The year 2009 was famous for Russia not only for the
huge money-laundering premiers that were discussed everywhere, but also for the
independent pictures among which were a dozen one should unquestionably speak
about.
First of all I should mention "Petya on his way to the
Kingdom of Heaven” (Petya po doroge v tsarstviye nebesnoe). The picture was honored
with a Golden George at the Moscow Int FF last year.
Kandalaksha, 1953. The story of a local fool who
pretends to be very useful for the community, but actually he is just a burden
for all of them. He a simple holy fool, but no one likes him and his final is
predictably a forcible death. What should be mentioned is that the atmosphere of
a soviet industrial community is expressed quite natural, actually extremely
natural. The mainstream motive led by Petya throughout the film is that such
people are of need for the Stalin’s society. Stalin’s death is a real shock for
the community citizens, but after Petya’s disappearance no one recollects about
him, except his poor mother.
So, the next one is "Insane Emegency” (Sumashedshaya
pomosh) – the drama about the elder generation, who are miserable and poor now
and whose fate is just waiting for death and going mad with every day of their
life. The death of generation in this black picture is revealed through the
main character and his daughter spending days for taking care after him. The
setting is sad as well – Moscow suburbs. The protagonist of the main character is
a redneck Byelorussian man who came to Moscow for a new life. The director
deliberately points out how these two characters are similar. The younger seems
as crazy as the older one. And he is the same alien for his time. So, the theme
is not only about the elder generation, but also about the rare citizens of
post-soviet backwoods.
One more picture is "Wonder” (Chudo), telling the real
story about a girl who got hardened with a portrait of Nikolai Ugodnik in her
hands and was standing so for months. That happened in Samara in 1956 and it
was called – The Standing of Zoya. At the background of these sci-fi events the
author reveals the theme of harsh system of the soviet times, and of how the
system suppressed the population, and of how dreadful it actually was. It seems
that hardened Zoya is a symbol of the
USSR of stagnation period, but in the we see that Mr. Chrushev’s touching
brings Zoya to life. Bravo!
The last to say a few words about is "Tambourine, Drum”
(Buben, Baraban). A local 45-year old library keeper meets a man of her dreams,
and tries to hold him whatever it would cost. Of course he laeves her for a
younger one, and she is looking forward to kill the rival. In the end the beloved
man is caught by the police for his rich criminal past, the library keeper
commits a suicide and the only one to sorry is her brother. This story happens
in a grey miners’ town, but serious everyday problems are raised up absolutely
inimitably. Recommend to anyone.
Other movies aren’t worth saying. These are –
Kislorod, Rossia 88, Pohoronite menya za plintusom, Koshechka, Korotkoye
Zamakaniye, Volchok. They are made
actually by young mediocre directors, that makes me sometimes think about the
future of Russian cinema. But so far we
have some really god stuff, so it’s nothing to worry about.
I have recently watched the movie called "Priest" ("Поп") starring Makovetsky and Pletnev. What do you think og the movie? It hasn;t gathered any popular acclaim. The story itself is brilliant and heart-piercing!
This is a movie about the place of religion in the times of war. The priest acts as a respentative of church and everything connected with it. The message itself also reveals that the Church was not very appreciated at that time. But still I think that the priest concentration camp experience is a kind of a torment for a saint. So here we have the full set of regilious experinece. And the logic end certainly. But everything could have happened in some other way I beleive. All in all it's quite a worth-seeing picture, especially for those who have some thoughts about religion. And Makovetsky is brilliant as ever of course)
Got really impressed after watching "Petya on his way to the Kingdom of Heaven”...And I'm actually proud that there are still some "sparkles" in Russian cinematography. As it is, we rarely come across such a thought-out modern production. I'm delighted to think that our country is rich in talented actors, scriptwriters, directors, stage managers as yet. The atmosphere of the movie reminded me of the Soviet films (I mean the way of acting - it is really professional, and what is more essential, it is sincere, creditable, trustworthy; I was just about saying "I do believe!" so as to oppose my feelings to Stanislavsky's famous exclamation). As for "Ward №6", I liked the film in its entirety. But the only thing that stands out against the background of Karen Shakhnazarov's remarkable production is the language. No matter how hard I tried to get accustomed to the fact that the action takes place in the 21st century, my mind was sent back to the 19th century. To my mind, it breaks the holistic view on this motion picture. However, this is one of the most outstanding films I've seen in my life.
Dear Max, the review is so comprehensive that I can't but agree with the point that our cinematography has a great future ahead. Yes, it does. I really enjoy watching movies about our soviet past because, though I lived in that time, only now do I begin to rediscover the real essense of the epoch. To be honest, I am not sure I will ever understand it to the full. For modern art of all kinds and genres, there is so much to explore and represent. So every one (I mean - artists, film directors, actors, etc.) will have their share of luck to interpret what our society has gone through so far.
Thank you Max for such a useful review and such a credible evaluation of some Russian independent pictures. Unfortunately, I haven't seen any of the mentioned but really want to watch "Petya on his way to the Kingdom of Heaven” and "Ward №6" (which you wrote about long ago but I haven't managed to see yet).
