| The main problems at Kinotavr so far have been sexual Three of the first five films shown at Kinotavr were made in the comedy genre and were devoted to the problems of youth sex. The youngest heroes are in Denis Evstigneev’s film “Let’s Make Love”: a seventeen-year-old freshman named Tyulen has yet to part with his innocence, a task he solves with the help of his friends throughout the film. In the French comedy with the English title Sexy Boys, one of the three heroes is also a student of the Faculty of Journalism, who received the task of making a TV report on the topic “Youth and Sex.” However, the guy is not interested in studying, but in the size of his own penis, which he studies, armed with a porn magazine and a ruler. Judging by the way his mother and teenage sister react to his individual exercises, this topic has long ceased to be taboo in French society. In Russian cinema, masturbation and erection are still relatively risky areas for visual embodiment, however, there is progress here too. The hero of Yuri Rogozin’s comedy with the unappetizing title “Per-r-r-student” is not young at all. He is about forty years old, he is an associate professor, teaches foreign literature. But his wife left him, and until a negligent but cheerful student appears on his life’s path, he consoles himself alone, looking at transparencies with reproductions of Rubens’ and Gauguin’s beauties.
Previously, Kinotavr was accused of excessive violence. Now changes have clearly occurred, and cinema has moved from Thanatos to Eros, demonstrating joviality and the desire for age-related changes in the audience. Having amused young viewers with pictures of the technical fiascoes of their heroes, the authors of the films, in full agreement with the world trend, explain to them simple truths: size does not matter, the main thing is a sincere feeling, you must remain yourself, love will come - and everything will work out for you .
Young Russian artists feel quite comfortable in these circumstances: they are as organic as dogs, they stand freely in front of the camera, and nothing overshadows their serene faces and bodies. Directors are a different matter - their forty years of experience are not enough for the apotheosis of physicality. Although, in my opinion, Russian mass culture today really needs a civilized view of the human body and its natural needs. In this regard, both in Rogozin’s film (in its first part, for example, when the hero takes an exam, and we see only his and her legs under the table), and in Evstigneev’s film, with its communal life, there are funny and even innovative solutions. But they remain minor details, while the authors strive to make their movie at least outwardly intricate, to fill it with adventures - otherwise why, for example, kill one of the heroines in the frivolous comedy “Let’s Make Love”?
For some reason, it’s impossible to make a movie about relationships while remaining inside them. It seems that our directors and screenwriters are aliens. They make up stories about people whose structure seems to be unfamiliar to them, guided not by life experience or at least observations, but by poorly translated instructions. In general, for now, as one very learned critic said upon leaving the hall: “It’s not worth it.” Alena Solntseva, Sochi |
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