Salyut-7

9/8/2022

Salyut-7 is packed with such sublime imagery that it would be possible to enjoy it without subtitles or knowledge of the Russian language — which is actually not a bad idea, because the plot has been exaggerated to such an extent that Baron Münchhausen himself wouldn’t buy it. In a nutshell, after contact with the Salyut 7 space station is lost, cosmonauts Vladimir Fyodorov (Vladimir Vdovichenkov) and Viktor Alyokhin (Pavel Derevyanko) are sent to try to commandeer the ship and repair it. The ensuing docking attempts, edited by Mariya Sergeenkova almost like a mating dance, provide the film's best sequences. Meanwhile, Sergey Astakhov and Ivan Burlakov's cinematography captures the most impressive and, dare I say, convincing outer space scenes I’ve seen since Ad Astra (which was actual