Carnival night

"Palace" of Roman Polanski - which is notable for the picture of the New Year's end of the world, which almost everyone recognized as unsuccessful

On November 23, the satirical black comedy of Roman Polanskoy “Palace”, shown outside the competition at the Venice festival, is published in Russia. The ninety -year -old master is active and sarcastic, despite the age and spoiled reputation (during the premiere on Lido, protests against the presence of Polanski at the festival were held, and the film itself, like the previous one, will not be released on large screens of the United States, Britain and France).

At the beginning of the year, the current wife of Polanski Emmanuel Senya met and talked with the same Samantha Gamer, who, as a teenager, accused the director of rape about half a century ago. In an interview with the wife of Polanski, Samantha stated the absence of claims for her part and, in her opinion, the failure of the case of the case of Polanski in the modern movement against violence (despite the petition of Gamer itself, the case has not yet been closed). “Palace” is a poisonous chronicle of Millennium's offensive with dozens of caricatured actors. A variety of rich people settle on New Year's Eve at the Alpine Hotel, the manager of which should please guests, fulfill their whims and solve problems in the mode of manual. Film critic Oleg Tundra discusses why the Polanski film, almost unanimously recognized as unsuccessful, still demonstrates the vitality and political sobriety of the director.

While the world is puzzling over the reversing of all computer systems and the new global crisis (the so -called “problem 2000 ”, which now seems an anecdote), the hotel in the Swiss Alps should provide guests with all the entertainment of New Year's Eve. Smareful, with ideal manners and outstanding skills of anti -crisis management, the Hansueli Metor -coder (Oliver Mazucci) instructs the staff: "The fate of the whole world depends on how our guests wake up." This means that black caviar should climb from the ears, champagne - pour in the river. In a word, any whim for your money. Guests have a lot of money, so there will be plenty of whims. "Politability, accuracy and perfection!" - The motto of the hotel workers. The film begins with shots of stormy activity: for guests from around the world they prepare numbers, an ice sculpture with the number of 2000 reigns in elevators, and caviar is imported by centners.

There are many guests at the hotel who have nowhere else to go: groups of Muslims in a burden with Birkin bags, mature millionaires whose faces are the result of countless plastic surgery, escort, fans of skiing and American tourists.

But Polanski draws attention not to them. He is interested in the gangs of Russian bandits with Fendi suitcases stuffed with currency

(At the head of the delegation - Alexander Petrov), Pornstar pension, a folly rich man with Chihuahua (Fanny Ardan), a tanned swindler (Mickey Rourke), as well as an elderly rich man and his dear chubby wife, calling each other a “dandelion” and “Magnolia” (comedian from Monty Pyton and Bronwin. James). Everyone has their own requirements: someone needs a suite with a look, someone-a safe of the Second World War, live penguin, veterinarian or children's room. On the TV, a forgotten star of one hit of Lou Run with a song about mambo number five is torn. But the number of Russians has a completely different broadcast: Yeltsin uses the New Year's Broadcasting to relieve himself of the authority, apologize to the people and appoint a successor who will not disappear from television and after more than 20 years.

The main complaints about the new picture of Polanski, especially after his last film “Officer and Spy” about the Dreyfus case, is the second -rate of the topic and the shallow grass of the heroes. Indeed, over the distorted world of the rich over the past few years, everything seems to have laughed: both left and conservatives. Ruben Estlund even twice-in the “square” and “triangle of sadness”, Mark Milod-in the “menu”, Kronenberg Jr.-in the “endless pool”, Mike White-in the series “White Lotus”, Ryan Johnson-in the “glass bulb”. In this series, the parasites from the “Palace” look painfully familiar, secondary and grotesque-in the spirit of extravagant parodies of the late 80s. If in other modern satires the main characters have a development trajectory, then the characters of Polanskoy remain in the final as waxy as at the beginning. With the exception of one half -dead hero who will meet death at the happiest moment for himself.

However, there is one important difference between the “Palace” and films that sublimating resentification. It has not a drop of moralizing and hopes for changing the status quo, as there are no faith in outsiders using general confusion in their favor. Filling the youth riots of the 60s, the cinema carncations of the 70s and the 80s, the mutations of the industry, the booze in Cannes and Curshel, the digital revolution and the #Metoo movement, the 90-year-old master saw too much to shake, criticize the system or hope to change it. Therefore, instead of existential challenges, we are faced with a disgusting curacy of heroes who, with the onset of Millennium, “began to dress better,” but remained as unreasonable and capricious animals. The scale is also surprising: Polanski sets up a dozen completely different actors and hundreds of statists, pulls and drives them around the rooms, without reducing speed for a second.

The “Palace” can be perceived as a collection of scabrand grandfather’s tanks at his anniversary, or it is possible - as memories of an employee of any hotel over the years of unquestioning execution of instructions.

Instead of the neat “Grand Budapest Hotel”, consisting of small and large human stories, we observe the New Year's brawl on the “nobody” - in Switzerland, where in the last century there were no storms or social upheaval. Here, as in Vegas, everything that happens remains hidden in expensive numbers and underground safe.

In the world, there really are pornstars that insured their parts of the body for millions of dollars. Rich widows with faces, as in Brazil Terry Gilliam. Pocket dogs that are fed caviar. Makhinators washing bank history washing into the toilet. Women with the most expensive necklaces in the world. And the suitcases of money hidden in the basements. The fact that it can be unpleasant for us to look at it speaks more about us than about Polanski, who clearly does not want to teach anyone or surprise anyone. Considering that the “problem of 2000” was solved on January 1, 2000 and the world that day did not fall apart, it seems that the Palace staff did a great job. The guests were flicked by delicacies and drunk so that champagne pouring through the nose - and the world the next day remains the same as it was.