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Gagarin. Pervyy v kosmose (2013)
A tale of an ordinary man achieving extraordinary things
The film explores the tale of Yuri Gagarin, the legendary first man in space, who won the space race for the Soviet Union. The viewer is presented with a recap of that memorable day when humanity finally reached the final frontier, with a multitude of flashbacks to Yuri's youth and childhood.
We see Yuri's humble beginnings and his journey through life and the events that shaped him into the man who would become the greatest space explorer in the history of mankind.
The actors do a magnificent job of capturing the raw emotion of that day and present us with a story of all the people responsible for the first flight into space. Particular regard is to be had for Yaroslav Zhalnin who does a stellar job portraying the man himself.
For any fan of film or space exploration.
10/10
The Hunger Games (2012)
A Twilight take on Battle Royale
Well, it seems that everything has been said already. The film and the book it was based on adapted the premise of a great Japanese film/book called Battle Royale, without ever giving it credit for the original idea.
Despite knowing this beforehand, I still went to see the film expecting something decent. I was quite disappointed when I walked out. For a film that was supposed to be all about teen violence, there seemed to be very little violence in the film. The few scenes depicting violence were toned down and lacked gore.
Perhaps good character development could save this, but, sadly, there was hardly any. All the dialogues seemed forced and monotonous. I was hoping to see the characters converse with each other, but all I saw was actors reading their lines. I like feeling emotions during films, but short of sadness of knowing I just spent $20 and wasted 2.5 hours of my life, I can't remember feeling any.
The only memorable scene for me was the return of the film's heroine to her district, however it was for all the wrong reasons. It struck me as odd that the boy who liked her was all smiles, despite seeing his love interest make out with some nerf herder on the big screen.
My advice is to wait until you can rent this for $2, and even then, only if you really want to see it for yourself. Otherwise, buy a nice Blu-Ray of Battle Royale and see how The Hunger Games should have been made.
6/10 (1 point added out of my respect for Woody Harrelson)
Chuzhaya (2010)
A realistic criminal drama set in the infamous 1990's
"Alien Girl" is a sober look at the Russian criminal world of the 1990's. There are no colourful exaggerations, no attempts at glorifying criminals, no good guys and no happy endings. This is not Hollywood, this is real life.
Set in Kiev, Ukraine, a brigade of four gangsters is sent on a mission to Prague to retrieve a Russian girl who is to be used to keep her arrested brother's mouth shut.
The acting is superb all across the board, but special mentions go to Evgeni Tkachuk for playing Quick going through the mental stages of his misadventure and Aleksandr Golubkov for his role as Baby, the calm and collected leader of the quartet.
Konstantin Ernst himself got behind the camera for some scenes and helped direct, and he is to be commended on a job well done.
This film shows real criminal life, raw and gritty as it is.
10/10
Taras Bulba (2009)
A great adaptation of the historical epic novel.
The 2009 Russian-made adaptation of "Taras Bulba" yet again highlights the directing genius of Vladimir Bortko. The film is beautifully crafted with spectacular costumes, truly epic battle scenes and a melodic score.
The cast is hand-picked to suit the roles perfectly, with Vladimir Vdovichenkov (Brigada, Bumer) playing the patriotic Ostap. Igor Petrenko (Geroy Nashego Vremeni, Volkodav iz roda Serykh Psov) is seen in yet another negative role that the audience can sympathise with - the traitorous Andrey. The stunning Magdalena Mielcarz (Quo Vadis?, Limousine) plays Elzhbeta, Andrey's love interest, and his sole reason for betraying his father and country. However, the real show-stealer is Bogdan Stupka (Est - Ouest, Ogniem i Mieczem), who portrays the brave Cossack Colonel Taras Bulba. The fearsome leader's role is played superbly, with his character catching on the exact same vibe that came off him in the original novel. A noteworthy mention also goes to the Russian cinema veteran Mikhail Boyarsky (D'Artanyan i tri Mushketyora, Gardemariny, Vperyod!), seen as Moisei Shilo, a well-respected Cossack and a seasoned warrior.
The film remains true to Gogol's 1842 edition of the novel and to history. The Cossack's repeated words of praise for the Russian Land and Orthodox Christianity can be found in the manuscript. The political situation at the end of the XVI century in Ukraine was that it's cultural and religious life was being tarnished and oppressed by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Rzeczpospolita. The Zaporizhian Cossacks were frequently involved in violent clashes with the Poles, which lasted well into the XVII century, until Ukraine requested Russian military assistance to finally defeat Poland and force it towards diplomacy. Interestingly, the Cossacks considered themselves independent from any nation, be it Russia or Ukraine, and they did not recognise the sovereignty of either ruler. Instead, they elected their own leaders and fought for their lands - the lands of the old Kievan Rus' that were united by Orthodoxy, and called Rus' for short.
With the budget of 516 million Russian rubles, Bortko is able to re- create the feeling of the time, aided with mass numbers of actors to ensure the realism of battle. Zaporizhian Sich was built as an accurate depiction of a Cossack settlement and the costumes used are reflective of the dress sense of the various factions.
Surely the picture could be improved on a number of fronts. Andrey's character development suffered, largely due to the time constraints of a single part film feature, however, that did not detract from the empathy one could experience with him. Another element that suffered from time constrains is the number of self-reflective narratives, that provide an insight on the various characters, present in the original novel. This is a common problem to all film adaptations of previously written materials.
Overall, Vladimir Bortko's "Taras Bulba" is a solid historical feature and a worthy adaptation of Nikolai Gogol's masterpiece. While it is somewhat inappropriate to compare it to a mini-series, the film reaches the same high standard set by Bortko in "Master i Margarita".
8/10