| The Transformer movie may be coming to DVD soon. This short - 16 minutes - picture has two remarkable advantages. Firstly, it is very funny, and secondly, it inexplicably reflects our entire modern Russian life. The plot is like this. The men were transporting a transformer weighing 250 tons from Moscow to St. Petersburg and dropped it halfway. A certain Valerka, a middle-aged, heavy drinker, was left to guard the valuable cargo. And he guarded him... for four months. This is what he told the authors who filmed him. In general, that's all. A film was made from this monologue of a man in a remarkably weightless state. Providing it with captions that interrupt Valerka’s story from time to time: two weeks have passed; March has arrived; March 8 -- International Women's Day; and ending with a short slide film, accompanied by a cheerful “Chubchik” performed by the Khoronko Orchestra, telling how the transformer was eventually raised from the swamp. True, it turned out that it was cheaper to buy a new one than to repair this one. The text spoken by Valerka cannot be reproduced. Firstly, because it is completely identical to the speech of any truck driver, that is, its entire content lies in familiar idioms called “Russian obscenities.” Secondly, because intonation, movements, demeanor make up a large part of this performance, the essence of which is the unpredictable transformation of familiar reality to almost epic, epic, prehistoric features. How the sodden, drunken, blurry texture evokes joy and invigorating optimism in the audience, I cannot explain. Foreigners who do not know the Russian language see the film as “chernukha” and not a very interesting story. Those who well understand the hero's lexical quirks are delighted. And not because he masterfully uses obscene words - no, everything is more than usual, but the structure of his speech so precisely corresponds to the nature of his existence that you understand: an adequate description language has been found. Alena Solntseva
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