Marek Piestrak
Written by	Vladimir Valutsky Stanisław Lem (story)
Starring	Aleksandr Kaidanovsky
Music by	Arvo Pärt, Eugeniusz Rudnik
Production company	Dovzhenko Film Studios Tallinnfilm Zespoly Filmowe
Release dates	1978
Running time	104 minutes
Country	Soviet Union Poland

Inquest of Pilot Pirx (Polish: Test pilota Pirxa, Russian: Дознание пилота Пиркса, translit. Doznanie pilota Pirksa, Estonian: Navigaator Pirx) is a joint Polish-Soviet 1978 film directed by Marek Piestrak based on the story The Inquest by Stanisław Lem from his short story collection More Tales of Pirx the Pilot. It was adapted for film by Vladimir Valutsky. It is a joint production by Dovzhenko Film Studios, Tallinnfilm, and Zespoly Filmowe. Music by Arvo Pärt, sound by Aleksander Gołębiowski, cinematography by Janusz Pawlowski. Runtime 104 min.

Plot summary

This movie is about a spaceship pilot Pirx who is hired for a mission to evaluate some nonlinears (robots) for use as crewmembers on future space flights. Pirx and his crew, made up of nonlinears and humans, are sent out to launch two satellites into the rings of Saturn. There is a near disaster and the human crew are almost killed. Upon returning to Earth there is an inquest to determine if Pirx was responsible for the "accident." In the end, it is found that one of the robots caused the malfunction in an attempt to kill the human crewmembers and Pirx is cleared of all charges.

In this tale Lem puts forth the idea that what is perceived a human weakness is in fact an advantage over a perfect machine. Pirx defeats the robot, because a human can hesitate, make wrong decisions, have doubts, but a robot cannot. A similar idea is present in Isaac Asimov's Robot series, where putting a robot in a position where it cannot chose between the Three laws of robotics fries its positronic brain.

Differences between the story and the film

The biggest difference is that the movie tells the story in chronological order with the inquest taking place at the end while the short story starts with the inquest and then goes back in time from there. The movie also includes an assassination attempt on Pirx to prevent him from accepting the mission while this is not present in the short story. Another difference is that in the movie Pirx and his crew are attempting to launch two satellites into Saturn's rings while in the short story they are trying to launch three.

Cast

• Sergei Desnitsky as Commandor Pirx
• Aleksandr Kaidanovsky as Tom Nowak, neurologist and cyberneticist
• Vladimir Ivashov as Harry Brown, 2nd Pilot
• Tõnu Saar as Kurt Weber, nucleonicist engineer
• Igor Przegrodzki as McGuirr
• Boleslaw Abart as Jan Otis, electronicist
• Janusz Bylczynski as Juge
• Mieczysław Janowski as Mitchell
• Jerzy Kaliszewski as Dr. Kristoff
• Zbigniew Lesien as John Calder, 1st Pilot
• Ferdynand Matysik as Green, the UNESCO Director

Reception

Test pilota Pirxa was awarded the "Golden Asteroid" Big Prize on the XVIII International Cinema Festival at Triest 1979.