Descending into the Martian court
Aelita: Queen of Mars was Soviet cinema's first venture into science fiction, built around a Martian civilization designed by Constructivist artist Alexandra Exter, whose jutting geometric sets and armor-plated costumes drew directly on Cubist and Suprematist theory rather than anything from earlier fantasy filmmaking. The angular, alien production design is frequently cited as a direct visual precursor to Metropolis, released three years later. Its box-office success made the queen played by Yuliya Solntseva, an enduring image of Soviet-era science fiction, reproduced on posters and book covers for decades after.