After a journey of some time from a different solar system, a spacecraft from the planet Cynro prepares to land on the planet Tem. The reason? They received a signal pleading for help and it emanated from precisely this area of this world's surface. However, as they land an emergency occurs and it looks like they will crash - only the quick thinking of the ship's commander Akala (Jana Brejchová) saves them and they touch down safely. Not all the crew leave their craft, as Suko (Alfred Struwe) stays behind, deeply suspicious of whatever civilisation they will discover there. The others don their spacesuits but when they get out into the atmosphere they have no trouble breathing, and laugh when they see the odd Tem bus heading towards them - but they won't be laughing for long.
In the Dust of the Stars, or Im Staub der Sterne as it was known in its native country, was a product of the East German DEFA studios and written by its director Gottfried Kolditz. It's easy to read Communist leanings into the storyline and even the details, but really this could have been released by any Hollywood studio pre-Star Wars with its themes of throwing off the bonds of slavery and getting along equally with your fellow human. Or indeed fellow alien: every character and extra looks as if they hail from planet Earth. The design is appropriately lavish, but largely the impression you get from the film is that nowadays, and perhaps then too, it seems very camp.
Not that there's much attempt at humour, but the exuberant handling pitches it at the level of a tacky television variety show, and it's pretty good fun. What the cosmonauts are invited to see is the partying of the Tem people, after meeting with their representative, Ronk (Milan Beli), a bearded man in a blue jumpsuit (the costumes are quite something all over) who speaks for the as yet unseen boss (Ekkehard Schaal). He offers them what appear to be compact aerosol cans of breath freshener, both sweet and spicy which they spray into their mouths while reclining on a selection of chaise longues in a bizarre rendering of futuristic sophistication.
Still Suko is not convinced, despite what a great time the others are having, such as the celebration they join in with which includes dancing that would not be out of place in Pan's People-era Top of the Pops, and a few snakes to decorate the food tables. They have a whale of a time but something is wrong as Ronk (who has his own all-male audience who laugh at his jokes) ensures they are brain washed into believing there is nothing wrong, the distress call was a mistake and they should be on their way as soon as possible. When they return to their ship, Suko is the only one to question the validity of Ronk's message.
So it is that Suko ventures out one night to uncover the truth. The debauched citizens of Tem are not the true natives and there's something fishy going on below the surface of the planet: they have enslaved the true natives to work in the mines! The boss, who Akala finally has a meeting with, is a truly strange gentleman who frequently dyes his hair in a selection of colours and is the very epitome of the decadent bourgeois. He is also determined not to let news of what is really happening out to the wider galaxy, which leads to a bittersweet ending. If you look past its silliness, In the Dust of the Stars is an amusing adventure with a point to make about oppression, but it could be that not many viewers will be able to ignore its groovy dancing, gratuitous nudity and sparkly veneer. Music by Karl-Ernst Sasse.
