Leviathan on the finish line

Whether the Oscars will receive the film Andrei Zvyagintsev

The story of the locksmith Sergeyev (Alexei Serebryakov), who entered the battle with the state machine, caused hot disputes in Russia (photo: pyramidefilms.com). Andrei Zvyagintsev’s film “Leviathan”, received the Golden Globe Award and the Oscar nomination. At the same time, the director, whose picture began to be illegally distributed on the Internet, turned to some almost into the Messiah, but for others - into the enemy of the state No. 1.

Boycot denigant? More recently, Leviathan was for most fellow citizens an ordinary Russian film, which was soon expected to reach the screens. It seems to have received a Cannes prize, but not the main

* * Andrey Zvyagintsev and Oleg Negin received a prize for the best script at the 67th Cannes Film Festival. . It seems that Serebryakov and Vdovichenkov play - our men, in the series saw. The director in the glasses-yeah, somewhere he was awarded, do not remember exactly where.

Then it turned out that Leviathan was the first domestic film in 46 years (and the second in history, after the “war and peace” by Sergei Bondarchuk), which received the prestigious Hollywood Golden Globe Prize: Zvyagintsev flashed in photographs somewhere near George Clooney. At the same time, Leviathan ended up on the Web - for free, publicly, illegally. Before someone managed to do something, tens of thousands of people looked at him, and a real storm burst out. Some shouted that this was the most shocking and truthful film about modern Russia. Others, not without success, shouted them: they say, lies, sneezing, denigration of our country and hence success in foreign countries. They attacked the film from two sides. “Patriots-conservatives”-for slander on the Putin’s Russian Federation, who appeared in the film devouring everyone and the whole monster (many noted that the picture was made excellent, and the more terrible the crime of the false author). “Liberal Estetes”-on the contrary, for straightforwardness, edification and artistic imperfection (option: for excessive and thereby annoying perfection). Very soon, Leviathan turned out to be the most discussed Russian film over many years, including literally all in the virtual discussion - from ordinary bloggers to the Minister of Culture of Medinsky.

The inclusion of Zvyagintsev’s painting in the nomination “Best Film in a Foreign Language” Prize “Oscar” was added to the fire. So young and, according to Russian concepts, not enough status directors have never got into such lists - especially if we are talking about Cannes, the Golden Globe and the American Film Academy. Well, if Mikhalkov, we will understand: he seems to be a machine gun. And then recently their flow has stopped. And Zvyagintsev just with the fourth film, and even like that-depressive, hopeless, denigrating? The virtual space was repented to the limit. Official mass media-in any case, state television channels-announced a conspiracy of silence: next to the joyful reports about how the Russian team took third place at the high championship, there was not even a running line about the Leviathan nomination for Oscar. What is this - war, boycott or just confusion? Most like the last.

Producer Alexander Rodnyansky and director Andrei Zvyagintsev receive the Golden Globe for Leviathan, January 11, 2015

An intelligible Russian is interesting that Zvyagintsev’s high awards abroad are associated with politics or something mysterious, which is called “conjuncture” in Russia (referring, probably, fashion, but in a negative aspect). If you read the American reviews of the film - enthusiastic exceptions with practically without a single exception, then in each of them the confusion when assessing the real situation in Russia shows. Not a single critic understands whether Leviathan is an accurate realistic cast of what is happening in our country, satire, grotesque or metaphor? When the hero drinks vodka from a bottle, should you cry or laugh? And this confusion itself testifies to the main thing: the film impressed-as an unprecedented overseas miracle-yudo, but it didn’t really fit into any row, so it is impossible to talk about fashion. The Americans even compare it with the westerns, and also recall the original source - from him in the picture, however, nothing remains - the history of his compatriot Marvin Khimyer, who, having lost his mind, demolished half a city with his bulldozer and committed suicide. By the way, the only music sounding in Leviathan is also American - fragments from the opera of Philip Glass Ekhnaton.

This is one of the explanations of the non-trivial success of the picture around the world and outside the United States too: four nominations on the awards of the European Film Academy, the Grand Prix in London-we will not forget about it. No, not in the invented “low worship” the reason, but in Zvyagintsev’s unique ability to tell the universal story by universal means (he brilliantly succeeded in “returning”), at the same time, honestly and without compromises on the situation in our homeland, which remains for most citizens of other countries, is still Terra Incognita. After all, both Mikhalkov, and even Tarkovsky or Sokurov always passed through the department of exotic trousers-gastrolets, and Zvyagintsev-the first Russian director of the world-class, speaking in an intelligible language. As for the “denigration” - that is, a critical understanding of the surrounding political and social reality - this is also the norm for good author’s cinema in any country, be it Spain Almodovar or Denmark Trier, America Cohen or Germany Hanake. But in the Leviathan, in addition to its unique genre certainty - the drama about the confrontation of a simple person with a difficult fate of the state machine - there are also all signs of a vaguely familiar Russian culture: melancholy, reflection, doom, beautiful women and stunning nature. This is the key to good luck.

The main competitor of Leviathan in the struggle for Oscar will be Pavel Pavlikovsky, Ida
Leviathan VS “Ida” , however, is still unknown how the “Oscar” intrigue will end. Next to Leviathan in the same nomination, four more paintings. The Estonian-Georgian tragicomedy Zazu Urushadze “Mandarins” is unlikely to take a prize-the scale is not the same, just like in the case of the sweetest black satire of Argentinean Damian Sifron “Wild Stories”. But the “Ida”, the black and white piercing drama living and working in London Pole Pavel Pavlikovsky, is very large: on the “Euroskars” this tape about the novice of the Catholic monastery, suddenly recognizing the death of their Jews into the Second World War, had already bypassed Leviathan, although she lost to him “gold globe”. Another strong candidate-Timbuktu, Mauritan Aberrahmano Sissako, made boring and personal funds-a strong drama about the atrocities of Sharia justice in Africa countries: today you can’t come up with a more relevant topic, even Russian lawlessness grazes in front of it. True, in the event of the victory of any of them, we will also have a reason for patriotic joy. After all, Pavlikovsky began his career in Russia, where he shot documentaries about the descendant of Dostoevsky (Dostoevsky's Travels, 1991), about Venedikte Erofeev (From Moscow to Pietushki / Moscow Circles: Yerofeyev, 1991) and, believe, about Zhirinovsky (Tripping with Zhirinovsky, 1995), he also made a painting "Stringer" with Sergey Brandov Jr. (1998). And Sissako completely finished VGIK, which is very noticeable in his manner, elusively reminiscent of the tape of Kazakhfilm in the 1980s. Both are our people.

One way or another, even losing to Oscar, Leviathan will remain in the history of world cinema forever as a Russian film, not afraid at a critical moment to honestly say about the most important and noted by a variety of, usually competing, premium instances. In addition, participation in the film Academy of this year is not only honorable, but also pleasant. Among the main applicants for Oscar in the main nomination “Best Film of the Year” are such bright and far away from the traditions of Hollywood the picture as “Hotel Grand Budapest” by Wes Anderson (9 nominations), “Berdman” Alejandro Gonzalez injarita (9 nominations ”) and“ adolescence ”of Richard Linklater (6 nominations). Whoever won, it will be a triumph of uncompromising author's cinema - that rare category for the Russian situation, which includes Leviathan.

The nominations for the Oscar of the film Urushadze “Mandarins” rejoice in Estonia and Georgia, the ban is useless about what awaits the picture at home, today we can only guess. The range of opportunities is very wide. On the one hand, Leviathan was leaked to the network, many looked at it for free, and there are fears that a wide viewer, already coolly related to the domestic “Cinema is not for everyone”, will not want to go to cinemas en masse. On the other hand, after the scandal and noise that arose, the distributor printed additional copies at the request of cinema networks - according to the latest data, the film will go not at 300, but 500 screens. On the third party, now a variety of instances - not yet officially - require prohibiting the rental of Leviathan and any other “anti -Russian”, no matter what is understood as this, cinema. There are no legal mechanisms for such a ban, but if necessary, you can create them in record terms, even before the release of the rental planned on February 5.

The good news is that you can see a complete obscene version, albeit illegally, now. Of course, this will deprive the authors of a picture of well -deserved rental money, but it will not leave without spectators, and this is more important for Russia. The “Leviathan” at Leviathan will certainly be already outside our country - with or without Oscar.

Photo: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, IDA-MOVIE.COM, Profimeedia.eee