Movie reviews

SPUTNIK RUSSIAN FILM FESTIVAL

КРАСНЫЙ РУССКИЙ AKA VERMELHO RUSSO (RUSSIAN RED)

Watchable. The two young women were fascinating in a way: partly due to their stately kind of beauty and partly owing to their smart observations about acting: "People watch you knowing you are not the person and trying to believe you are." - sounds insane, doesn't it? The film description in the catalogue is a bit misleading. The film is more about acting than the culture and climate differences  between Brazil and Russia.

ПЕТЕРБУРГ. ТОЛЬКО ПО ЛЮБВИ (PETERSBURG. A SELFIE)

Watchable. Another misleading description in the catalogue. Only the tale of varying interpretations of the horse vs. man sculptures on Anichkov Bridge is rooted in the very city. The first story is based in the theatre, there's nothing of the city there. The last one, about a mother and a child is not much of a local tale either. The remaining ones happen in the city but could take place anywhere.

МОЙ УБИЙЦА (MY MURDERER)

Watchable. Hard to make out what and why. The result of the investigation is surprising but still not perfectly clear. A chance to see Yakutsk and the region's nature although it looks like nothing to write home about.

КОРОБКА (THE PITCH)

Watchable. Top-notch sound and camerawork together with excellent music make teen football bearable. Inter-ethnic tensions are played between the games, on the edge of the main plot. A player wears a T-shirt with a Che Guevara caricature saying "patria o muerte" ("homeland or death") and there are some brawls in between. But while it's clearly stressed one team are "true Russians" and the other, darker, "immigrants" from villages, at least one born in the city, that plot isn't resolved in any way.


3. WARSAW KOREAN FILM FESTIVAL

초행 (THE FIRST LAP) 

Watchable. Only to see the Korean way of life. I was curious how relationships and family work in Korea. The only cultural differences I noticed was having meals at a European-style table, kneeling at a low table or on the floor and eating with lots of clicking and slurping. The story's about a happy couple. The girl tells her boyfriend she might be pregnant and... nothing changes.



FILM RESTORATION SUMMIT

90% of US classical movies are lost due to the tape deterioration. Around the world earthquakes and fires have caused destruction of movie material. Norwegians protect their film heritage storing the reels in a vault in a 9.5 km wide mountain in Svalbard, protected by polar bears and permafrost. 45 countries had signed a treaty forming a demilitarised zone there. Apparently currently the greatest threat to film archives is political but hackers pose a serious menace too. With all the protections the archives are easy to access if needed as the contents can be sent via cable for screening. Material in Poland isn't so secure due to weather conditions.

"The Great White Silence" from 1924 - a documentary about Scott's expedition was released in the UK nationwide through limited venues 2 or 3 years ago and "Shiraz" from 1927 is going to be released in February 2018 with a score by Anoushka Shankar. There are no bookings or precise date as yet. Britain showcased older Polish films and Martin Scorsese gave it much publicity saying why he loved Polish cinema, mentioning Wajda and Polanski, in "The Guardian"

People from the movie industry say that film has gone from celluloid to 2K which is "excellent" and then to 4K which is "amazing". The very first 1895 film by the Lumière brothers showing workers leaving a factory was shown. The worst time for the cinema, at least in Italy, was in 1950s-60s as then everyone smoked inside so the screen was shrouded in the clouds of smoke. In "Dolce Vita" Fellini was found reflected in an actress' glasses. Italy gained plenty of commercial as well as institutional sponsors and organised free screenings of old films in the main square of Bologna: Piazza Maggiore. Normally the screenings would gather a few thousand viewers but for "Metropolis" 70 thousand people turned up.



3. WARSAW KOREAN FILM FESTIVAL

비밀은 없다 (THE TRUTH BENEATH)

Watchable. Made by a Park Chon-Wook's disciplee so brutality is to be expected. The movie follows Hitchcock's rule that a film should start with an earthquake and after that suspense should keep growing. A few minutes in, on the first day of an election campaign a politician's daughter goes missing. Has she run off? Or is somebody behind it? The opposition, the candidate's driver, the campaign manager, the girl's school friend and a teacher are all part of the picture. No holds barred political struggle. Lots of red herrings. The action's fast, even too rapid at times, and full of surprises. While it's involving it doesn't enthrall, it's too fast to create suspense strong enough.

SPUTNIK RUSSIAN FILM FESTIVAL

БОЛЬШОЙ ВАВИЛОН (BOLSHOI BABYLON)

Recommended. A British documentary about the Bolshoi Theatre where rivalry is fierce, most dancers are narcissistic but all strive working to a common goal, knowing they are part of the best ballet in the world, always supported by the authorities. The dancers enjoy such esteem they are exempt from conscription, even at war time.

ВРЕМЯ ПЕРВЫХ (THE AGE OF PIONEERS AKA THE SPACEWALKER AKA SPACEWALK)

Watchable again. Not so funny at the second time. But some one-liners are first-class, e.g. one of the cosmonauts was drinking alcohol just before the launch, then their boss enters so he pretends to be have been sipping tea, the boss helps himself to it and comments: "This tea was strong." or after a radio silence when asked how they were doing (in a spaceship): "We're still sitting where we were." In one scene the moon forms a background to a shadow of a spaceship flying in front of it the way bike riders did in "E.T." No mid- or post-credits.

ТРИ БОГАТЫРЯ. ХОД КОНЕМ (THREE HEROES. HORSE COURSE)

Watchable. Cute, suitable for children, with a pinch of salt. The characters are endearing even if frustratingly stupid at times. The tale has a moral. Very pleasant watching. Good music, with a great final song.

ПОСЛЕДНИЙ ВАЛЬС (THE LAST WALTZ)

Walked out. I hadn't known the composer (Oleg Karavaychuk) before and I'm not going to listen to his works in the future either. His music is overly simplified and each piece sounds the same. He, at the time of shooting, was an elderly man speaking, looking and moving like a woman.