Translated material
Without Europe, but with Mongol
Vyborg Film Festival program announced
On August 11, the 60th anniversary festival in Locarno will close, at which there is not a single Russian film this year, and on August 10, “Window to Europe” will open, the fifteenth and also of its kind anniversary festival in Vyborg, which according to the original intention was supposedly going to to build a bridge between the Russian and Western festival movements, and as a result became a launching pad for Russian films released in theaters in the fall.The blockbuster "Mongol" by Sergei Bodrov is reserved for the opening - a major project of the STV studio, a co-production of Kazakhstan, Germany and Russia, a colorful epic with a large (15 million euros) budget. In my opinion, the film about the youth of Genghis Khan turned out to be rather sluggish and boring, although beautiful. But in any case, this is a completely serious work of flagship scale. As for the flotilla of ships following him, they, as usual, are of different sizes and generally look good only among their native aspens.
However, there are several still unknown but attractive films in the competition. It’s interesting that the author of the complex, meditative films “The Snake”, “From the Life of Shchelops” and “The Worm”, Alexey Muradov, shot from the script of Valentin Chernykh, the author of strong melodramas? The film is called “Night Sisters,” but it’s about nurses, and Alexey Makarov starred in it.
Even more intriguing is the new film by Alexei Fedorchenko “Railroad”. After “First on the Moon,” one could have expected anything from him, but he decided to make a road movie about two friends who stole a coal car and an old steam locomotive, and set out to sell it along an old road in the steppe.
But somehow you don’t expect anything from “The Artist” by Stanislav Govorukhin, although perhaps in vain, the director of the popular series about Sharapov and Zheglov should finally film something worthwhile. But in this film you can admire the stars of Lenkom Alexander Abdulov and Dmitry Pevtsov, the wonderful artist Evgenia Dobrovolskaya in the title role, as well as Maria Aronova, Mikhail Efremov, Svetlana Nemolyaeva and Fyodor Bondarchuk in supporting roles. This set of performers plus the sitcom genre should delight at least the audience, to whose opinions the festival in Vyborg is very attentive.
Another theatrical comedy in Vyborg will be shown by Pavel Chukhrai, who adapted Gogol’s “The Players”, albeit in a heavily altered form. To the twists and turns of the famous play, an additional intrigue was added with the participation of an Italian sharper. The scammers are played by Sergei Makovetsky, Sergei Garmash, Andrey Merzlikin, etc.
Sergei Makovetsky will also play the leading role in the film “Temptation” by Sergei Ashkenazy, a melodrama about how a father, without knowing it, seduced his son’s girlfriend.
But Sergei Garmash and Dmitry Pevtsov can also be seen in the film “Gooseberry” by the Estonian Arvo Iho, where we will talk about the Olympics in Moscow, against the backdrop of which the love story of an avant-garde artist and an ordinary summer resident develops. The producers were Alexander Rodnyansky and Igor Tolstunov, which makes us treat the film a little more carefully than the plot suggested by screenwriter Marina Mareeva.
In general, there are now many premieres in Russia, and although there is no such assortment of names as at Kinotavr in Vyborg, nevertheless, the jury, made up of laureates of past festivals and headed by Karen Shakhnazarov, is unlikely to regret the time spent. But the documentary section, the jury of which will be headed by director Marina Razbezhkina, will present a very representative selection this year: “Artel” by Sergei Loznitsa (the film that won in Karlovy Vary), “Vyborg” by Oleg Kovalov, “Village Photographer” by Alexey Pogrebny, “Alexander Naumovich and his children" by Tofik Shakhverdiyev...
The jury of the animated film competition, chaired by the artistic director of the Vyborg Drama and Puppet Theater Yuri Labetsky, will have the pleasure of watching a selection of the best Russian animation, already selected by specialized forums. These are all the same: “Zhikharka”, “My Love” by Alexander Petrov, “Restroom Story - a Love Story” by Konstantin Bronzit and 14 more paintings.
In Vyborg, viewers are usually shown all those films whose high-profile premieres took place at other festivals. This competition is called “Vyborg Score”, and it is judged by the audience. Here “Cargo 200” will compete with “Exile”, “Simple Things” with “Travel with Pets” - in general, new combinations, different tastes...
The festival will close on August 17 with Vitaly Melnikov’s film “Agitation Brigade, Beat the Enemy” - about how during the war in Siberia a steamship sailed among special settlers, where artists performed and films were shown. This film has already been shown in Moscow during the Moscow International Film Festival, and it did not cause much enthusiasm, but for Vyborg it is “one of our own” - the filming of the Siberian river expanses took place right in the vicinity of this amazing city.