HannaB555 Reviews

A Little Doll (1988)

Little gem of the Soviet Cinema

[10/10 · 1 May 2010]

"Kukolka" (Little doll) is a little gem of the Soviet Cinema, set in the momentous history-changing time - the late 1980s - during perestroika, glasnost and the last years of the Soviet Union. The heroine, 16 year old ex-world champion gymnast, is powerfully played by real-life master of sport Svetlana Zasypkina, on whose life the film is loosely based. We see how she spent 10 years of her childhood training tirelessly 8 hours a day under pressure to secure medals and victories for her country, and what it meant. When her injury means she must abandon sport her sporting dreams and everything she has worked for are shattered and she faces a grey, harsh reality of living in a small provincial city trying to fit in the school among students, who, being products of Soviet collective-spirit education, unlike her, are not used to freedom of expression and challenging authority. Being a fighter and a very strong character, she wins over those who initially taunted her out of jealousy or because they were bullied to. Yet the head teacher continues to attempt to make her subordinate, something that is not in her nature. At a time when a Walkman, a VHS player, a nice television set, being driven in a car were still a novelty, seeing how classroom "herd"'s respect were "won" by these things is revealing. On a human level the psychological portrayal of the girls relationship with her mother, peers and the teachers is honest and realistic. This is a multi-layer, penetrating, psychological, tense and honest drama about an individual in a society where expression of individuality was not encouraged, about the shattering of dreams, standing up for yourself against bullies, about teenagers and authority, the "herd mentality", the film portrays how the old school system was bursting at the seams amidst the oncoming irreversible changes in society. Excellently made, superbly played, highly recommended.

Piranha (2006)

Embarrassingly bad

[1/10 · 1 May 2010]

If you want to waste 2 hours of your life while sitting with a long face like me, waiting for some glimmer of something interesting or meaningful to happen while digesting appalling script and senseless and disgusting violence porn, asking yourself "why the hell am I watching this?", then watch this film. This is everything cinema should not be. A tragic example of when Russian film makers imitate the worst of western movies and computer games. "The Beach" and "Moscow Zero" are close, but this is even worse, if that's possible. This film is not something either the actors or the director will remember proudly, and they are actually not bad judging by their other work. The feeling this film gives you is like you've drank too much, been throwing up and have this sick and stupid feeling. Yuk.

Moscow Zero (2006)

Awful is putting it mildly

[1/10 · 1 May 2010]

Whose sick and vacant mind produced this "picture" and what on earth possessed some rather good actors to take part in this project I shall never know. If you do not want to seriously regret wasting 1.5 hours of your time (which feel like eternity), then watch this film. Nothing happens. NOTHING. AT ALL. AT ANY POINT. Watching paint dry is a hundred times more interesting. There is no plot, there is no action, the characters are ridiculous, you just watch strange people running from one cave to another in total darkness and hear some echoes in the background, but even that sounds more interesting than actually watching it. Zero is what this film is. Awful.

Kandagar (2010)

Gripping edge of the seat drama

[10/10 · 30 April 2010]

Awesome true story about the escape of Russian pilots after being taken hostage by the Taliban in 1996. Played superbly by all the actors with amazing realism, all the characters seem very real, each with their own way of dealing with fear and the unknown. The actors who played the Taliban are also so realistic you almost feel you are watching a documentary. From the moment the crew decided to trust each other, act together and try to escape to the end the tension builds up to the point where you are on the edge of your seat, heart pounding, willing for them to make it and saying it out loud. And because it all really happened it makes it all the more powerful. The setting is so realistic, you feel the atmosphere of the place, can almost smell the air, touch the sand, feel the flames, hear the sound of the engines. Absolutely superb.

Burnt by the Sun 2 (2010)

Worthy film

[7/10 · 30 April 2010]

I was disappointed that the film's box office takings were small. In his interview at the premier Mikhalkov said that the point of the film was to make the present generations living in relative peacetime realize how lucky we are and to value what previous generations fought for, that it would be a tragedy if we needed to live through another horrific and devastating world war to understand the value of peace. He aimed to show and remind us of the realities and brutality of war, of the selfless and heroic effort of our grandfathers and grandmothers. I have to say "Utomlyonnye solntsem 2" really moved me. Any shortcomings are outweighed by the very powerful images, dialogue and scenes that remain with you for a long time afterwards and make you think. I think the Christian prayer scene was very powerful, but there was also a Muslim prayer, so the film conveyed that the main thing was to have faith and the courage to remain human. This film has an ability to involve the viewer on an emotional and almost physical level. Perhaps not as great as the original, but a very worthy and important second part.