| Two very different films with similar plots are being released in Moscow. The Russian youth comedy “Don’t Even Think” will be shown in a large number of cinemas and will be accompanied by an aggressive advertising campaign. Bakhtiyor Khudoynazarov’s film “Chic” will be shown for only three days in one of the halls of the “Formula Kino” multiplex. At the same time, both films tell a generally similar story - about three friends who, burdened by their dull and not very successful life, decide to change it by any means, including even criminal ones. In addition to the three young and unfamiliar actors, both films have a star component: Ingeborge Dapkunaite, Nikolai Fomenko in Chic, Igor Yasulovich, Dolphin (apparently instead of Sting) in Don’t Even Think about it, and Andrei Panin, who played for both teams . In the film "Chic" the heroes are three teenage friends from a provincial seaside town, whose dream is a chic suit from a local boutique, the possession of which, in their opinion, will help change their lives and achieve success. In “Don’t Even Think”, three slightly older guys turn out to be much more successful - the intention to master first weapons, and then money, leads young friends to such an unexpected scope that they never even dreamed of it. At the same time, not only the beginnings, but also the types of heroes are very similar. This is where the similarities end.
The main difference is that “Chic,” in whose production not only Russia but also Germany, France, and Italy participated, belongs to the auteur, poetic cinema, while “Don’t Even Think about it” is an entirely domestic product— a typical genre film, with a strong producer involvement that is unusual for local conditions. It’s hard to say who is more important for the film: the novice director without special education Ruslan Baltzer (he, along with his wife Anna Bolshakova, wrote the script) or producer Sergei Gribkov, under whose leadership the creative team cut out the film for an hour and twenty from three hours of the initial product with almost two thousand assembly glues.
It is clear that for a producer, whose declared task is to receive income from the products produced, the most important thing is to get into the box office, that is, to please as many consumers as possible. That's why the film Don't Even Think about it is pure entertainment. The successful comedy by Guy Ritchie “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” was chosen as an example to follow, and its recipe was reproduced by the authors with an A minus. The lines are short and funny, the characters are funny, the camera is fast, the soundtrack is quite high-quality, the adventures are exciting and at the same time quite consistently and clearly presented. In addition, there are animated inserts and even a split screen - a technique that is not yet common and is used very competently. The minus has to be given for the excessive diligence of the young actors, who clearly lack the relaxation and ease of their Western peers, and for the lack of elusive substance that could be called originality. Still, “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” no matter how you call Richie the British Tarantino, remains a true English comedy. “Don’t even think about it” is just its Russian copy. Although very good.
On the other hand, in the film "Chic" there is an author's, lyrical, original beginning - you can eat it with a spoon. There are wonderful views of the seaside town, and much more accurate acting (Andrei Panin in “Chic” works with completely different, much more subtle colors, creating a memorable and unexpected character), and the mood of the closed, hopeless melancholy of adults against the backdrop of the nature inherent in the young heroes hope. However, the feeling of secondaryness does not leave you when watching this completely professional and well-made film. And the vision of a festive steamship, and Spanish women dancing in the fog, and a tailor on a bicycle - all this has already happened in many places and has long been tired of. It’s as if you’re watching a digest of already familiar films - Kusturica, Nana Dzhoradze, Fellini...
So you think: if the good and deep director Khudoynazarov fell into the tight clutches of a good and reputable producer, would anything good come out of the film? Or is it contraindicated for genre and successful cinema to deal with serious talent, and only the fresh young energy of newcomers who are ready to write crazy stories and listen to their elders is needed? In the end, the attempt of the same Guy Ritchie to throw away the walkers of a crime comedy and make a romantic story (“Swept Away”) ended in complete failure. Alena Solntseva |
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