Translated material
Sergey Kuznetsov. Cultural Guide. Issue 55
Sergey Kuznetsov
Publication date: November 16, 1999
Interactive
Finally, readers began to send me their survey options. Today - interactive from Ivan Paravozov :
What is a sense of life?
EnjoyHave fun in your next life
In children
In money
In awareness
Plant a book, grow a house, write a son
Live in such a way as not to think about it
Other
And, of course, enter your options:
NameMovie
If I were asked to express my impressions of the movie "Austin Powers 2" in one word, that word would be "disappointment." If only there were two: “disappointing” and “funny.” Funny - because the film actually has some very funny episodes. The dumbest (and funniest) of them all is when Heather Graham's character (called Felicia Trachuel in the film, and elegantly translated by Afisha magazine as Mila Krutotrakhova) rummages through a backpack while Austin Powers stands on all fours nearby. To everyone standing outside the tent and watching their shadows, it seems that the girl is sticking her hand into his ass and pulling out various objects from there. The first was the umbrella, the last was the mouse.
Now why the “disappointment”. The first Austin Powers was more than a goofy Farrelly-type comedy. In fact, it was a sad tale of the nineties abandoning the legacy of the sixties. Dr. Evil told Austin: "Old man, what was good for you - free love and drugs - is now declared evil. You and I are in the same boat, boy." The fact that both characters were played by the same Michael Myers did not seem like a quirk of a comedian, but a conceptual move: the good and evil of the sixties are closer to each other than to the good and evil of the nineties. Of course, it was funny - but it was laughter through nostalgic tears.
In two years the tears have dried up. “The Spy Who Shagged Me” (that is, “fucked” me, of course) sends the heroes back to the sixties and instead of the “sixties in the nineties” theme plays out the “nineties in the sixties” theme - which, of course, is funnier, but is completely devoid of that genre ambiguity, which was in the first film. The heroes again get confused in millions and billions, Austin Powers and Mila Trachuel change costume after costume... well, yes, Myers is a good comedian, and Heather Graham is a beautiful girl, but this is still not enough for the film. At least for a film that purports to be a sequel to Austin Powers.
They say that the film was translated and dubbed in two days and this is the reason for all the troubles. It’s better, of course, to show such films with subtitles so that you can hear the jokes, but I think that’s not the point. No amount of jokes can save a wrong concept.
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.
"Under the Dome" all week
"Amerik" all week
"Horizon" all week
"Arrow" all week
PS Looking at the Memorable Quotes section of IMDB, I found out that the only three-letter word spoken in the film serves as a translation of the word Wang and means the surname of a Chinese student.
Literature
Poems are the best thing about Alina Vitukhnovskaya
A message about Alina Vitukhnovskaya’s evening immediately came from several sources. At the Rotunda gallery, Vitukhnovskaya presents her new website “Destruction of Reality”. I remembered how, during our meeting, Vitukhnovskaya spoke quite seriously:
- In order to destroy reality, you need a lot of money and weapons...
“In my opinion, the more money and weapons, the stronger the reality,” noted Ekaterina Vergilesova, who was sitting there.
Whatever you say, authors of women's novels sometimes turn out to be much smarter than revolutionaries with a rich psychedelic past. How, in fact, can you destroy something that doesn’t exist anyway? And even with the help of money and weapons? Where, for God's sake, did Vitukhnovskaya's supposedly consumed milligrams of diethyl amide of the famous acid go if she still did not understand - at least approximately - the empty nature of reality?
This conversation served as another afterword to the times of the psychedelic revolution in Russia. The substances, as you can see, provide nothing. Pavel Pepperstein once coined the term “speer,” meaning a person who combines psychedelic practices with a successful social career. Vitukhnovskaya is a typical example of a speer, only her career proceeds, so to speak, in the “unofficial” area.
The success of this career is based on an old Russian tradition: those who have suffered from the authorities immediately acquire social status. In the last century, this was precisely what was called “liberalism” (I note this specifically because I think Vitukhnovskaya does not like this word), in late Soviet times it was called “dissidence.” In the post-perestroika period, we haven’t had time to come up with words yet. And that's good.
Every time we fall into the same trap. Is it wrong to go to prison for reading Belinsky’s letter, “The Gulag Archipelago” and using psychoactive substances? Not good. But reading books and using substances does not guarantee anything. A fan of Solzhenitsyn and a lover of LSD can just as easily turn out to be scoundrels and idiots, as can a reader of Fadeev and a heavy drinker.
The second factor that ensured Vitukhnovskaya’s social status was the Russian attitude towards poets and poetry. The words “talented young poetess” stuck to her like a signifier to a signified. But this also does not guarantee anything - not even the quality of the poems (which, however, really deserve attention). Moreover, now Vitukhnovskaya no longer writes poetry , having switched to the “destruction of reality,” which is a mixture of radical politics and modern art. Actually, it's a pity. She was much better at poetry than at destroying reality.
The best way to begin destroying reality is by destroying your illusions. Belief in the special merits of a person who spent time in prison or wrote poetry is one of the main Russian illusions.
***But what about the website that Vitukhnovskaya made? - the reader will ask. “No way,” I’ll answer. The destruction of reality also affected him: the link http://www.gothic.ru/alina is silent, and the administration of the server http://www.gothic.ru apologizes for the problems. Out of grief, I went to read movie reviews there - and fully enjoyed the (praising) review of von Trier’s “The Idiots.” I quote my favorite passage:
It is clear why liberal critics did not like this movie so much. Despite all its outward “ordinariness,” it can hardly be called politically correct. In fact, in the film, for example, there is not a single black person at all, although there are plenty of them in Denmark. Not that White Power fans should immediately rub their hands in joy, no. But in this regard, the film clearly does not support the standard of Hollywood with its recent eternal alliance of black and white heroes, with its denial of the very possibility of the existence of such a type as a “negro murderer-pedophile.” Von Trier, as a European director, violates this logic, and this is his appeal for the anti-mondialist viewer .
I think it's wonderful. A striking example of the type of ideological discourse that Vitukhnovskaya has recently enjoyed.
Don't go to her website. Maybe just read poetry. If they are there, of course.
November 19, 20:00. Club "Rotunda". Presentation of Alina Vitukhnovskaya’s website “Destruction of Reality” http://avit.da.ru with the participation of the groups TNT.ART, REUTOFF/DAS REUT, INQUISITORIUM. Video support http://here.ru. Information support - website "New Resistance" (http://www.gothic.ru/resist). Leninsky Prospekt, 18, building 2.
Art
Dmitry Tsvetkov exhibits his graphic men in the M. Gelman gallery. The exhibition is called "Philately". Minimalism and no psychedelics.
Dmitry Tsvetkov. Philately. M. Gelman Gallery. From November 15th.
Video
Sorrow
This film somehow went into theaters too quickly, so I didn’t have time to write about it. Meanwhile, Paul Schrader's "Mourning" is one of my most powerful impressions of this film year.
It seems that the cinema of the nineties opened up the world of the provincial northern states. The town where the action of "Tribulation" takes place is located not far from Fargo and that city for which a "glorious future" has arrived forever (especially since both "Tribulation" and Egoyan's film are based on the novels of Russell Banks, and even by the same operator). Schrader's film, like Fargo, has a detective plot (a union boss dies while hunting, and the main character, the sheriff of the small town Wade, begins to suspect that his partner Jack killed him). As in The Glorious Future, in the end it turns out that it is better not to figure out who is to blame.
But in fact, this is a film about a father and son. About relationships that provoke psychoanalytic interpretation to such an extent that one should refrain from it. About the baton of violence that men pass on from generation to generation. About an outburst of drunken rage. About love that cannot be expressed.
About the fact that becoming a man means hitting another person. This means losing control over yourself, letting rage take over you, giving yourself freedom. And only then hear from your father: “I love you.”
And then hit him in the face with the butt. Point the barrel of an unloaded gun at your face, pull the trigger and say, “I love you too, Dad.” And then, like a father, drink whiskey from a glass, looking out the window at the barn burning like a Viking funeral pyre.
Leave your home forever. In the end - shoot. Become homeless. Freeze on a park bench. Get lost forever.
This is Sheriff Wade's bright future.
TV movie
Firstly, for comparison with the “Cinema” section - the first “Austin Powers” (Friday, November 19, NTV, 23:15). Secondly, a retrospective of three films by Dusan Makaveev (Wednesday - Friday, “Culture”, 22:05). Third - John Huston's classic film Beat the Devil (1953) with Humphrey Bogart (Saturday, November 20, TVC, 21:30)
Seems good, right?
Interactive
Which contemporary Russian authors do you prefer crime novels?
B. Akunin : 11
Daniil Koretsky: 2
Lev Gursky: 1
Polina Dashkova: 1
Well, we can congratulate Grigory Chkhartishvili on his victory. However, many chose not to take part in the survey at all or send their own version:
The answer option should have been: - I don’t read crime novels at all ( Alexander Kornev )
I advise you to pay attention to the works of Victoria Platova. the girl graduated from the screenwriting department of VGIK and has already written 3 novels, published in the EKSMO series in paperbacks. the novels are very well written, everyone is killed in them, there is no happy ending - only the main character always, of course, remains alive, although severely damaged (just like the hero of a horror film :). constant mentions of films, directors, etc - often not obvious. the strongest, of course, is the second book - “in the still waters” - the heroine writes very good scripts for porn films to order with murders, blood and other things - and then it turns out that for greater effect, these scripts actually killed the actors in front of the camera - life films are much more expensive more expensive for connoisseurs, as you know. In general, I recommend ( andy gerasimov ).
I can’t call the last story original (even Marinina had it), but fans of the genre can probably read it anyway.
Past
Olga Baum
Failed sensations
I wanted to write short notes for the nice panoramic section “Little Sensations” with a Russian twist, but it didn’t work out. Only with the lion's share of convention can a message from the cultural life of Moscow be considered a sensation in itself. I quote verbatim:
“A brilliant slogan was spray-painted on a shabby wall along the Enthusiasts Highway: “GOD, FUCK AMERICA!”
Genius, as you see, oozes from every pore. The author of the message, a specialist in cultural reviews of the Russian Journal, Sergei Kuznetsov, reflects on this matter:
“Note that all three words used are equally sacred, defiantly “different,” parodic, and at the same time form a completely organic whole - you could write a dissertation on this topic!”
It’s not even fierce, but simply stupid anti-Americanism of Russians, or rather Muscovites - I repeat, it’s not sensational. Although cruelty and stupidity are twin sisters. But what is striking is the highly learned commentary. Let the reader, a lover of profanity, find a suitable epithet for this treasure trove of wisdom. We will discuss the scientific part. What sacred thing the author found in the second word - only God knows. If he personally worships this word or deed, this is not a reason to declare universal sacralization. That the word “America” is sacred in Rus', in contrast to America itself, is a fact (see below). Why the words “God” and “America” are different words is also a mystery, especially in light of the famous line: “God bless America.” It is difficult to understand what exactly is the parody of the words themselves. Moreover, the expression as a whole is not a parody, but simply stupidity. If only the imagination of the author of the fence find had been enough to change “Dog”... Alas. The holiness of everything American (besides the slow but inexorable transition of Moscow Pervozabornaya to the English language) is proven by another message from the same Kuznetsov:
“I remember now the poster for the film “Terminator”. This is what can be depicted as the emblem of such a film, eh? The poster showed a naked Schwartz, rear view. A very erotic, well-drawn ass. Like, the moment when he just appears in our world , but not a still from a film, just a drawing. That’s what I understand - the aesthetic impression was not entirely censorship, but strong.”
I think that people who are capable of worshiping, excuse me, this part of Schwarzenegger, treat America with an undisguised kind of religious awe. And the named object acts as a type of symbolic banner. Moreover, people's knowledge about America is, for the most part, limited to this subject. The author could write a dissertation about this! Necessary note: by “people” here I mean exclusively Muscovites, and not all of them, but only those whom Kuznetsov represents. The attacks, not to say attacks, of Russian anti-Americanism cannot be called anything other than rabid (to use the favorite word of Soviet propaganda). And if in the so-called patriotic press Neanderthal anti-Americanism is good form, then in the case of a decent public... - you are amazed. And it would be okay to criticize the “ulcers” of society: drug addiction, judicial arbitrariness of corporations, the nonsense of absolute “political correctness” (with the obligatory positive black hero in any Hollywood film - at the level of Khrushchev-Brezhnev international symbols), alienation, sex and alcoholism of teenagers, workaholism as an image life, the delusional nature of the jury system, monstrous bureaucracy, etc. If! The authors remain at the level of denouncing America as a “spiritless country,” and all Americans, of course, are rednecks, scumbags, infantiles and philistines. The same myths are the “elephants” on which America stands in the eyes of many Russian immigrants; it is not without reason that our dear community is rightly called one of the most dense and conservative.
* * *It's hard to stop. Next - about Tatyana Tolstoy, and also in a very kind way. I’m too lazy to justify myself to Ms. Baum about the fact that I’m not an Americanophobe... on the contrary, I’m quite sympathetic to this country. Their cinema is quite good, and their literature is also okay. Maybe the Russian one will be even better.
But the touching desire to attribute two quotes to me personally from different (!) of my readers touches me. And the phrase Dog Fuck America also excited me. A good name for a hentai anime.
By the way, Patrikey Lisidze sent a refutation about this graffiti:
As it turned out, the slogan “GOD FUCK AMERICA” was not written on the Moscow wall by Sylvian Kamyres, who once came up with it in the silence of his office.
This once again brings to mind the words of Henry Thoreau: "Indulge in dreams. There was never a beautiful dream that was not realized by posterity."
"The Matrix" haunts my readers:
Why not see some kind of Buddhist subtext in the Matrix? So we slept and slept, woke up - and bam, it turns out that people are suffering! A typical epiphany of Prince Siddhartha Gautama. A bit of a far-fetched concept, of course, but for some reason it came to my mind immediately after watching it. Again, cipher is part of (Lu)cipher = Lucifer - this fits better into the notorious biblical stories . (Lazy)
Lately I have read a fair number of all kinds of reviews and opinions about “The Matrix” and everyone makes the same mistake - they begin to dilute the content of the film. Cyberpunk is not cyberpunk, smart is not smart, philosophy is not philosophy and everything in the same spirit. As if making a blockbuster that isn't dumb and has inventive visuals is too bad. Of course, The Matrix is aimed at teenagers. If I were 15 years old, I would definitely cut my hair and put on a black raincoat. After all, the film is Hollywood, and as far as everyone knows, almost all products are made for this audience. And one more important note. If I ever hear or read “John Woo-style action” again, I'm going to bang my head against the wall for a long time. What does John Woo have to do with it? We learned one director from Hong Kong and regularly flaunt it. The fight scenes in The Matrix were choreographed by YEN W0-PING!!! Director, screenwriter, actor, stuntman, producer, fight scene and stunt director. The man in Hong Kong cinema is a cult and authoritative figure, with whose direct participation the careers of Jackie Chan and Jet Li skyrocketed. To get acquainted with his work, I highly recommend watching “Once Upon a Time in China 2”, “Black Mask”, “The Legendary Fist” (released on a pirated video called “Jet”), “The Last Chinese Hero”. It’s impossible to list all his works. This is a completely different aesthetic than that of the ever-memorable Wu. As a fan of Asian cinema, I really liked The Matrix as the first full-fledged and meaningful attempt to combine the authentic style of Hong Kong action scenes and American technology. In addition, knowing how it was done, it is impossible not to admire the dedication of the main stars of the film. After all, all the tricks and fights in the “matrix” were made by the Jen's team, just as they were used to in their homeland, that is, live, with the help of ropes. And Reeves, and Fishburn, and Hugo Wiling actually dangled on these ropes, waved their arms and legs and at the same time and something else should have played. Because in Hong Kong Cinema, a fight is the development of the relationship of heroes, and not just an inserted piece with a scammers. And in scenes of fights, the actors must play. Such a long performance can be reduced to one thought - if you decide to be film critics, then dig deep, and do not swim on the surface . ( Vlad Altai )
***Well, I personally never said that only in the style of John Wu, but completely rested on Johni that and militants Kung Fu. Just everyone loves his own: Vlad Altai prefers to pedal martial arts, and I am a literal quote from the "steeply cooked". Both are right, of course.
If readers have impressions not only about the "matrix" - we ask for mercy:
Name