Translated material
Premieres: 04/18/2013
"The Place Beyond the Pines" (directed by Derek Cienfrance).
The concept of the second full-length film by the talented director Derek Cienfrance looks very ambitious. In The Place Beyond the Pines he has three full storylines, each of which is essentially a separate story. But together they should form a kind of elegy about fate and its mysterious ways. In the first part of the film we will talk about a clever stunt biker Luke (Ryan Gosling), who is forced to rob banks on his motorcycle in order to provide a decent life for his little son. In the second, the main character will be the hero of Bradley Cooper - an honest and principled cop hunting for Luke. Well, the third will be dedicated to their grown-up sons, raking in the legacy of their fathers. In principle, this is an application for such a thorough drama, striving for global generalizations and thoughtful conclusions. The goal is noble, but at the same time extremely difficult to achieve. Here Cienfrance will be required to demonstrate the entire arsenal of his directorial skills and even a little more, because otherwise he will immediately be accused of pretentiousness and empty talk. A real test of strength.
However, remembering Derek’s directorial debut, I believe that he is capable of coping with this task. Let me remind you that Cienfrance’s first film was the melancholy drama “Valentine” starring Gosling and Michelle Williams, a heartbreaking chronicle of rapidly fading love (my review here ). There were no spectacular plot moves or any hidden meanings in it, but there was the truth of life. In front of many hundreds of loving couples who fell for the romantic title of the film, Cienfrance mercilessly trampled on the myth of eternal love. Gosling was hysterical there, not understanding why everything suddenly went away. Williams stood and looked at him with eyes full of tears and despair. And love died: slowly, painfully, irreversibly. And if Cienfrance was able to speak extremely clearly and distinctly about such a complex substance, then why doesn’t he repeat this trick again, albeit with, probably, even more complex material.
And wonderful artists will help him in this: Ryan Gosling, who has already been mentioned here more than once, continues to build up his acting (and not only) muscles, Bradley Cooper, who in recent years suddenly sharply changed his career priorities and relied on independent projects (which has already resulted in a nomination Oscar), Dane DeHaan, star of last year's surprise film Chronicle, as well as Eva Mendes, Ray Liotta, Bruce Greenwood, Rose Byrne and Ben Mendelsohn (the supporting cast, to be sure, is impressive). In general, we expect only good cinema from Cienfrance.
"Legend No. 17" (director - Nikolai Lebedev).
A domestic biopic about the outstanding Soviet hockey player Valery Kharlamov, who became one of the main creators of the striking performance of the USSR national hockey team in the 1972 Super Series with Canada (then our guys first clashed with professionals from the NHL and did not lose face, although they eventually lost the series, but in the most stubborn struggle). For the film, Kharlamov’s biography was, naturally, a little tidied up: thus, his meeting with his future wife was postponed to an earlier period of his life. But everything is within reason and for the sake of achieving the artistic integrity of the picture. In such cases, you must always be aware that you are not watching a documentary presentation of facts, but an artistic interpretation (and re-interpretation) of them. Often, the life of even the most outstanding people can seem boring and ordinary to an outsider. And the screenwriter’s task is to bring something into a person’s biography that will hook the viewer and make him feel some kind of feelings for the hero. Take Hoover in Eastwood's J. Edgar. In fact, he has God knows what an interesting biography: he founded the FBI, led it for more than 40 years, and died. Eastwood builds the film on the basis of not just speculation, but plausible assumptions. No one ever knew anything about Hoover’s personal life, no one ever knew who and what kind of incriminating evidence he had, what he was involved in (whether in the assassination of Kennedy or Martin Luther King) and what he wasn’t. And Clint was not afraid to present his vision of such an odious personality, having in his hands, I repeat, not even facts, but only assumptions. We still have some kind of prejudice that there are “sacred cows” in Russian history that we should not even approach. For example, I still can’t understand why many viewers were so displeased with Peter Buslov’s “Vysotsky” (well, with the exception of this incomprehensible mask of Bezrukov): a film shot at a completely European level and corresponding to all the canons of the conventional subgenre “episode from the life of an outstanding figure in politics/science/art." Or Serebrennikov decided to make a film about Tchaikovsky, but in Russia he was denied financing because potential investors did not like the script, which did not hide the unconventional sexual orientation of the great Russian composer. Well, where is this good? It's a sad trend.
I apologize for this lyrical digression, but, in my opinion, it was necessary so that the context was clear. Director Nikolai Lebedev took on a very thankless job (he has a much greater chance of getting punches from the audience than earning an ovation, and for reasons not related to the cinema itself, because here, as a rule, the principle works: I haven’t read Pasternak, but I condemn him), and I would like to wish him good luck. We need to break stereotypes. Buslov, by and large, did not succeed (not through his fault, however). Maybe Lebedev will succeed. In addition, this is also a sports drama, a relatively new and unknown genre for Russian cinema, so you can’t envy the authors here at all.
I urge you to pay the closest attention in “Legend No. 17” not only to Danila Kozlovsky (he plays the role of Kharlamov, for which he seriously improved his physical condition and even learned Kharlamov’s signature feints), but also to Oleg Menshikov. He was not seen in big cinema for a long time (if you don’t take into account “Burnt by the Sun 2” by Nikita Mikhalkov), but here he plays the part of Anatoly Tarasov himself, the famous coach, whose difficult character is legendary. In terms of type, Menshikov is not at all similar to Tarasov. Rather, he is its opposite. However, eyewitnesses say that the actor did a tremendous job and we have never seen such a Menshikov. Here's another intrigue for you.
"Kon-Tiki" (directed by Joakim Ronning and Espen Sandberg).
Norwegian film nominated for the 2013 Oscar in the category "Best Foreign Language Film". Based on a true story. Norwegian traveler Thor Heyerdahl started an amazing adventure in 1947. In an effort to prove that Polynesia was once settled not by Asians, but by South American tribes, he and several of his comrades built a raft (without the use of modern technology) and sailed on it across the Pacific Ocean from Peru to the Polynesian islands. As one of the famous Russian critics noted, “here is a film that would be the flagship project of the year for any Hollywood studio and, with some Brad Pitt in the title role, would collect Oscars and hundreds of millions at the box office.” It's hard to disagree.
For those to whom “Life of Pi” seemed too fantastic (if anything, “Life of Pi” is based on a completely fictitious plot, otherwise there were probably those who took everything at face value).
"Welcome to the Trap" (directed by Eren Creevy).
British crime thriller in the style of Michael Mann. A loser cop (James McAvoy, already the second film with his participation in the Russian box office in April) is pursuing a professional robber (Mark Strong, almost the main movie villain of our time), who has returned to London after several years of being somewhere over the hill. In the role of the police chief is the wonderful David Morrissey, The Governor from the third season of The Walking Dead (a character we will remember for a long time). From producer Ridley Scott. A genre trifle (in a good way) should turn out just right.
"The Lords of Salem" (directed by Rob Zombie).
Trash horror from an expert in this matter, Rob Zombie. Everything is as it should be: an ancient curse, witches, demons, ominous manuscripts, people possessed by the devil. For those who didn't find the recent "Evil Dead" enough. In principle, these two films can make an ideal combination, unless, of course, Zombie made a mistake.
"No One Survived" (directed by Ryuhei Kitamura).
And this is a horror story about a maniac. With a non-trivial plot. Some bandits take a guy and a girl hostage, and then it turns out that the guy is a serial killer, and now they're all screwed because he's clearly not in the mood to show mercy. Moreover, after he was not treated in the best way. Luke Evans is the soloist here. And this is an interesting choice for the role of a maniac. Until now, he had somehow not been associated with the type of cold-blooded killer. Horror is not without potential also because director Kitamura has established himself in the genre on the good side with “Midnight Express,” where, if you remember, Vinnie Jones put everyone on hooks.
"Just imagine!" (directed by Andrzej Jakimovsky).
A poignant story about blind people who are trying to learn to see the world around them, at least in their imagination. Judging by the trailer, the film will have a lot of funny moments. But the message seems to boil down to this: imagination is subjective, reality is objective; How can a blind person compare one thing with another without making a mess? You can imagine anything you want.