Painter Man: Mitta’s Return to Filmmaking a Lofty, Honeycombed History Lesson
Ungainly and distractingly saccharine, Russian auteur Aleksandr Mitta returns with Chagall-Malevich, a whimsical biopic of politically opposed painters Marc Chagall and Kazimir Malevich. Considering the filmmaker is now in his eighties, there’s potential to be impressed with this technically proficient undertaking. However, as evidenced by a recent trend in sanctioned Russian cinema, this feels like the kind of watered down inconsequentiality resulting from interference of the Ministry of Culture. Perhaps more meaningful as a patriotic reenactment for those within its native climes, the film feels like a bright eyed and bushy tailed bit of propaganda, its political rhetoric washed down with an easy elixir of colorful hues.
Narrating his own birth near Vitebsk, Belarus, amidst a chaotic, fiery backdrop we come to understand as taking place during a pogrom, Marc Chagall (Leonid Bichevin) spends the next three...
Ungainly and distractingly saccharine, Russian auteur Aleksandr Mitta returns with Chagall-Malevich, a whimsical biopic of politically opposed painters Marc Chagall and Kazimir Malevich. Considering the filmmaker is now in his eighties, there’s potential to be impressed with this technically proficient undertaking. However, as evidenced by a recent trend in sanctioned Russian cinema, this feels like the kind of watered down inconsequentiality resulting from interference of the Ministry of Culture. Perhaps more meaningful as a patriotic reenactment for those within its native climes, the film feels like a bright eyed and bushy tailed bit of propaganda, its political rhetoric washed down with an easy elixir of colorful hues.
Narrating his own birth near Vitebsk, Belarus, amidst a chaotic, fiery backdrop we come to understand as taking place during a pogrom, Marc Chagall (Leonid Bichevin) spends the next three...
- 6/11/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
ShiM-Film, LLC will be in charge of the U.S. Theatrical release of "Chagall-Malevich," a film by Alexander Mitta. After having screened at numerous international film festivals including Palm Springs, Montreal, Haifa, Moscow, Busan, and the L.A. Jewish Film Festival, the film will open at Cinema Village in New York on June 12 and at Laemmle Music Hall in Beverly Hills and at Town Center 5 in Encino, CA on June 19.
The artistic and political revolution of early 20th century Russia is mythologized in "Chagall-Malevich," a magical period drama about the uneasy relationship between two artistic geniuses. Inspired by the memoirs of Marc Chagall and those of his contemporaries, the film blends fact and folklore to evoke the return of the iconic Jewish artist (portrayed by Leonid Bichevin "Cargo 200") to his childhood home of Vitebsk.
Having left behind immense success in Paris, Chagall returns to the Russian empire in 1917 in hope to marry the love of his life Bella Rosenfeld (Kristina Schneidermann); he produces copious paintings and establishes the Academy of Modern Art. A rivalry develops with abstract painter Kazimir Malevich (Anatoliy Belyy), invited to teach at the art school. As Bella rekindles a childhood friendship with military Red Commissar Naum (Semyon Shkalikov), Chagall competes for the affections of his muse and future wife.
As the October Revolution sweeps across Russia, historical events intrude on personal struggles and upend the quiet provincial life in Vitebsk. Brimming with surrealistic imagery from the paintings of Chagall and Malevich (over 140 paintings were used in the film), this sumptuous melodrama marks veteran Russian filmmaker Alexander Mitta’s return after a decade-long hiatus.
The artistic and political revolution of early 20th century Russia is mythologized in "Chagall-Malevich," a magical period drama about the uneasy relationship between two artistic geniuses. Inspired by the memoirs of Marc Chagall and those of his contemporaries, the film blends fact and folklore to evoke the return of the iconic Jewish artist (portrayed by Leonid Bichevin "Cargo 200") to his childhood home of Vitebsk.
Having left behind immense success in Paris, Chagall returns to the Russian empire in 1917 in hope to marry the love of his life Bella Rosenfeld (Kristina Schneidermann); he produces copious paintings and establishes the Academy of Modern Art. A rivalry develops with abstract painter Kazimir Malevich (Anatoliy Belyy), invited to teach at the art school. As Bella rekindles a childhood friendship with military Red Commissar Naum (Semyon Shkalikov), Chagall competes for the affections of his muse and future wife.
As the October Revolution sweeps across Russia, historical events intrude on personal struggles and upend the quiet provincial life in Vitebsk. Brimming with surrealistic imagery from the paintings of Chagall and Malevich (over 140 paintings were used in the film), this sumptuous melodrama marks veteran Russian filmmaker Alexander Mitta’s return after a decade-long hiatus.
- 6/8/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Nobody loves Russian movies, even Russians themselves. Their films are very long, very slow, black & white or monochromatic. They are crowded by intellectual talk and lack plot, characters or any kind of entertainment. This is common knowledge and, of course, it’s not true. We, the Russians, love our cinema – although the majority of us don’t know about Tarkovsky of Zviagintsev. Moreover, we – surprise! – love movies with an intense plot, powerful characters and funny jokes as much as any audience. So, I would like to introduce you to fifteen great Russian movies you don’t know (if you are not Russian film fans or a Slavic Studies professor). To shake things up, there are no films on this list from the most well-known Russian film directors: Sergey Eizenshtein (Battleship Potemkin, 1925), Andrei Tarkovsky (Stalker, 1979) or Nikita Mikhalkov (Burnt by the Sun, 1994). I also tried to avoid very slow and very long monochromatic films – although there are a...
- 10/15/2014
- by Sergey Kuznetsov
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Film-maker known for his dark take on post-Soviet Russia
Aleksei Balabanov, who has died aged 54 after suffering a seizure, saw himself as the "anti-establishment rock'n'roller of Russian film" with an aim to make "scandalous, harsh cinema". Many of Balabanov's films are metaphorical black comedies that gaze unflinchingly at the bleakness and violence of the last days of communism and post-Soviet society, with classic Russian rock music on the soundtrack. His first two features, Happy Days (1991) and The Castle (1994), were based on Samuel Beckett and Franz Kafka respectively, and Balabanov's nihilistic oeuvre also takes in Nikolai Gogol, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Mikhail Bulgakov, whose Notes of a Young Doctor was the basis of Balabanov's Morphia (2008).
"I don't make movies with ideas. Ideas make for bad cinema," he said. "I don't make my movies for the intelligentsia, but for the people. That's why they like my films." This was demonstrated by the commercial...
Aleksei Balabanov, who has died aged 54 after suffering a seizure, saw himself as the "anti-establishment rock'n'roller of Russian film" with an aim to make "scandalous, harsh cinema". Many of Balabanov's films are metaphorical black comedies that gaze unflinchingly at the bleakness and violence of the last days of communism and post-Soviet society, with classic Russian rock music on the soundtrack. His first two features, Happy Days (1991) and The Castle (1994), were based on Samuel Beckett and Franz Kafka respectively, and Balabanov's nihilistic oeuvre also takes in Nikolai Gogol, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Mikhail Bulgakov, whose Notes of a Young Doctor was the basis of Balabanov's Morphia (2008).
"I don't make movies with ideas. Ideas make for bad cinema," he said. "I don't make my movies for the intelligentsia, but for the people. That's why they like my films." This was demonstrated by the commercial...
- 5/20/2013
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
Sad news: according to an article in Hollywood Reporter, producer Sergei Selyanov confirmed that the Russian director (and Enfant Terrible) Alexey Balabanov died earlier this week, at only 54 years of age. Although no cause of death has been stated, for some time already the director was known to be suffering from severe health problems. Balabanov is best known for films like Brother, Of Freaks and Men, Cargo 200, and Morphia. These all show a scathing, cynical look at human behavior, and especially include no love for the old Soviet communist regime. He presented his latest film, Me Too, at the International Film Festival Rotterdam a few months ago, in person. It's where I shot the picture above. At that point the rumor was already...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 5/19/2013
- Screen Anarchy
The Bradford International Film Festival is typically an underground-friendly fest. This year appears to be no exception with two very special experimental film retrospectives, as well as a few modern underground-type flicks.
The 19th annual Biff will roll on April 11-21 at several locations around Bradford and Leeds in England, including the National Media Museum, Hebden Bridge Picture House, Hyde Park Picture House and other venues.
Biff is hosting a tribute to Stan Brakhage this year by screening the prolific filmmaker’s magnum opus, Dog Star Man, as well as a selection of his short films, from 1963′s legendary Mothlight to 1994′s Black Ice. There’s also going to be an epic-sized tribute/retrospective of experimental films from Austria, a country with a proud avant-garde filmmaking tradition that’s typically overlooked.
From Austria, Biff is, of course, screening two works from one of the experimental film world’s biggest masters,...
The 19th annual Biff will roll on April 11-21 at several locations around Bradford and Leeds in England, including the National Media Museum, Hebden Bridge Picture House, Hyde Park Picture House and other venues.
Biff is hosting a tribute to Stan Brakhage this year by screening the prolific filmmaker’s magnum opus, Dog Star Man, as well as a selection of his short films, from 1963′s legendary Mothlight to 1994′s Black Ice. There’s also going to be an epic-sized tribute/retrospective of experimental films from Austria, a country with a proud avant-garde filmmaking tradition that’s typically overlooked.
From Austria, Biff is, of course, screening two works from one of the experimental film world’s biggest masters,...
- 3/11/2013
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
First, indieWIRE's Eric Kohn hosted a "Meet the New Directors" panel at the Film Society of Lincoln Center earlier this week and you can watch it here. It runs 63'12" and the guests are Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin (Now, Forager); Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi (5 Broken Cameras); Adam Leon (Gimme the Loot); Kleber Mendonça Filho (Neighboring Sounds); Terence Nance (An Oversimplification of Her Beauty); Joann Sfar (The Rabbi's Cat); Joachim Trier (Oslo, August 31st); and Clarissa Knoll (Street Vendor Cinema).
And the Fslc has posted separate Q&A sessions with Leon (Gimme), Pablo Giorgelli (Las Acacias) and Gareth Evans (The Raid: Redemption), all on one page.
Meantime, we've entered the home stretch. New Directors/New Films rolls on through the weekend and closes on Sunday night with a surprise — whatever it may be, it'll probably rank a roundup of its own. That aside, here's where we wrap it up.
And the Fslc has posted separate Q&A sessions with Leon (Gimme), Pablo Giorgelli (Las Acacias) and Gareth Evans (The Raid: Redemption), all on one page.
Meantime, we've entered the home stretch. New Directors/New Films rolls on through the weekend and closes on Sunday night with a surprise — whatever it may be, it'll probably rank a roundup of its own. That aside, here's where we wrap it up.
- 3/29/2012
- MUBI
The Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art have announced that they'll be presenting 29 features and 12 shorts in the 41st edition of New Directors/New Films, running March 21 through April 1). The series, dedicated to "the discovery of new works by emerging and dynamic filmmaking talent," opens with Nadine Labaki's Where Do We Go Now? (see the Cannes roundup). A few notes on the other features:
The Ambassador (Mads Brügger). The La Weekly's Karina Longworth suggests that Brügger is "sort of the Vice magazine version of Sacha Baron Cohen, as financed by Lars von Trier. His last film was The Red Chapel, an exercise in hidden camera comedy with unusual socio-political stakes, which I put on my top 10 list for 2010." In "his hilarious, troubling new film," Brügger poses as "a diplomat in Africa, a decadent Westerner plundering a third-world nation…. For a six-figure outlay, Brugger is promised a Liberian passport,...
The Ambassador (Mads Brügger). The La Weekly's Karina Longworth suggests that Brügger is "sort of the Vice magazine version of Sacha Baron Cohen, as financed by Lars von Trier. His last film was The Red Chapel, an exercise in hidden camera comedy with unusual socio-political stakes, which I put on my top 10 list for 2010." In "his hilarious, troubling new film," Brügger poses as "a diplomat in Africa, a decadent Westerner plundering a third-world nation…. For a six-figure outlay, Brugger is promised a Liberian passport,...
- 2/26/2012
- MUBI
The last day of Fantastic Fest is often the most relaxed. Many have left to return home, and the Alamo patio feels like a ghost town compared to the first few days. Instead of five screens, films were playing on only three. Still, many of the best shows remained to be seen, including several fan-favorites with added screening times such as A Boy and His Samurai.
The day began with a South Korean thriller reminiscent of Audrey Hepburn's Wait Until Dark. Blind is the story of Min Soo-Ah, a no-nonsense police academy trainee. Min's brother has a habit of getting into trouble of a criminal nature, and fed up with his latest exploit, she arrests him and handcuffs him to the car. The ensuing sibling catfight ends in a disastrous wreck, leaving Min blind and her brother dead. Min is expelled from the academy, not for her handicap, but for her irresponsible actions.
The day began with a South Korean thriller reminiscent of Audrey Hepburn's Wait Until Dark. Blind is the story of Min Soo-Ah, a no-nonsense police academy trainee. Min's brother has a habit of getting into trouble of a criminal nature, and fed up with his latest exploit, she arrests him and handcuffs him to the car. The ensuing sibling catfight ends in a disastrous wreck, leaving Min blind and her brother dead. Min is expelled from the academy, not for her handicap, but for her irresponsible actions.
- 10/1/2011
- by Mike Saulters
- Slackerwood
Balabanov is neither a filmmaker who wrestles with profound ideas nor one whose films repay close analysis by revealing undetected complexities. What makes him a great filmmaker is the wryness of tone he maintains in the most brutal of circumstances, his disinclination to ingratiate himself with the audience and the assurance with which he makes his films.
Aleksei Balabanov is among the handful of international filmmakers today whose new work one looks forward to seeing. Balabanov does not find favor at film festivals in the West and his explosive masterpiece Cargo 200 (2007) was apparently rejected by both Berlin and Cannes. The reason is perhaps that Balabanov does not make ‘art house’ cinema – cinema with little immediacy and meant to be consumed at a distance.
If one were to categorize the best in world cinema politically, one could say that films are roughly of two kinds and while one kind is...
Aleksei Balabanov is among the handful of international filmmakers today whose new work one looks forward to seeing. Balabanov does not find favor at film festivals in the West and his explosive masterpiece Cargo 200 (2007) was apparently rejected by both Berlin and Cannes. The reason is perhaps that Balabanov does not make ‘art house’ cinema – cinema with little immediacy and meant to be consumed at a distance.
If one were to categorize the best in world cinema politically, one could say that films are roughly of two kinds and while one kind is...
- 9/30/2011
- by MK Raghvendra
- DearCinema.com
This year's Toronto International Film Festival is ridiculously overloaded with new films from established directors. But the most exciting work I ran across in the first two days of the festival came from newcomers. At the top of the pile is Angelina Nikonova's remarkable debut Twilight Portrait, which premiered at Russia's Kinotavr festival in June, and went on to a slot in Venice Days. A scorched-earth portrait of Russian society that is almost as corrosive as Balabanov's Cargo 200, Twilight Portrait somehow also manages to evoke Hawks and Sternberg in the way that the traits of calm authority and detached composure pervades its universe. Nikonova's heroine (and the word feels right in this case), a middle-class social worker whose descent into hell begins with a broken heel on her shoe, exudes a sense of power but is born into a social world that allows her no power at all.
- 9/11/2011
- MUBI
Yesterday, the first wave of films for Austin’s Fantastic Fest 2011 were announced. Since experiencing this festival for the first time last year, I have been waiting, impatiently, for September to roll around to attend this year. We published a “wishlist” of sorts of films we thought might play at Fantastic Fest and it looks like we scored two in this first wave – we aren’t counting Fulci’s Zombie because that was sort of a cheat. Read beyond the break to find out what films will be playing.
From the Press Release:
Austin, TX—Thursday, July 14th, 2011— Fantastic Fest is proud to announce our first wave of programming for the seventh edition of Fantastic Fest, happening September 22-29 in Austin, Texas.
This batch of 20 films spans the globe from Japan, Belgium, Mexico, Russia, Hong Kong, Korea and of course the USA. We’re debuting digital restorations of Italian horror...
From the Press Release:
Austin, TX—Thursday, July 14th, 2011— Fantastic Fest is proud to announce our first wave of programming for the seventh edition of Fantastic Fest, happening September 22-29 in Austin, Texas.
This batch of 20 films spans the globe from Japan, Belgium, Mexico, Russia, Hong Kong, Korea and of course the USA. We’re debuting digital restorations of Italian horror...
- 7/15/2011
- by Andy Triefenbach
- Destroy the Brain
One of the best damned film festivals on the entire planet, Fantastic Fest, has announced the first wave of films for their 2011 event running from September 22nd to the 29th, and if you've never been, do yourself a favor ... do whatever you have to do to get there and experience the madness first-hand!
This batch of 20 films spans the globe from Japan, Belgium, Mexico, Russia, Hong Kong, Korea and of course the USA. They’re debuting digital restorations of Italian horror classics and a stunning 3D epic with more objects flying in your face than Michael Bay and James Cameron combined. With favorite Fantastic Fest veterans returning with new projects and a new slate of debut directors, 2011 is shaping up to be an epic edition.
"Fantastic Fest is the high-point of my year. Every year old friends return and strangers become friends. Fantastic Fest is my extended dysfunctional family; each...
This batch of 20 films spans the globe from Japan, Belgium, Mexico, Russia, Hong Kong, Korea and of course the USA. They’re debuting digital restorations of Italian horror classics and a stunning 3D epic with more objects flying in your face than Michael Bay and James Cameron combined. With favorite Fantastic Fest veterans returning with new projects and a new slate of debut directors, 2011 is shaping up to be an epic edition.
"Fantastic Fest is the high-point of my year. Every year old friends return and strangers become friends. Fantastic Fest is my extended dysfunctional family; each...
- 7/14/2011
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
The Fantasia Film Festival kicks off today with the Canadian premiere of Kevin Smith’s Red State, and now we’re already looking ahead at another major film fest. Fantastic Fest is one of the best film festivals in the states. Held in Austin Texas at the Alamo Drafthouse, the event screens nothing but the best in genre films. Sound On Sight contributors Emmett Duff and Alice Gray are always in attendance to bring us coverage on the event, as well as their favourite films. The list of the first wave of films playing at the festival has been announced and it’s already pretty amazing. Leading the pack is the World Premiere of director Ferdinando Baldi’s Comin’ At Ya! 3D. There are also a few films that already come highly recommended from me, which include the Canadian sci-fi dystopian mind fuck Beyond The Black Rainbow, Julian Gilbey’s A Lonely Place To Die,...
- 7/14/2011
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Fantastic Fest is one of the most chaotic, disturbing, entertaining and best film festivals in the United States. For one week straight, the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin, Texas plays nothing but the most promising, controversial and exciting genre films the world has to offer with many of them not seeing wide release until several months later. /Film will once again be on the ground in Austin from September 22-29 and we just got the announcement of the first wave of films playing at the festival. Chances are that, with the exception of two restored Fulci films (Zombi and House by the Cemetery) and the 10th Anniversary release of Versus, you haven't heard of these movies yet. But, come September, you most certainly will start hearing a lot more. Check them out after the jump. The above art is this year's official art by Mike Saputo. Below is the...
- 7/14/2011
- by Germain Lussier
- Slash Film
It's almost that time of year, that happy, happy time of year when the world turns its eyes to Austin, Texas and the craziest genre movies ever at the Alamo Drafthouse's Fantastic Fest.
This morning we got the first wave of twenty films from this year's lineup and it look to be a bumper crop of cinematic insanity. There's a couple of favorites from the festival circuit -- including "Beyond the Black Rainbow" from Tribeca and "A Lonely Place to Die" from ActionFest -- and a couple intriguing premieres, including the evocatively titled "Invasion of the Alien Bikini" (made on a budget of $5,000) and a Dutch comedy called "New Kids Turbo" about "gutter comedy, mullets, and mustaches." Repertory titles include the tenth anniversary screening of Ryuhei Kitamura's "Versus," the theatrical premiere of the new 3K digital restoration of Lucio Fulci's "Zombie," and a Real D presentation of the...
This morning we got the first wave of twenty films from this year's lineup and it look to be a bumper crop of cinematic insanity. There's a couple of favorites from the festival circuit -- including "Beyond the Black Rainbow" from Tribeca and "A Lonely Place to Die" from ActionFest -- and a couple intriguing premieres, including the evocatively titled "Invasion of the Alien Bikini" (made on a budget of $5,000) and a Dutch comedy called "New Kids Turbo" about "gutter comedy, mullets, and mustaches." Repertory titles include the tenth anniversary screening of Ryuhei Kitamura's "Versus," the theatrical premiere of the new 3K digital restoration of Lucio Fulci's "Zombie," and a Real D presentation of the...
- 7/14/2011
- by Matt Singer
- ifc.com
If things go as planned, GeekTyrant will be covering this years Fantastic Fest in Austin, TX. I have never been to what has been named the "Geek Telluride", but I am anxious to attend. Every year there are tons of awesome genre films to assault the senses and this year is no different.
One of the coolest bits is that the fest will be showing a remastered version of Leo Fulci's Zombie, which is one of the best classic zombie films not directed by Romero. There are also some sweet Korean, French, Russian films and so much more.
FantasticFest is truly the place to be in September!
Official Press Release:
Austin, TX—Thursday, July 14th, 2011— Fantastic Fest is proud to announce our first wave of programming for the seventh edition of Fantastic Fest, happening September 22-29 in Austin, Texas.
This batch of 20 films spans the globe from Japan, Belgium, Mexico,...
One of the coolest bits is that the fest will be showing a remastered version of Leo Fulci's Zombie, which is one of the best classic zombie films not directed by Romero. There are also some sweet Korean, French, Russian films and so much more.
FantasticFest is truly the place to be in September!
Official Press Release:
Austin, TX—Thursday, July 14th, 2011— Fantastic Fest is proud to announce our first wave of programming for the seventh edition of Fantastic Fest, happening September 22-29 in Austin, Texas.
This batch of 20 films spans the globe from Japan, Belgium, Mexico,...
- 7/14/2011
- by Tiberius
- GeekTyrant
By Sean O’Connell
Hollywoodnews.com: The annual Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas has become a must-attend for film fanatics hoping to catch up on an array of cult, international, genre and geek cinema that may or may not make it to a multiplex near you.
Heading into its seventh year, the fest already has begun unveiling its first wave of programming for this year’s event, scheduled for Sept. 22-29. The 20 announced titles span the globe from Japan, Belgium, Mexico, Russia, Hong Kong, Korea and the U.S.
“Fantastic Fest is the high-point of my year. Every year, old friends return and strangers become friends. Fantastic Fest is my extended dysfunctional family; each of us completely obsessed by the wildest and weirdest films on earth,” says festival creative director and co-founder Tim League.
So what do they have planned for this year? Here are the 20 titles that will kick off programming,...
Hollywoodnews.com: The annual Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas has become a must-attend for film fanatics hoping to catch up on an array of cult, international, genre and geek cinema that may or may not make it to a multiplex near you.
Heading into its seventh year, the fest already has begun unveiling its first wave of programming for this year’s event, scheduled for Sept. 22-29. The 20 announced titles span the globe from Japan, Belgium, Mexico, Russia, Hong Kong, Korea and the U.S.
“Fantastic Fest is the high-point of my year. Every year, old friends return and strangers become friends. Fantastic Fest is my extended dysfunctional family; each of us completely obsessed by the wildest and weirdest films on earth,” says festival creative director and co-founder Tim League.
So what do they have planned for this year? Here are the 20 titles that will kick off programming,...
- 7/14/2011
- by Sean O'Connell
- Hollywoodnews.com
Yuris Day
One of the best kept secrets in cinema today is the ascendancy of Russia as a film producing country. Russian films do not win prizes at the major film festivals and they cater largely to a domestic market but they possess the only virtues that cinema was once judged by – they are complex and ambiguous, as the most celebrated films today are not. More importantly, Russia keeps producing unknown talents, who make the most touted cinema in the world – from Lars von Trier to Michael Haneke – look ordinary. Filmmakers like Aleksei Balabanov (Cargo 200, Morphine) and Pavel Lungin (Taxi Blues, The Wedding) have a filmmaking assurance that puts most contemporary filmmakers to shame and Serebrennikov joins their ranks with Yuri’s Day (Yuriev Den). Yuri’s Day (2008) was screened at Iffi Goa in 2009 to a near empty auditorium but it is an audacious film, ambiguous and deeply intriguing.
One of the best kept secrets in cinema today is the ascendancy of Russia as a film producing country. Russian films do not win prizes at the major film festivals and they cater largely to a domestic market but they possess the only virtues that cinema was once judged by – they are complex and ambiguous, as the most celebrated films today are not. More importantly, Russia keeps producing unknown talents, who make the most touted cinema in the world – from Lars von Trier to Michael Haneke – look ordinary. Filmmakers like Aleksei Balabanov (Cargo 200, Morphine) and Pavel Lungin (Taxi Blues, The Wedding) have a filmmaking assurance that puts most contemporary filmmakers to shame and Serebrennikov joins their ranks with Yuri’s Day (Yuriev Den). Yuri’s Day (2008) was screened at Iffi Goa in 2009 to a near empty auditorium but it is an audacious film, ambiguous and deeply intriguing.
- 1/23/2011
- by MK Raghvendra
- DearCinema.com
The first Russian trailer for Phobos: The Club of Fear (Фобос: Клуб Страха) has almost the same beginning as the trailer for Amf (you can watch it for the subtitles), but the second part is different. Plus, production rudiments had disappeared. Phobos: The Club of Fear is a story of young people locked in secret Soviet underground bunker, that they planned to turn into night club and that is filled with death traps of all kinds. The movie stars Petr Fedorov (Inhabited Island) and the star of Balabanov's horror Gruz 200 (Cargo 200) Agnia Kuznetsova.
Rainy summer evening - young people are arriving at the new trendy club named Phobos which is still under construction or re-construction - since it's a former bomb shelter which is reconstructed to become a club. At first, the partiers sees nothing wrong, but soon the bunker doors turn out to be locked, and the...
Rainy summer evening - young people are arriving at the new trendy club named Phobos which is still under construction or re-construction - since it's a former bomb shelter which is reconstructed to become a club. At first, the partiers sees nothing wrong, but soon the bunker doors turn out to be locked, and the...
- 12/20/2009
- Screen Anarchy
Phobos is a story of young people locked in underground bunker. The movie stars Petr Fedorov (Inhabited Island) and Agnia Kuznetsova (Gruz 200).
Rainy summer evening - young people are arriving at the new trendy club named Phobos which is still under construction or re-construction - since it's a former bomb shelter which is reconstructed to become a club. At first, the partiers sees nothing wrong, but soon the bunker doors turn out to be locked, and the teenagers get trapped underground without light and communication. None of them realize how dangerous their situation is. All of them will need to cope with their fears before the bunker will let them free.
The early teaser trailer, coming from American Film Market, shows some production rudiments, but however gives a clue what this film is about. Directed by Oleg Assadulin and produced by Fedor Bondarchuk (director of 9th Company and Inhabited...
Rainy summer evening - young people are arriving at the new trendy club named Phobos which is still under construction or re-construction - since it's a former bomb shelter which is reconstructed to become a club. At first, the partiers sees nothing wrong, but soon the bunker doors turn out to be locked, and the teenagers get trapped underground without light and communication. None of them realize how dangerous their situation is. All of them will need to cope with their fears before the bunker will let them free.
The early teaser trailer, coming from American Film Market, shows some production rudiments, but however gives a clue what this film is about. Directed by Oleg Assadulin and produced by Fedor Bondarchuk (director of 9th Company and Inhabited...
- 11/28/2009
- Screen Anarchy
More Holiday Preview: [Theatrical Calendar]
[Repertory Calendar] [Anywhere But a Movie Theater]
On Demand
IFC Films (with whom, full disclosure, we obviously share a parent company) will be delivering new films all holiday season to homes across the country through their Festival Direct and Sundance Selects labels. These include the cross-cultural romantic dramedy "I'll Come Running" (Nov. 4), Josiane Balasko's farce "A French Gigolo" (Nov. 6), the Inuit tribal drama "Necessities of Life" (Nov. 11), the Brit crime thriller "Adulthood" (Nov. 18), the Indian love story "Return to Rajapur" (Nov. 25), the Christopher Masterson-Bijou Phillips celibacy satire "Made for Each Other" (Dec. 2), "Harry Potter" helmer David Yates' gritty two-part drama "Sex Traffic" (Dec. 2 and 9), the Korean comedy "Night and Day" (Dec. 23) and "The Ghost" (Dec. 30).
Meanwhile, in the newly launched Sundance Selects series, there's a pair of harrowing documentaries VOD premieres: Kief Davidson's coming-of-age boxing doc "Kassim the Dream" (Nov. 27) and the unvarnished biopic "Nick Nolte: No Exit" (Dec.
[Repertory Calendar] [Anywhere But a Movie Theater]
On Demand
IFC Films (with whom, full disclosure, we obviously share a parent company) will be delivering new films all holiday season to homes across the country through their Festival Direct and Sundance Selects labels. These include the cross-cultural romantic dramedy "I'll Come Running" (Nov. 4), Josiane Balasko's farce "A French Gigolo" (Nov. 6), the Inuit tribal drama "Necessities of Life" (Nov. 11), the Brit crime thriller "Adulthood" (Nov. 18), the Indian love story "Return to Rajapur" (Nov. 25), the Christopher Masterson-Bijou Phillips celibacy satire "Made for Each Other" (Dec. 2), "Harry Potter" helmer David Yates' gritty two-part drama "Sex Traffic" (Dec. 2 and 9), the Korean comedy "Night and Day" (Dec. 23) and "The Ghost" (Dec. 30).
Meanwhile, in the newly launched Sundance Selects series, there's a pair of harrowing documentaries VOD premieres: Kief Davidson's coming-of-age boxing doc "Kassim the Dream" (Nov. 27) and the unvarnished biopic "Nick Nolte: No Exit" (Dec.
- 11/4/2009
- by Stephen Saito
- ifc.com
Film festivals are often a conumdrum for me because I sometimes wonder how they get started and, more to the point, who picks the films that get shown at them. My problem is that the films selected for many of the festivals don’t usually seem all that appealing (at least to me) and are often a collection of “art for art’s sake” films overwhelmed by their own sense of self-importance.
Fortunately, I don’t have this problem with the Fantastic Fest in Austin, which runs from September 24th to October 1st. The films selected for this festival represent an eclectic mix of genres and filmmakers and what I consider to be some of the most interesting, innovative and creative films being produced today. Sure, they’re not all potential Hollywood blockbusters, nor are they for everyone, but they are all pretty much guaranteed to be interesting, entertaining and in their own way,...
Fortunately, I don’t have this problem with the Fantastic Fest in Austin, which runs from September 24th to October 1st. The films selected for this festival represent an eclectic mix of genres and filmmakers and what I consider to be some of the most interesting, innovative and creative films being produced today. Sure, they’re not all potential Hollywood blockbusters, nor are they for everyone, but they are all pretty much guaranteed to be interesting, entertaining and in their own way,...
- 7/13/2009
- by Chris Ullrich
- The Flickcast
That's right, the first 32 titles have been announced for Austin's Fantastic Fest and the opening film will be the latest from Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) which stars Jemaine Clement (Eagle vs Shark)! I think I'm going this year!
Also playing will be the likes of...
Nicholas Refn's Bronson (review)
Pieter Van Hees Dirty Mind (review)
Esther Gronenborn's Kaifeck Murder (review coming shortly)
Lawrence Gough's Salvage (review)
Cory McAbee's Stingray Sam (review)
Full list of features and shorts after the break.
42nd Street Forever Volume 5: The Alamo Drafthouse Edition
The hugely popular Synapse trailer compilation series 42nd Street Forever is featuring the Alamo Film Archive for it's fifth volume. Here's your chance to check out a sneak preview screening of the actual 35mm trailers which are featured in the DVD compilation
Breathless
(dir. Yang Ik-june, 2009, South Korea)
Breathless is a foul-mouthed drama that delivers an unlikely mix of pathos,...
Also playing will be the likes of...
Nicholas Refn's Bronson (review)
Pieter Van Hees Dirty Mind (review)
Esther Gronenborn's Kaifeck Murder (review coming shortly)
Lawrence Gough's Salvage (review)
Cory McAbee's Stingray Sam (review)
Full list of features and shorts after the break.
42nd Street Forever Volume 5: The Alamo Drafthouse Edition
The hugely popular Synapse trailer compilation series 42nd Street Forever is featuring the Alamo Film Archive for it's fifth volume. Here's your chance to check out a sneak preview screening of the actual 35mm trailers which are featured in the DVD compilation
Breathless
(dir. Yang Ik-june, 2009, South Korea)
Breathless is a foul-mouthed drama that delivers an unlikely mix of pathos,...
- 7/13/2009
- QuietEarth.us
It is time boys and girls, the first wave lineup for Fantastic Fest 2009 has been announced, and we are bringing it to you right… now:
Also, Do Not forget to go buy your damn tickets!
Features:
42nd Street Forever Volume 5: The Alamo Drafthouse Edition. The hugely popular Synapse trailer compilation series 42nd Street Forever is featuring the Alamo Film Archive for it’s fifth volume. Here’s your chance to check out a sneak preview screening of the actual 35mm trailers which are featured in the DVD compilation.
Breathless
(dir. Yang Ik-june,
2009, South Korea)
Breathless is a foul-mouthed drama that delivers an unlikely mix of pathos, brutality and humor. First-time director Yang Ik-June plays an angry thug named who gets involved in a dysfunctional relationship with a high-school girl. It eventually becomes apparent that the pair are linked in ways that neither of them realize.
Bronson
(dir. Nicholas Winding Refn,...
Also, Do Not forget to go buy your damn tickets!
Features:
42nd Street Forever Volume 5: The Alamo Drafthouse Edition. The hugely popular Synapse trailer compilation series 42nd Street Forever is featuring the Alamo Film Archive for it’s fifth volume. Here’s your chance to check out a sneak preview screening of the actual 35mm trailers which are featured in the DVD compilation.
Breathless
(dir. Yang Ik-june,
2009, South Korea)
Breathless is a foul-mouthed drama that delivers an unlikely mix of pathos, brutality and humor. First-time director Yang Ik-June plays an angry thug named who gets involved in a dysfunctional relationship with a high-school girl. It eventually becomes apparent that the pair are linked in ways that neither of them realize.
Bronson
(dir. Nicholas Winding Refn,...
- 7/13/2009
- by Scott
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The Russians are coming! The Rus sians are coming! Five Russian films -- new and rela tively old -- will unreel Thursday through next Sunday at the Anthology Film Archives.
They include Aleksei Balabanov's shocking "Cargo 200" (2007), described as an epitaph for the death of the Soviet Union. Says Balabanov: "I show what filth we lived in. Society was sick from 1917 onwards."
Based on a true story, it unfolds in late 1984 during Russia's war in Afghanistan. The title comes from the code name for a soldier's corpse being flown home from the war.
Angelica, the 20ish daughter of a Commie big shot,...
They include Aleksei Balabanov's shocking "Cargo 200" (2007), described as an epitaph for the death of the Soviet Union. Says Balabanov: "I show what filth we lived in. Society was sick from 1917 onwards."
Based on a true story, it unfolds in late 1984 during Russia's war in Afghanistan. The title comes from the code name for a soldier's corpse being flown home from the war.
Angelica, the 20ish daughter of a Commie big shot,...
- 5/17/2009
- by By V.A. MUSETTO
- NYPost.com
James Cameron in Los Angeles with 70Mm prints of "Aliens" and "The Abyss"?!?! The Dardenne brothers in New York for a career retrospective?!?! The instant cult classic "The Room" with Tommy Wiseau live in Austin?!?! Be still my heart. There's something for all tastes this summer on the West Coast, the East Coast and as you'll notice, the Third Coast on our calendar of the must-see events on the repertory theater circuit in May, June and July. And don't miss our look at the indie films that are hitting theaters or headed to online, VOD or DVD premiere this summer.
Anthology Film Archives
With the New York Polish Film Festival (May 6-10) and first-runs of the docs "Ice People" (May 1-7) and "Audience of One" (May 8-14) and Ken Jacobs' reinvention of his 1969 work "Tom, Tom, The Piper's Son" with the 3D "Anaglyph Tom" (May 15-21) taking up the Anthology's screens,...
Anthology Film Archives
With the New York Polish Film Festival (May 6-10) and first-runs of the docs "Ice People" (May 1-7) and "Audience of One" (May 8-14) and Ken Jacobs' reinvention of his 1969 work "Tom, Tom, The Piper's Son" with the 3D "Anaglyph Tom" (May 15-21) taking up the Anthology's screens,...
- 5/5/2009
- by Stephen Saito
- ifc.com
The unaccented, matter-of-fact tone of Aleksei Balabanov's "Cargo 200" is deliberately disarming. The plain Jane approach leads us to expect story complexity, nuance, social relevance -- anything, really, beside what we eventually get, which is a cold-eyed slide into the human hellpit. Based on "true events," somewhat embroidered, Balabanov's movie is a poison-pen letter sent to the heart of the failing Soviet society circa 1984, and you can appropriately read its sneaky, scalding tribulations as a face-slap to the Russians, young and old, who nostalgize the old regime. What's often lamented is the passing of a sense of enforced order and control; Balabanov is here to remind everyone that bloodthirsty chaos ruled, and you forget that at your peril.
Context is applied lightly: we meet two middle-aged brothers -- one an Army colonel, the other a "scientific atheism" professor -- having lunch on a veranda, then the colonel's daughter and her black-market smoothie of a boyfriend,...
Context is applied lightly: we meet two middle-aged brothers -- one an Army colonel, the other a "scientific atheism" professor -- having lunch on a veranda, then the colonel's daughter and her black-market smoothie of a boyfriend,...
- 4/28/2009
- by Michael Atkinson
- ifc.com
I admit that when Trembles' latest arrived in my mailbox, I had no idea what Cargo 200 was all about. But a quick online search revealed that it's a controversial "dramatic thriller and a supposed conspiratorial depiction of the atmospheric tensions within the Soviet Union ... during the dissolution of the Communist Government." And that title? It's a reference to "the zinc-lined coffins in which dead Soviet soldiers were shipped home from the 1979-89 war in Afghanistan." Thanks, Wikipedia!
The Red Scary!
Discuss Motion Picture Purgatory in the Dread Central forums!
The Red Scary!
Discuss Motion Picture Purgatory in the Dread Central forums!
- 4/14/2009
- by The Woman In Black
- DreadCentral.com
Last year Russian director Alexei Balabanov brought “Cargo 200” to the International Film Festival Rotterdam. For this year’s festival he brought his newest film, and with the previous one in mind I approached it with some trepidation.
But “Morphia” is something completely different. It’s a beautifully shot costume drama which tells its tale in a slow, almost leisurely fashion, and it doesn’t shy away from using some serious eyecandy. That doesn’t mean this director has mellowed though: during the press screening the whole audience was flinching a few times.
Four words: Best. Amputation. Scene. Ever.
The whole story takes place during the winter of 1917 in Russia, just as the revolution starts to spread out of the cities and into the countryside. And of course Balabanov wouldn’t be Balabanov if he didn’t use this to deliver a few more nasty kicks towards the communist regime.
But “Morphia” is something completely different. It’s a beautifully shot costume drama which tells its tale in a slow, almost leisurely fashion, and it doesn’t shy away from using some serious eyecandy. That doesn’t mean this director has mellowed though: during the press screening the whole audience was flinching a few times.
Four words: Best. Amputation. Scene. Ever.
The whole story takes place during the winter of 1917 in Russia, just as the revolution starts to spread out of the cities and into the countryside. And of course Balabanov wouldn’t be Balabanov if he didn’t use this to deliver a few more nasty kicks towards the communist regime.
- 2/4/2009
- by Ard Vijn
- Screen Anarchy
By R. Emmet Sweeney
The Rotterdam Film Festival has had a history of promoting the weird, the obsessive and the cultish in cinema, and there's been little change as this year's edition reaches its close. They've programmed a survey of recent Asian horror films, complete with a "haunted house" installation, and they've maintained their loyalty to unfashionable provocateurs like Aleksei Balabanov, whose acerbic takes on Russian history have always made their way onto screens here. That's without even mentioning the festival's support of debut filmmakers, three of which just received a 15,000 euro ($22,500 U.S.) prize from the Vpro Tiger jury (Ramtin Lavafipour's "Be Calm and Count to Seven," Yang Ik-June's "Breathless" and Mahmut Fazil Coşkun's "Wrong Rosary" took home the loot).
I went into "Susuk," Amir Muhammad's Malaysian black magic boondoggle, with high hopes, not least because of his pre-screening description of the film as "the first Muslim lesbian vampire movie.
The Rotterdam Film Festival has had a history of promoting the weird, the obsessive and the cultish in cinema, and there's been little change as this year's edition reaches its close. They've programmed a survey of recent Asian horror films, complete with a "haunted house" installation, and they've maintained their loyalty to unfashionable provocateurs like Aleksei Balabanov, whose acerbic takes on Russian history have always made their way onto screens here. That's without even mentioning the festival's support of debut filmmakers, three of which just received a 15,000 euro ($22,500 U.S.) prize from the Vpro Tiger jury (Ramtin Lavafipour's "Be Calm and Count to Seven," Yang Ik-June's "Breathless" and Mahmut Fazil Coşkun's "Wrong Rosary" took home the loot).
I went into "Susuk," Amir Muhammad's Malaysian black magic boondoggle, with high hopes, not least because of his pre-screening description of the film as "the first Muslim lesbian vampire movie.
- 2/4/2009
- by R. Emmet Sweeney
- ifc.com
Aleksei Poluyan In Director Alexei Balabanov's Cargo 200. Courtesy Disinformation Company.
Though he only decided he wanted to be a filmmaker in his late twenties, Alexei Balabanov has made up for lost time by creating a body of work that has made him both Russia's most interesting auteur and one of its most commercially successful directors. Born in Sverdlovsk in 1959, Balabanov studied translation at the Gorky Pedagogical University and then spent a few years working as an interpreter for the Russian Army in the Middle East and Africa. It was only at the age of 28 that he signed on to attend the Advanced Course for Screenwriters and Directors in Moscow, where he studied auteurist cinema. Graduating in 1990 with a couple of student...
Though he only decided he wanted to be a filmmaker in his late twenties, Alexei Balabanov has made up for lost time by creating a body of work that has made him both Russia's most interesting auteur and one of its most commercially successful directors. Born in Sverdlovsk in 1959, Balabanov studied translation at the Gorky Pedagogical University and then spent a few years working as an interpreter for the Russian Army in the Middle East and Africa. It was only at the age of 28 that he signed on to attend the Advanced Course for Screenwriters and Directors in Moscow, where he studied auteurist cinema. Graduating in 1990 with a couple of student...
- 1/14/2009
- by Nick Dawson
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Hey, what do you know, it's already the second weekend of 2009! Only 50 to go before 2010! Most independent-film distributors took a break the last couple weeks (as did most of mainstream Hollywood), but they're getting back into the swing of things now, and the Indie Spotlight is here, as always, to let you know what's playing beyond the multiplexes.
Your indie selections this weekend are: Cargo 200, Just Another Love Story, Silent Light, Yonkers Joe, and the After Dark Horrorfest 2009. Keep reading for the scoop on each of them.
Silent Light (pictured)
What it is: A quiet, slow, contemplative drama about a case of adultery in a small Mennonite community in northern Mexico.
What they're saying: I reviewed it for Cinematical at the Portland International Film Festival last year and described the cinematography as breathtakingly beautiful, the story simple and mesmerizing. I'm one of the 83% of critics at Rotten Tomatoes who liked it.
Your indie selections this weekend are: Cargo 200, Just Another Love Story, Silent Light, Yonkers Joe, and the After Dark Horrorfest 2009. Keep reading for the scoop on each of them.
Silent Light (pictured)
What it is: A quiet, slow, contemplative drama about a case of adultery in a small Mennonite community in northern Mexico.
What they're saying: I reviewed it for Cinematical at the Portland International Film Festival last year and described the cinematography as breathtakingly beautiful, the story simple and mesmerizing. I'm one of the 83% of critics at Rotten Tomatoes who liked it.
- 1/9/2009
- by Eric D. Snider
- Cinematical
[An indieWIRE review from Reverse Shot.] Alexey Balabanov, the Russian director best known for foisting 1997’s blunt, bracing, Yeltsin-era-defining thriller “Brother” upon the unsuspecting world, is back with a film jerry-rigged to reclaim international attention after a fallow decade since that breakthrough. A loud, violent, morally unhinged cry during the dark days that followed the first Chechen war, “Brother” lurched forth as a crude but unmistakably honest attempt at laying Russia …...
- 1/3/2009
- Indiewire
In its depiction of mid-80s Eastern European Communist social hell, Cargo 200 makes 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days look like Sesame Street. There are plenty of films that use real history as the jumping off point for genre fantasy, but Aleksei Balabanov's brutal, fetid vision of personal sadism and political policy intermingled is the only work of serious, modern social criticism in recent memory that actually made me want to puke. This is a compliment of the highest order. It's 1984, and a professor of Scientific Atheism (academic backup for the Communist state's embargo on religion) leaves the home of his Army colonel brother to visit their mother in fictional Russian broken-down factory town Leninsk. Along the way, his car breaks down, and he seeks refuge in the dismal, nowheresville shack of a bootlegger. The professor an ...
- 1/2/2009
- by Karina Longworth
- Spout
In its depiction of mid-80s Eastern European Communist social hell, Cargo 200 makes 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days look like Sesame Street. There are plenty of films that use real history as the jumping off point for genre fantasy, but Aleksei Balabanov's brutal, fetid vision of personal sadism and political policy intermingled is the only work of serious, modern social criticism in recent memory that actually made me want to puke. This is a compliment of the highest order. It's 1984, and a professor of Scientific Atheism (academic backup for the Communist state's embargo on religion) leaves the home of his Army colonel brother to visit their mother in fictional Russian broken-down factory town Leninsk. Along the way, his car breaks down, and he seeks refuge in the dismal, nowheresville shack of a bootlegger. The professor an ...
- 1/2/2009
- by Karina Longworth
- Spout
Upon its Russian release in 2007, Cargo 200 immediately provoked a national furor. Alexei Balabanov's grim little movie centers around one Captain Zhurov (Alexei Poluyan), a police officer in 1984's Soviet Russia who uses his position of authority to essentially institutionalize rape, prisoner beatings and all-round mayhem. In a typical scene, he tosses the corpse of a girl's soldier-fiance next to her while she's chained to a bed and proceeds to read the dead man's love letters. When I first saw Cargo 200, I thought it was supposed to be black comedy, but it isn't; its pitch-perfect production design is part of a whole p ...
- 12/30/2008
- by Vadim Rizov
- Spout
Upon its Russian release in 2007, Cargo 200 immediately provoked a national furor. Alexei Balabanov's grim little movie centers around one Captain Zhurov (Alexei Poluyan), a police officer in 1984's Soviet Russia who uses his position of authority to essentially institutionalize rape, prisoner beatings and all-round mayhem. In a typical scene, he tosses the corpse of a girl's soldier-fiance next to her while she's chained to a bed and proceeds to read the dead man's love letters. When I first saw Cargo 200, I thought it was supposed to be black comedy, but it isn't; its pitch-perfect production design is part of a whole package ...
- 12/30/2008
- by Vadim Rizov
- Spout
Coming soon from Russian production house Ctb - home to titles such as Mongol, Cargo 200, The Sword Bearer and Rock Head, so you know they’ve got things figured out as far as making intelligent flicks with a genre edge - is upcoming period drama Morfiy or Morphia. English language information on this one is hard - as in impossible, so far - to come by but, frankly, I really don’t need to see much more than what’s in the trailer to convince me that this could be something exceptional. Beautifully shot the film is a haunting, period-set, psycho sexual thriller fueled, in large part, by the opiates hinted at in the title. The trailer has some truly unsettling moments in it, unsettling in a way that would do David Lynch proud.
Check the trailer below the break in the Twitch Player.
Check the trailer below the break in the Twitch Player.
- 11/5/2008
- by Todd Brown
- Screen Anarchy
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