Movie reviews

SPUTNIK RUSSIAN FILM FESTIVAL

Organization-wise: it's was chaotic, with volunteers who don't know anything, voting cards often not delivered on time, sometimes the ticket desk opening later than the first screening starts, translations inaccurate, meetings conducted amateurishly. While normally all volunteers are friendly, on one occasion one of very organisers was rude to me. I went to the opening of superb Alex Andreev's art exhibition, accompanying the Festival, a part of which was in VR. As soon as I started watching the paintings, the woman demanded I give my goggles to some children and when I refused and attempted to continue browsing the paintings, she threatened me (behind my back, asking others aloud) with calling security. I'm glad she didn't interrupt movies that way. In the catalogue and the repertoire some running times or synopses were incorrect. On the other hand, the screening plan was quite convenient. In spite of different locations, you could generally get to each movie on time. Finding movies in thew catalogue sections was tricky. For an average viewer a genre division, e.g. comedies, thrillers, dramas etc. would be more practical than categories like: Kaleidoscope, Feature Competition, A Window Onto Europe and the like.

But the film selection more than makes up for these inconveniences. The movies are well-paced, with gravity or irony in the right places, extremely well acted, meticulously shot, with textured, natural-looking CGIs and catchy music. Most of all with psychology presented so inconspicuolusly each story makes an impact without wearing you down.

ТРИ ДНЯ ДО ВЕСНЫ (THREE DAYS UNTIL SPRING)

Watchable. A bit Soviet-style, with music just like in productions of that time. Slow, with an involving intrigue but with a deus ex machina saving at the end.