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Poddubnyy (2014)
Uninvented story about the "epic" hero
Biographical films based on living history have recently become almost as popular and relevant genre in world cinema as fantastic comics about superheroes, including in the nominations for the main film award "Oscar".
Life writes such million-dollar stories that are ahead of any fantasy of the most talented screenwriter. And in a civilized society, national history and national heroes have always been a matter of special pride. Americans, as a young nation with 200 years of history, are especially reverent about this topic. Let's imagine how much more pride there is in this sense for multinational Russia with its thousand-year history and what an important part of the unifying national idea they are.
In recent years, in the domestic cinema in the biopic genre, not only revival has appeared, but also achievements. First of all, the enthusiastically received film about Kharlamov and Tarasov "Legend No. 17" and the somewhat less enthusiastic film about astronaut No. 1 "Gagarin: The First in Komos". And here is a film about another legend of domestic and world sports, Ivan Poddubny, a hero from the people, as incredibly strong as the epic Ilya Muromets, the mythological Hercules or the superhero from the current comics. From the Zaporozhye Cossacks of the Poddubny family, famous for their phenomenal physical strength.
He got into the circus arena, where at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries performances of strongmen and wrestling fights took place, by accident, but for the rest of his life as a proud and gambling person, for whom the desire to prove physical superiority became urgent, and losing was unacceptable. He worked as a professional wrestler in several circuses, later he brilliantly defended the honor of the fatherland at competitions in Europe and America, and had his last fight in 1941 at the age of 70. He survived the German occupation, refusing the flattering advances of the Germans, and was awarded the title of Honored Master of Sports of the USSR in his later life, in addition to other awards. With an awkward personal fate and the innocence of a big child who ended his life in the provincial Yeysk almost in poverty.
It is clear that such a rich and vivid biography cannot be accommodated in two hours of screen time. But screenwriter Yuri Korotkov, a great master of his craft, the author of scripts for many hits of the 1990s-2000s, collected key events in the life and fate of Poddubny, inevitably cutting something off, somewhat sinning against the facts for the sake of compactness of history, and not avoiding some stereotypes: the capitalist world is insidious, soulless and only interested in profit, and the Russian hero is a heart of gold, the embodiment of honesty and a deeply believing Christian. But behind these stereotypes is a living person, proud, lonely, with a mysterious Russian soul and unpredictable actions.
In the film, most of the time is expectedly devoted to Poddubny's professional career, many performances in different arenas. There is an affair with the main love of his life, circus aerial gymnast Masha Dozmarova, the "dragonfly" Mimi, with whom they were the same field of berries - from the breed of winners who broke stereotypes all their lives. There is a family part, a difficult and important relationship with his father, a stern Cossack, who in childhood taught his son not to run away from a fight with a whip: one on one - fight, one against five - fight, one against the whole world - fight anyway. Particular emphasis is placed on the quarrelsome and uncomfortable character of Poddubny, who, due to the honesty of his nature, never agreed to contractual fights, but he himself more than once became a victim of financial fraud, fraud and dishonesty of opponents, almost became a victim of contract killings.
The film is simple like its hero, without excessive dramatic tension and frills, but solid and conscientious, most importantly, sincere and causing genuine pride in the fatherland and its heroes, which is what he aspired to. A bit "fair and popular prints". But this theatricality is partly justified by the fact that Poddubny's "workplace" was the circus arena - the world of enchanting and exotic, the main folk show of that time. The project team is as colorful as the visuals - the French, including the colorful Denis Lavant as a coach, the Bulgarians are combat sambo stuntmen who worked with Stallone in The Expendables. The diversity is added by the wide geography of filming - Feodosia, Kiev, Odessa, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Paris, New York - and not entirely justified and even superfluous time jumps from young to mature years of a wrestler, from the American tour of 1926 back to the World Cup in Paris 1904, etc.
The role of Poddubny will be one of the best in the filmography of Mikhail Porechenkov. He sincerely loves his prototype, is monumental and formidable as a professional, and absolutely naive and defenseless in everything else. All fights were shot without doubles, special training with the Armenian weightlifting team and 14 kilograms of muscle mass gained were not in vain. The operator's camera almost did not flatter Porechenkov, only presented him in the best possible way. He succeeded in all the nuances of the age role, covering 30 years of the life of a wrestler from 1896 to 1926 - from a young man with shining eyes, who has everything ahead, to a mature professional fighter who has experienced many disappointments and losses, but retained openness, sincerity, youthful ardor and inflexible inner core.
The memorable roles of Alexander Mikhailov (Poddubny's father), Vladimir Ilyin and Yuri Kolokolnikov are domestic fans of the wrestler from the Russian nobility and his entrepreneurs, Roman Madyanov (circus director), Katerina Spitz (Mademoiselle Mimi).
The film owes its success, which can be discussed with some reservations, first of all, apparently, not so much to the director Gleb Orlov, on whose account there is only one satirical film in the big meter "Our Russia: Eggs of Destiny", but to experienced domestic producers who released the best domestic projects of recent years, Leonid Vereshchagin, Leonid Lebedev, Vadim Goryainov.
I would like to hope that behind the voluntary or involuntary schematization of the film and the textbook figure of the "champion of champions" and the "Russian bear", the audience will nevertheless discern the restless and rebellious soul of a living person, a little holy fool like all extraordinary talents and outstanding personalities, and bewitching with his uniqueness less mythological characters.
22 Jump Street (2014)
Proper Sequel Size
A sequel is only right if it's bigger and better in every way. Comedy sequels are especially difficult to make because they have to be funnier in the first place. And given that the first "Macho and Nerd" was also a skillfully prepared action movie and detective story, the tasks before Phil Lord and Chris Miller were large-scale, and they got out of the situation not without proper brilliance.
We started by completely copying the script of the first film, changing school to college. By changing everything to suit the relatively new setting, shading old jokes and adding new ones, and rearranging unexpected plot twists, they had a product ready to go. Having persuaded the studio to almost double their budget, they still famously drove through the action scenes and got a homerically funny, masterly staged, brilliantly played and sarcastically smart picture, which instantly erases the impression of all the other non-comedies put on the screen over the past two months.
Jonah Hill, who again acted as a screenwriter and producer of the project, burns all the way on the screen, beating both his complexion and the rules of Hollywood sequels, and so many crazy life situations that in the end he storms with laughter. Not far behind is Channing Tatum, again slow and magnificent in this slowness, giving himself entirely to the character and adding his own life experience to it, which is valuable. In the background, she portrays the overly smart and very strange girl Gillian Bell, and Amber Stevens plays her roommate and at the same time the love interest of Hill's hero. At some point, this turbulent mixture in one closed room reaches such a boil that there is nothing to breathe.
Pleases with a brief appearance by Dave Franco and a high-speed ride into the Wyatt Russell ensemble, which shows fantastic on-screen chemistry with Tatum.
However, the hero Ice Cube attracts the most attention. It's debatable whether he's the most hilarious character in the second film, but it's almost a fact that he elevates every scene he's involved in to an even higher level. Moreover, his role in the sequel is expanded and complicated by many circumstances.
These circumstances are almost always terribly funny, but at the same time, Lord and Miller almost never allow themselves to fall below the belt. Except a couple of times. Their humor is varied and hits the audience on several levels at once, so not laughing at all just won't work. They have both irony and sarcasm, and elements of parody and satire. They love the visual jokes created through editing and camerawork as much as the well-crafted, clever dialogue of the characters. Spectators receptive to everything may well have to be carried out of the hall, choking with delight. There is a place there and stupidity, but so well beaten that it is easy to miss it and continue to enjoy the film without any interference.
"Macho and Nerd 2 is a comedy that embraces all ages and tastes, but also a witty commentary on the nature of sequels and all sorts of expansions in general. Lord and Miller deliver their second hit just four months after the release of The Lego Movie, and seem to be in this nascent The franchise is as valuable a pair as Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill, together they create an armor-piercing team that is fresh, funny and full of overflowing vitality, washing away every conceivable and unimaginable obstacle in its path.
Ouija (2014)
devilish tricks
"Ouija: The Devil's Board" is first of all a stupid movie, and only then not scary. That is, not even creepy. But the saddest thing is that Stiles White does not even try to bring at least a piece of some soul into this dull action. It is worth noting that continuing to successfully scare audiences in theaters for so many years is not an easy task, so the value of people like James Wan in cinema cannot be underestimated. His own enthusiasm, all the things Stiles White lacks.
So, the Ouija board is a wooden board that serves to communicate with spirits. It should be noted that this fact is disputed by many critics, and it was originally invented as a game in no way connected with mysticism. In the film, everything is positioned completely differently. With the help of the board, you can really communicate with the spirits of the dead, as usual, often evil and disgusting looking. This is what a group of teenagers did one evening.
Instead of creating a mysterious creepy atmosphere, White relies solely on cheap scary moments, the complete inadequacy of the characters and a couple of plot twists stolen from Astral. What to do if strange things happen in the house? Lie to a friend and stay in it alone. What to do if the lights suddenly go out after a session with ghosts? Split up and go check the counters. "Weegee" in a sense can be considered a parody insofar as it exploits the templates and clichés of horror films. It is literally assembled from parts of other horror films.
At the same time, it's amazing how Hasbro not only allowed the use of their game, but also undertook to partially sponsor the film. After all, no one in their right mind and solid memory will go to buy an Ouija board after watching a White film. Although the movie is not scary, it is unlikely that anyone will want to experiment on themselves. But what is most interesting is that you can buy such boards in a regular toy store and play with them as much as you want! Great Christmas present, huh?
As for the atmosphere of the film, they decided to make the film just very dark. The premises are often lit with a single flashlight, which means that it is almost impossible to see anything other than the frightened faces of the actors. Huge space for imagination and savings on the budget at the same time. Yes, and the film was shot in a school standard way, not elegantly and rudely.
The absence of any music is striking, because it is well known how cleverly the soundtrack sometimes saves horror. It not only helps to build up the atmosphere, but also simply contributes to the smooth flow of the action. Again, everything that Anton Sanko does not do.
The film is not saved by the excessive dramatization of the plot, which is forgotten in time by both the characters and, apparently, the screenwriters, when the so-called "tense" moments require it. This gives a little more space for the actors to show that they can cry and suffer and be scared. And their work is to be commended. Olivia Cooke is by far the best thing that happened to Weegee. However, in this case, the film is more like a museum exhibition of five guys demonstrating what nature has endowed them with.
The most amazing face to pay attention to in the credits is not even producer Michael Bay, but Jason Bloom. It seems that he still misses the target every time, misses also happen. And then he missed quite a lot. "Weegee: The Devil's Board" is a disastrously incompetent film that tries to ride on Halloween-themed "boo" moments, like the unexpected appearance of a guy behind his girlfriend's back. News reports are scarier to watch. However, the main thing is that neither efforts, nor attempts, nor love are noticeable in the film. Pure robbery of the audience.