Translated material
Time to count the beats
Fed up with stars minding their own business
Irina PETROVSKAYA, Izvestia
Positive. “Growing meaning, or Adventures of classics on the Russian stage” - author’s cycle by Anatoly Smelyansky (“Culture”); “Historical Chronicles” by Nikolai Svanidze (“Russia”), also filled with “growing meaning”; concert by Dmitry Hvorostovsky and Renee Fleming (“Russia”); the series “Lost” (“The First”) - next to it, most Russian series seem primitive and home-grown; “Dancing on Ice” and “Stars on Ice” (“Russia” and “First”) - quality entertainment; programs dedicated to the anniversary of Galina Vishnevskaya, especially “Portraits of an Era” (“Russia”); Vladislav Vinogradov’s documentary film “Arbat Romance,” dedicated to Bulat Okudzhava (“Culture”), is remarkable in itself; the film sounded especially bright against the backdrop of the anti-Georgian hysteria created by the country’s main television channels.
Negative. Ugly anti-Georgian hysteria, the apotheosis of which was a special episode of the program “Frank Confession” (NTV): the authors tried to prove that all crime in Russia is of Georgian origin; documentary film “The Death of Stalin. The Last Witness” (“TV Center”), the meaning of which can be conveyed in the words of an old Soviet song: “Stalin is our military glory, Stalin is the flight of our youth”; “To the barrier,” where they deceived the oligarch Abramovich, calculating how much property would go to his wife and children (NTV); show “Two Stars” (“First”), where, on the contrary, divorced spouses Lolita Milyavskaya and Sasha Tsekalo came together as hosts, which became the main content of the show, overshadowing the song competition itself. In addition, the stars, minding their own business, are already somewhat fed up; “An Evening with Maxim Galkin” (“First”) - the same stars, designed to make jokes: it turns out quite poorly, even the magnificent Galkin does not save the situation.
Person of the month. Anna Politkovskaya, who forced all the channels that had not previously noticed her, to talk about her as a fearless opposition journalist and human rights activist, which obviously contradicted the statement of the Russian President about Politkovskaya’s extremely insignificant influence on the political life of the country.
Large selection of shows for every taste
Elizaveta TRENEVA, Rossiyskaya Gazeta
Positive. I don’t believe in the sincerity of those who arrogantly declare: we have absolutely nothing to watch on television! Surely, it’s not so rare for this person to turn on his “box” and travel through different channels, jumping from button to button. Until he stumbles upon a program that will force him to take a break from his “programmed” skepticism and look at the screen. After all, let’s be honest, our TV channels have gone out of their way to appeal to all categories of viewers. Just some kind of “what do you want?” it turns out. If you want, the stars will dance in front of you on the ice, if you want, they will move to the floor. If you want, you will see Maxim Galkin almost the whole evening, and Channel One will add Pierre Richard to the bargain and crown the program with Boris Moiseev. Yes, and “Curved Mirror” is in full swing on the “Russia” channel. But even if such rating programs are not an event for the capricious viewer, then... even then there remains a large selection of shows for every taste.
Fortunately, not only entertainment, licensed projects and endless series are aired by the main TV channels.
In October, many different topics, but deep and relevant documentary projects were shown: investigations by A. Mamontov, A. Khabarov and other authors of the “Special Correspondent” series, films “Hazing at School”, “Conquest of Moscow” (Channel One) , journalistic research by Kirill Nabutov “One Day. New version”, programs “Sincere Confession”, “Profession - Reporter” (NTV).
All channels celebrated the anniversary of the outstanding singer Galina Vishnevskaya, and her “Personal Life” (“Channel One”) is a true “Portrait of an Epoch” (Russia) and a frank confession of a woman named “Galina” (“Culture”).
The new series of “Historical Chronicles with Nikolai Svanidze” showed the tragedy of people who believed that in their homeland, which had won a terrible war, they could now live and create freely. The four-part documentary film “Roosevelt” (“Russia”) is a rare and powerful story of human courage, impressive also because its hero was the president of a powerful power.
The fifth big and long conversation between Vladimir Putin and the Russians during the direct line.
Negative. The tragic death of Anna Politkovskaya, which became a terrible shock for the audience - they killed a woman and mother, cynically forgetting any commandments. All channels paid tribute to the memory of this journalist. But Anna’s colleagues managed to avoid the escalation of a mass hysterical manifestation of grief, as was the case after the death of Vlad Listyev. As time has shown, this does not contribute to the search for killers. Alexey Pimanov spoke about this very worthily and with real heartache in the program “Man and the Law” (“Channel One”).
An extremely unsuccessful, although updated, hit parade with the participation of Andrei Malakhov, who was never able to drag this project to the Major League (Channel One).
Monotonous in its grumpiness and tediousness, the entertainer of Lolita and Alexander Tsekalo (the “Two Stars” program on Channel One). Stars who come out to dance or slide on the ice can be forgiven for their cute clumsiness and mistakes. But singing “off the notes,” and even accompanied by professional vocalists who seem to have gone deaf at that moment, is a completely disrespectful thing to do.
Person of the month. Anna Politkovskaya.
The principle “people grabs everything” still applies
Sergey VARSHAVCHIK, National Banking Journal
Positive. Documentary film “Yulian Semenov. Information for thought" ("Russia"); “A Week with Marianna Maksimovskaya” about Anna Politkovskaya (REN TV); the brilliant duet of Marat Basharov and Tatyana Navka from “Stars on Ice” (“Channel One”); “Genius loci” with Peter Weil about Federico Fellini, Rome and Rimini “Culture”); documentary film by Leonid Mlechin from the series “Enemy at the Gates. Moscow on the 41st” (“TV-Center”); issue “To the Barrier!”, in which lawyer Pavel Astakhov and feminist Maria Arbatova came together, discussing the matrimonial affairs of the oligarch Abramovich (NTV); “Running” by Alov and Naumov (“Culture”) with the brilliant Dvorzhetsky and Ulyanov; Dmitry Medvedev’s wonderful speech on the “Sunday Evening” (NTV) program, where he spoke about his warm friendship with another successor - Sergei Ivanov, with whom he even goes to performances of old Western rock bands.
Negative. The main topic of the month - the death of Anna Politkovskaya, whose murder by the country's president was called more sabotage than her articles - was covered extremely sparingly by television channels, devoting several minutes to the circumstances of her death (and then farewell to her) in news and information programs, for with the exception of Vladimir Solovyov with his program “To the Barrier!” (NTV), which dedicated a separate issue to Anna. A 100% orchestrated direct line between Vladimir Putin and the population, the vast majority of questions of which, having passed a strict selection process, turned out to be completely harmless to the authorities. As a result, the principle “people grab everything” still applies. It is curious, by the way, that in the duels of Vladimir Medinsky and Nikita Belykh, as well as Masha Arbatova and Pavel Stakhov, the most interesting character invariably turned out to be the host himself. “An Evening with Maxim Galkin” (“Channel One”), in terms of vulgarity, slides down to “Full House” and “Distorting Mirror”. The documentary film "Seryozha Paramonov. Soviet Robertino Loretti" ("Russia") continued the now fashionable tradition on TV of stories about the tragic death of another famous person.
Person of the month. Anna Politkovskaya.
It's life's fault, not television's
Alexander MELMAN, “Moskovsky Komsomolets”
Positive. 1. Weekend television on the main channels looks like a bright and colorful show. Viewers get a holiday at home. All these dances with the stars, on ice, on the floor, “Two Stars” are very high quality.
The only time such a spectacle is impossible to watch is during terrible cataclysms and horrors that are constantly approaching our country. But this is life's fault, not television's.
2. Talk show "Candidate" with Potanin. It is interesting to compare the intrigues, ambitions and speech of educated young people and those who participate in “House-2”, because the smarter and more civilized ones know how to hide their character, but they “hit” harder.
3. Documentary and "documentary" on "First" and "Russia" - the average level is high and did not fall below a certain ethical level. The best, in my opinion, was the film about Mikhail Tal, where time, personality, personal life and drama were intertwined into a single ball, complementing and highlighting various meanings.
4. "Thank God you came" on STS - excellent, easy acting improvisation.
5. Again a documentary series, but this time on Domashny.
6. Another cycle by Anatoly Smelyansky about theater (“Culture”). From the transformed faces of the author and the directors participating in the film, it is clear that theater is a religion for Russia.
In the “School of Scandal” (NTV), priest Mikhail Ardov spoke about his understanding of religion. He advocated the death penalty, declared Pushkin immoral and reproached the patriarch for mourning the death of our embassy workers who were brutally killed in Iraq. If a servant of God says this, then what is the meaning of life?
7. “One Hundred Questions for an Adult” (TVC). The characters reveal themselves in the most unexpected way. An excellent form of revealing the inner world of people has been found.
Negative. “One Hundred Questions for an Adult” with Irina Khakamada. Irina Mutsuovna behaved superbly and showed herself to be a strong, modern and charming woman. Yes, you can ask a person about anything, you just need to know where, how, when and under what circumstances. But why did the open-eyed young man ask her about the most painful and intimate things, about what is not talked about publicly? Did adults really put such questions into this guy’s mouth just because Khakamada is an oppositionist?
Only the president’s reservations looked alive
Yulia LARINA, “Ogonyok”
In October, viewers were shown three grandiose shows: “Dancing on Ice”, “Stars on Ice” and “Putin on a Wire”. The latter, however, was called, it seems, something else. TV channels have long understood: in order for a program to gain ratings, firstly, it must be a show - large-scale, expensive, involving a large number of people. Secondly, it should have two presenters (a man and a woman) who have memorized the pre-written text well, but pretend that it is improvisation. But the main thing is that it must have stars. Vladimir Putin is an undoubted star. He is from the “star factory” called the Kremlin (currently a competitor of this factory is Dmitry Medvedev, who never leaves the screens). The Direct Line project - communication between the people and the president - is, in theory, very good and useful. But it was turned into a television show orchestrated to the smallest detail, in which only the president’s reservations looked alive and natural.
Unconditionally, we can highlight several very successful television projects, in particular the touching and sincere series “Kadetstvo” (STS), the very human program “Doctor Kurpatov” (Channel One), the worthy business reality show “Candidate” with Vladimir Potanin (TNT ).
Person of the month. Igor Prokopenko. His documentary film “Anna. Kill a Journalist" (REN TV) about Anna Politkovskaya should be assessed in today's conditions not as a television work (although the picture was made with high quality and very quickly), but as a civic act.
Promotional video in the style of life
Anna KACCHKAEVA, Radio Liberty
Positive. Nikolai Svanidze journalistically furiously presents the horror and meanness of the past, and more and more precisely builds a bridge to the present (almost flawless series of “Historical Chronicles” about Abakumov and Vertinsky, “Russia”).
"Anna. Kill a journalist" (REN TV). Her colleagues spoke about Anna Politkovskaya, and most importantly, the heroines of her publications - the mothers and wives of the dead, missing, and injured. Those who remained in Dubrovka, in Chechnya, just on a Moscow street. Their lives were interrupted or crippled due to arbitrariness or someone’s failure to fulfill their duty. For one of the women, the article about her dead son did not allow her to commit suicide, for another it gave her strength to fight. It must be assumed that those viewers who did not read Anin’s articles and heard a lot after her death finally understood who she was for those about whom she wrote. How she knew how to take on the suffering of others and why people came to her when there was nowhere else to go. Igor Prokopenko - thanks to him - managed to find the right words.
“The Week” (REN TV) is an example of intelligible and non-servile journalism.
Both ice shows (“First”, “Russia”) were good - each in its own way. And they still achieved uniqueness - probably none of the similar television shows in the world featured so many absolute champions and Olympic medalists at the same time.
Negative. The first October week of anti-Georgian hysteria on state channels was accompanied by a mocking, branding intonation, which was slammed down one day, as if on a whistle. And the intonation became restrained and perplexed. The switch happened literally before our eyes.
Another problem is the prison-crime channel NTV, which systematically and holistically embodies the philosophy of extreme life, similar to a zone. No matter how such a programmatic policy turns the reservation of sensible journalists still remaining on NTV into outcasts who will soon begin to be ashamed of their normality.
The travails of the creators of “Myths about Russia” (“TV-Center”) never culminated in the birth of a railway saga: it’s banal, flat, and the picture is boring.
The sudden premiere of the cycle “Two Stars” (“First”) was discouraging. A fidgety Lolita, a vulgar entertainer, the off-key singing of several voiceless “celebrities” are too insignificant material to be presented so intriguingly in announcements. Sweet “nanny” Zavorotnyuk has turned into an inter-channel moving banner. It's a pity.
Finally, about the main character of the television Olympus. His ritual straight line does not count. The decorative nature of what was happening was much more clearly manifested in another genre. October. Dresden. Embankment. Morning. Lonely passerby. Coffee at a table with a newspaper. The pastor, of course, accidentally meets an early visitor on the steps of the church. Touching kids. The nostalgic walk of the former intelligence officer seemed to be spied on by cameras from three main channels at once. The reports were overshadowed by the bright memories of German citizens about their Soviet comrades. Performed with aspiration. In the style of life. By the way, a ready-made video for the outgoing moral authority.
By saving, I would increase...
Sergey FOMIN, Teleforum magazine
Positive. The new television season, at its best, does not seek to shock the viewer with something previously unseen, but pleases with the development of what has been successfully found.
In the program “Cord around the World” (NTV), the image of the St. Petersburg “don’t care”, whoever sees everything and wherever he sees it, compares it with his hometown, is clearly based on the best in “Non-Traveller Notes” (“The First”) and “Naturalist’s Travels” ”, which once ran on “Pervy”, and is now repeated on “Culture”. “Aviators” (NTV) is a continuation of what Andrei Razbash started in “Wings” on “Pervoy”. Traditional in the best sense of the word, the domestic documentary biographical duology about Franklin Roosevelt (“Russia”) is joined by a BBC mini-series about Einstein (“Home”), who wrote his historical letter to Roosevelt about the dangers of nuclear weapons. Showing the classics of world documentary cinema (“Culture”) is a natural addition to Andrei Shemyakin’s “Documentary Camera”. “Growing meaning, or the adventures of classics on the Russian stage” by Anatoly Smelyansky (“Culture”) about the theater of the 1960s-1990s is a natural development of cycles about the history of the Moscow Art Theater and the life of Mikhail Bulgakov. “History in the Kitchen” (“Culture”) - well, wasn’t it interesting to know that the first cookbook was written in the 16th century in Italy, and it, being republished for two hundred years, was the only true teaching in this vitally important area of human activity ? And this cycle was preceded by another one last season - “Eat Like Kings.” The multi-part “Battle for Moscow” by Leonid Mlechin (“TV-Center”) was created in the style of the most detailed television story about the Second World War by Viktor Pravdyuk, shown last season on the same channel.
Negative. The disappearance of the program “Obvious - Incredible” from the air of “TV Center” - and precisely as the suppression of the long-term tradition of our educational TV.
Person of the month. Dmitry Gaev, the head of the Moscow metro (“School of Scandal,” NTV), with whom the presenters fought and fought, but they themselves only crashed, because the metro in a metropolis is an urgent need, no matter what it is. And looking for reasons for slander is like criticizing the sun for the fact that it is closed by clouds.
Russian viewer knows how to draw conclusions by default
Elena LANKINA, Moscow News
Program of the month. Anatoly Smelyansky cycle “growing meaning, or the adventures of the classics on the Russian stage” on the channel “Culture”. Our channels are not particularly puzzled by the search for meaning - both in their own activities and in the surrounding reality. The more valuable programs that give rise to rethinking today's life and do it in lively and highly intellectual form. For 12 programs about the adventures of the classics on the domestic stage with the author, the classics of the modern Russian theater - Peter Fomenko, Yuri Lyubimov, Lev Dodin, Sergey Yursky, Oleg Tabakov and others talked. Conversations were on equal terms, which made them especially interesting. Smelyansky and the classic himself-Russian theatrical criticism, and he does not say good good thing that this program is to recommend this program as a training manual for young television journalists.
Event of the month. The return of the television film “Quiet Don”, shot fifteen years ago by Sergey Bondarchuk and his son Fedor. The official presentation of this legend of Russian cinema took place at the very end of October, they promise the prime minister on the First Channel on November 7. Whatever the reaction of the audience and critics (I suspect that it will be ambiguous), this is, of course, an event.
Person of the month. The person of the month-not only television, but in general October 2006-became Anna Politkovskaya. The attempt of some channels to shut up her murder or move him to the periphery of news formats only emphasized the professional and human scale of this woman. The Russian viewer can draw conclusions by default. A special mention is worthy of the REN TV channel, showing the film “Loud business: Anna. Kill a journalist. " Thanks to the authors - Oksana Barkovskaya and Igor Prokopenko.