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shotlandka
Reviews
Idiot (2003)
Fantastic
Mironov is Myshkin - incredible acting, with or without words, you know exactly what he is thinking and feeling. Absolutely wonderful adaptation of one of my favourite books. Mashkov is also outstanding as Rogozhin, a very scary man indeed! Mashkov does have a very commanding screen presence in everything I've ever seen him in (try Vor), but this was just great. All the lead actresses were great in my view, especially Olga Budina as Aglaya Ivanovna. I do have to echo the comments about the subtitles though! I was really surprised to find them on my DVD (no idea about international availability, bought here), I didn't think that a Russian TV series would have them, but I supposed the International Television Festival attention - and award for Mironov made them necessary. Very sad that a better job wasn't made. I was very glad I didn't need them! Some bits are fine, and others have daft spelling mistakes, and elementary mistakes in grammar and translation. What was going on? It really distracted from the actors' work. The best films with subtitles are those where you forget that you are watching a subtitled film. This cannot happen with these.
Turetskiy gambit (2005)
Definitely worth seeing
Lots has already been said - including the huge advertising campaign (centring on a poster, supposedly of a scene in the beginning of the film but as a painting, not a movie still. The entertaining bit is when you realise that the costume that Varvara is wearing is all wrong for this moment in the film! Think about it!). The beginning of a run on Fandorin films, with Statskii Sovetnik coming out in May, the trailer for which was showed with TG (as for Sovetnik - as far as casting goes I've heard it discussed as the Russian Ocean's Twelve)! Though the cast list for TG is certainly nothing to sniff at either! And I have to say, the cast do themselves proud, very good acting, costumes, scenery etc. You are led right into their world. I found the computer special effects annoying, overused, and frankly distracting, but the rest of the film was great. I had not read Akunin before, and went right out and bought the book - and am now reading Statskii Sovetnik to prepare for May. I had worked out who the spy was, though I did that in the book straight off too, but it was well done, there are plenty of false trails to keep you guessing. I have to say I liked the ending, especially that they stayed true to Akunin's ending to the relationship between Fandorin and Varvara - rather than coming over all Hollywood and having them riding off into the sunset.
Papa (2004)
A great film about complicated family relationships
This is a great film, with wonderful performances from all the 3 lead actors. The film is based on a play in which Mashkov, the director, acted on stage in Moscow. A young musician, David, is growing up in a small town in Ukraine in the 1930s, and dreams of going to Moscow to train as a violinist, a dream which his alcoholic single father supports. Their relationship is strained, and when David finally leaves for Moscow he puts his past behind him and starts a new life. On a day in which all his dreams seem to be coming true, he is again confronted by his father, and his reaction is one that he later regrets. The theme of fatherhood seems to be one close to Mashkov's heart, as his first film as director (he has a long and extremely impressive CV as an actor in Russia, though is probably best known in the West for his lead in the Russian film "Thief", which got an international release, and an Oscar nomination if I remember rightly) and as the Serbian sniper in the US film Behind Enemy Lines), "Sirota Kazanskaya", also looked at this theme, though in a different way. That film was much more sentimental, and was a comedy, whereas this is very different. The first time I watched the film it seemed to be very bitty (there are three different segments, each set within a single day: childhood in Tulchin, student in Moscow, and adult during the Second World War), but having seen it again, it seemed less so, and flowed more. There are some really beautiful shots - the cinematographer deserves much credit for this film, and great acting. Both the actors who play David are wonderful,and both pretty much newcomers, particularly to roles of this size, though Yegor Beroyev (David as an adult) seems to be on the threshold of great success in Russia. Mashkov appears to take great delight in completely hiding his good looks and completely convincingly playing an old man, as he has done on stage since his graduation from drama school. The film has been criticised for playing too much for the international market and overplaying the whole communist context, and there is an introduction to the Moscow segment with a bit too much red - banners, balloons etc, but I think only that one segment could be considered to be gilding the lily, and indeed can be forgiven for being so beautifully shot. The other references are realistic and play an integral part in David's internal conflict. This film is also refreshing in that it doesn't try and explain everything or tie up all the loose ends. Life isn't neat and tidy and we rarely know all the whys and wherefores! Different people have very different opinions about this film, but I was impressed, and bought the DVD! I don't know what kind of international release this film has had or will get, but if you get the chance, watch it!