In a small Russian town, there is a Research Institute for magic. One of the witches, Alyona Sanina, is going to marry a guy named Ivan Puhov (not a magician). A jealous Apollon Sataneev tells her boss Kira Shemahandskaya that Sanina is going to marry not Ivan Puhov, but Ivan Kivrin, whom Shemahandskaya is going to marry herself. Enraged, Shemahandskaya, who is a powerful witch, orders Sanina to forget about her Ivan and marry Sataneev instead. And this will be final unless Alyona kisses Puhov before midnight on New Year. Alyona's friends call Puhov to the rescue.

A new adaptation of the soviet film 'Hukkunud Alpinisti' hotell (1979)

SYNOPSIS
Urgently called, the police inspector has arrived in a hotel, and didn't find any crime, but noticed some strangenesses occurring there. He has decided to leave, but a snow avalanche is crushed in the mountains, making it impossible for him to leave. Soon, inspector has found a body of a dead lodger. Everyone who lives in the hotel is under suspicion... (Strugatsky Brothers website)
NOTES
This is a crime / mystery thriller with surreal and psychedelic science fiction overtones based on a book Inspector Glebsky's Puzzle by the Strugatsky brothers. The screenplay was also written by the brothers and it differs from the book. The less you know about the movie the better starting point you have. The film is based largely on the mystery of what's happening to the people of Dead Mountaineer's Hotel. Is everything what it seems? Who's dead or who's not?

2157年，22岁的青年马克西姆·卡梅尔（瓦西里·史特帕诺夫 Vasiliy Stepanov 饰）在作星际旅行时，意外坠毁在荒凉原始的萨拉什星球。被称为无名先祖的统治者利用发射塔放出的射线削弱子民的意志，但仍有部分人奋起反抗。与此同时，国与国之间的战争也一触即发。马克西姆凭借卓越的潜能和战斗力引起野心家们的关注，但他却最终站在反叛者的阵营里，决心破坏发射塔。在旅途中，马克西姆遇见一个20年前来到萨拉什的地球人，也正是他建立了所谓绝对服从的和平体制。似乎命运的安排，马克西姆如今将彻底打破旧有的体制，解放蓝蛇河的民众。他的冒险仍在继续……
本片根据Arkadi Strugatsky和Boris Strugatsky的科幻小说改编，系“人烟之岛三部曲”第二部。

1979 film by Andrei Tarkovsky