Moscow. 1957. Only a few days are left until the launch of Sputnik II, the first satellite in the history of humanity to host a living being: Laika. Laika is a bright and lively little dog, willing to do anything to make Dr. Adyla happy. She endures grueling simulations in the centrifuge, overcomes panic attacks, and even accepts the aggressive scientists hands who hunt her when she fidgets. Doctor Adyla takes care of Laika, the only one who gives her the attention and affection she deserves. Adyla knows very well what is the dog’s fate but she’s never convinced to treat her as an experiment, unlike Commander Khrushev, whose sole purpose is to complete the mission and beat Americans to the punch. So, on the eve of the space launch, after yet another panic attack, Adyla decides to take Laika with her to give her what she needs: a family and a normal life. But Laika is not just another dog, she will be the first living being to have traveled into space.
Director’s Vision for ‘Laika, Brave Dog’
I have always know the story of Laika, in broad terms. Only as I grew up, however, I did deepen the subject with a series of research and I discovered that the first four legged cosmonaut was nothing more than a dog forced to a grueling training and destined for a one way trip that survived in space for just a few hours. Since I was little I have always had a strong passion for animals and for everything that was or had to do with nature; it’s therefore not surprising the disturbance I felt in learning about Laika’s events. I could say that it was love for my dog that inspired this story; stumbling upon the news of the launch of Sputnik II, I immediately caressed my dog, a gesture of affection as obvious to me as it was forbidden to the little cosmonaut. I therefore think that this story is sadly current and I feel the need to share with an audience a reflection on the binomial humanitybestiality where the latter is the prerogative of man, who in the film is represented by the character of Commander Khruschev, a character who wants to trascend the role of Russian hierarch to become a symbol of unbridled ambition and competition.
