The Lesson (Russian: Урок, Urok, Armenian: ???)
Johnie Lewis Tidwell, Jr.
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The Lesson (Russian: Урок, Urok, Armenian: ???) is a Soviet-Armenian science fiction animated short film directed by Armenian animator Robert Sahakyants, produced by the Armenfilm studio.
Plot
In the distant future, a starship arrives at an unexplored planet. A group of hunters and thrill-seekers lands on the surface, encountering strange animals and vegetation resembling caricatures of Earthly counterparts. They begin to frivolously exterminate the local fauna and flora.
The only woman in the group witnesses the unique local law of nature: if one creature kills another, the killer is reborn as the victim. This rule applies to both the aggressive intruders and the animals. Despite her warnings, the crew ignores her, and most of them are reborn as the local creatures. Understanding this law, she decides to kill a bird to become one herself. However, when she shoots the bird, it partially regains the features of an astronaut previously killed, transforming into a man-bird hybrid.
Realizing that killing a creature a second time can partially restore their human form, she tries to warn the captain. Unfortunately, the captain, now a toad, is accidentally torn apart when they use excessive laser power, resulting in many small clones of a man-toad hybrid. Eventually, the woman, a bird-man, the captain's clones, and a fish-man (who had suffocated on the shore after being transformed) flee the planet, leaving the rest of the crew behind as animals. After the credits, a forgotten toad clone of the captain waves futilely after the departing ship, sits on an abandoned blaster, and assumes the pose of Rodin's "The Thinker."
Music
The soundtrack credits are unlisted, but identified songs include "Rockit" by Herbie Hancock, "Nightflight to Venus" by Boney M., "Oxygene, Pt. 1" and "Equinoxe, Pt. 5" by Jean-Michel Jarre, and "Imagine" by John Lennon.