Few duties have more importance in the Star Trek universe than First Contact missions. Almost 50 years later, director Aleksei German made their novel his final film, culminating his career of pessimistic and strikingly-shot satires on social decay. Hard to be a God was director Aleksei German’s final film. Does this mean he has a responsibility to protect those who he knows will build the planet’s future? But what good is intelligence if it cuts off your capacity for morality, empathy, and despair?