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Reviews
Rusalka (1997)
If you found the plot hard to follow, here is some help!!!
A wonderful fantastic animation movie! I read some reviews here that describe Aleksandr Petrov's films as great on the eyes, but lacking good plot and being hard to follow. I have to disagree with this assessment! It's just that Aleksandr Petrov is Russian and in his animations there are allusions, characters, and motifs that are rooted in Russian culture and are much more familiar to a Russian person than a foreigner watching the cartoon. Non-Russians just may need a little outside help to understand the plot (just like people often read a libretto before watching an opera to make sure they understand the action happening on on stage).
!!!A warning that spoilers do follow from this point on!!! (Do not read beyond this point, if you do not want to read spoilers!) In this story there are two monks who live by the river. The old monk had sinned in his youth: he had romance with a young girl, had sex with her, but then married another woman thereby "dishonoring" the girl who loved him and trusted him. (We learn this from the flashbacks that the old monk has and how now he is praying to God and begging him for forgiveness of his old sins.) The dishonored girl committed suicide by drowning. The young girl's restless spirit had turned into a mermaid - an evil spirit who is out to take revenge on the injustice that was done to her in her life. She takes this revenge by seducing young men with her charms, and then leading them into the depth of the water and drowning them. (This kind of wandering evil-spirit of a girl who's life ended before her time due to cruelty of men is a common character in Russian folklore. She may appear innocent and charming, but that is just a ploy to trick the young man into following her.) Naturally, the evil-spirit mermaid goes after the young monk, who is the apprentice of the old monk (and is probably like a son to him). Once the old monk realizes what's going on, he knows that the young monk is about to lose his life to pay for his (the old monk's) sins. He knows he must protect the young monk. So he tries to do it through prayer and giving the young monk the cross. When that doesn't work (the young monk takes a boat out onto the water to join the mermaid there), the old monk throws himself into a battle with the mermaid and he dies in the process of that battle, but is able to save the life of the young monk thereby.
So, as you can probably see, the story and plot of the animation are quite meaningful, substantial, and even powerful. You just need to be able to understand it to appreciate it and understand Petrov's work fully.
Moya bolshaya armyanskaya svadba (2004)
Delightful comedy!!! I loved it!!!
This is a gem! A delightful funny comedy made in the best traditions of Russian comedies. In many ways it's like the wonderful comedies we had back in the Soviet days. I highly recommend this movie. Especially for someone who is in an interracial relationship this movie will be very relevant. I myself am a Russian girl dating an Indian guy and I can see so many parallels between the "traditional parents" of the Armenian culture (as presented in this movie and the Indian culture. In the movie a Russian girl and an Armenian guy fall in love and want to get married, but the parents on both sides are against this interracial union and try to find ways to stop it. The lovers have to overcome obstacles to stay together and find happiness. Funny, kind, a bit naive, but very happy and refreshing movie! Highly recommend!
Brigada (2002)
Greatest modern film about mafia!
This is truly the greatest modern film about mafia! It is so realistic! Anybody who lived in Russia in the 1990s will tell you that this movie brilliantly reflects the social reality of that time period. At the same time the movie has an exciting and gripping plot that literally glues you to the television in a way few movies ever do. You are literally sitting at the edge of of your seat throughout the entire film. Personally, I think this movie is even better than the Godfather series.
All the negative comments speak about how this movie is "immoral" and give that as THE reason for giving the movie a low score. But this is simply not true! Yes, the protagonists of the movie are mafiosos. But they are no more romanticized then the protagonists of Godfather were. No one gives the Godfather series a low rating just on those grounds? I think it's just that because this movie was so popular in Russia and a lot of kids/teenagers watched it and started fantasizing about becoming mafia gangsters. And some parents got very upset about it. That is the only reason for giving a lower rating to this movie! Those parents just needed to keep the children away from the TV. This movie is not for kids anyway.
Obitaemyy ostrov. Skhvatka (2009)
Great continuation of the previous film!
This movie is a direct continuation of the first film "Inhabited Island" or "Obitaemyi Ostrov." It continues in the same great style and pace as the first film, but you have to see the first film to understand the storyline.
This movie is particularly great because there is a lot of action and great visuals, but a very interesting plot and deep philosophical ideas are what make it a truly great film. While it is science fiction, it is different from many science fiction films in that at the end of the day this is a movie about us: people living on this Earth today. We too have oppressive government regimes controlling the masses, we too have people among us fighting for ideas of justice. The end is very well done and leaves one thinking.
Obitaemyy ostrov (2008)
Great blockbuster science fiction film Russian style!
I loved this movie and I urge all to watch it! This is the biggest budget blockbuster movie Russia has produced to date and it does not disappoint. Nowadays we get so many high-budget blockbuster films - Transformers, The Day the Earth Stood Still - that have great special effects and are eye-candy visually, but offer little or no substance besides those fine visuals. This movie proves that when great computer generated special effects supplement an interesting plot and thought- provoking ideas, then you get truly great science fiction. Yes, when a movie has more dialog, more character development, more story-line, it is actually a much better movie!
The plot in this movie is intricate, dynamic, and detailed. It may be hard at first to keep track of all the new characters and developments in the movie. But that is because the plot is based on a great novel by Strugatsky brothers. It is not simple, but is meant to present various well-rounded characters and ideas to the viewer. On one level you have a simple love story going on. On another level, there is a whole country in trouble.
One of the great things about Strugatsky's fiction and this movie captures that is that though the outer shell of the story is fictional, there are clear allusions to the real world we live in today. This is what ultimately makes this such a powerful movie. The world of Sakarash is very much like Soviet Russia and Russia today in so many ways. The way that the power elite uses media and technology to control the masses, to make them helpless slaves is a reflection a system that is in place in our world today, some places especially.