 
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
|
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
108.81.116.219
Now I know what Vic's grade school days were like: grim.Okay, we have a near three hour mucous, spittle, and feces festival shot in glorious B&W. This thing wouldn't work in color.
One thing I can't understand is why so many Russian or Eastern European film makers churn out these seemingly awful and disgusting films. This one is like watching three hours of 9-11 all over again. The darkness of the time, the setting, the almost non-existent plot, the cast of characters right out of Heironymous Bosch. The wandering camera capturing such widespread filth and mayhem for no apparent reason.
Why such a film? Because it was a challenge. It was a tedious, masterful stroke of film making that offends yet compells--and that was probably the reason for its making.
First, the casting and costumes. Imagine a lingering Dark Ages set 800 years behind us. The odd looking people, the prosthetics, the odd things worn. Everyone was covered with filth, feces, boils, running noses, and/or blood. Pulling a diverse cast together with the costumer was a miracle.
Second, the setting was a rainy, foggy, muddy, dank, Dark Age world where sanitation was still born. Feces encrusted everything--almost. There was disarray everywhere. A modern man would be terrified to touch anything, drink the water, or even lie on a bed.
Third, was this a metaphor for anything? I was so grossed out that I didn't care to think about it. The local lord, "god", was followed by the Earth camera crew (we never saw them) to capture what a brute he was. He had a fondness for grabbing ears, pushing people down, and telling them to "get out" or "leave". His idiot army of morons were the "Grays" and they would fail against the "Blacks" who would come in and vanquish almost everyone near the end.
The most important thing to me was the stage direction. There was always movement in front of main characters and simultaneously behind them as well. It was like real life with a very ugly twist. There was always something to grab your attention and the diverse cast would peer into the camera or run in front of it during every scene. It is a world with no order or privacy. The English are supposed to be the best at stage direction (Greenway's kitchen in 'The Thief The Cook comes to mind) but this took so much planning to balance the whole work I wonder how much storyboarding was possible for every little nuance moving about.
I don't recommend this for anyone. It is three hours and if you turn if off after fifteen minutes no one had been fulfilled-not you or the film maker. This is not something you will ever watch again. It is like a perverse 'Russian Ark': a roving camera, characters flowing in and out of focus, and a gigantic cast. Nay, this is not a single take film but it sure feels like it.
I gave it five stars because NF viewers have it a one star. Unfortunately subject matter overrules creativity and craft. This has both in spades. You really have to start dissecting what you are seeing to appreciate what it took to make.
Edits: 09/15/15Follow Ups:
It is based on my all-time favorite book, that I read first time about 35-40 years ago, and read many times since. So, obviously, I was very excited about the movie.
But, yet again, as with "Stalker", that is based on the book by the same authors (brothers Strugatsky), it disappoints.
First of all, if you haven't read the book first, the movie will be very difficult to understand.
And as is with "Stalker", Alexei German went for the visual impact, sacrificing intellect, subtlety and humor of the original.
Main character has NOTHING in common with the protagonist, the whole atmosphere of the movie is very different from the book, etc.
The differences aside, I think the movie is overdone. The misery and cruelty of Arkanar is being hammered down relentlessly to a point, where after the first 30-40 min into the movie, one can't help, but to ask oneself- "OK, got the message, very convincing, but, what is next?
And there is no next, same relentless abuse of the senses until the very end.
I couldn't shake a feeling, that it's very overcooked, repetitious and heavy- handed.
It does achieve the goal of impressing a viewer, but what I had expected from a master like German, is more subtle, meaningful delivery, more thought provocation, etc.
Victor is right in saying, that this style is nothing new to Russian cinema.
I'm just not sure it is the highest form of cinematographic art.
It's not all that difficult to offend viewer's senses and sensibilities.
To introduce an idea, to ask thought provoking question,
and to invite intellectual process- that is a goal of an artist, and IMHO, German had failed in this regard.
It takes to be Russian, to have a different perspective on this movie (I'm guilty, as charged). Robert Ebert liked it, I didn't.
On many levels it was insulting to my intelligence, for whatever that's worth.
It's been widely recognized, that the old definition of Dark Ages did not apply correctly to the Middle Ages, but more to the time before it. So I would dispute that 800 years number as inaccurate. However, to a dark Russian mind this hardly matters - anything before the Proletarian Revolution had to be very, very dark. :)
There is a term in video engineering: Blacker than Black, and I think it describes aptly the director's vision. The historic records lead to believe that the life in those times, hard as it was, still was not endless sitting under the garderobe.
So the question is - why do it this way?
Perhaps it would help us understand the rationale behind it, if we realized that the drunken delirium was not something out of ordinary for a typical Russian citizen... in fact it was such a common occurrence that people would hardly pay much attention to it.
I think here we have indeed the product of such an inflamed mind. And perhaps switching from cheap high-alcohol swill to moderately priced red wine would cure this "Russian Disease" effectively.
Such dark vision is nothing new in Russian cinema... one can find plenty of it in many other works, and certainly many films by Sokurov and Zviagintsev (Leviathan) carry that seal of approval.
So I see plenty of good ammo wasted here. There is no doubt that the director has tremendous talent, so I just wish his next work will reflect other sides of a human mind. Enough of that darkness already.
As far as the director is concerned - oddly enough, his previous film dates from 1998 - huge seemingly idle period of time... but his prior work does deserve a lot of attention, so I wholeheartedly recommend his earlier films.
Post a Followup:
| FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
