Russian Ark

So when I was told that this was just one long continuous shot, I can't say that this is exactly what I was expecting. I mean sure the director used shadows and interruptions of the image we were seeing to provide subtle segues into the next shots, but none the less this really was one complete long shot. I picked up on some interesting details throughout this film however. We entered the building at night, but then we got later shots out of windows it seemed as though it were not only different times of the day, but different times of the year. That really gave the whole film this strange sense that were just floating through space and time. This made it slightly confusing to watch. At times I wasn't sure if were seeing later time periods, or elaborate reenactments. Also, I wasn't sure at times if this was supposed to be an art film, or a film about art. I mean sure it used a lot of interesting shots, and the fact we continued to be ushered along by either guards or the European made it seem as though we had an ultimate goal; which aided in the story that we are some dying persons flash back. Despite all of this however the film still a feeling that it was some kind of documentary.

This was an extremely hard film to watch. I kept catching myself looking at the counter on the DVD player only to find that we had been watching this for 10min or less since the last time i looked. I think the continuous shot did not help with this feeling of longevity. All in all it was interesting. I don't think I will ever be able to walk that palace, and to have a film do it for me, though in a very strange way, was a nice way to let me experience everything.

The Return

I really don't know what to make of this movie. I think the underlying message is that Russian youth feel abandoned by their country, which is now trying to make things good for them, but they feel that they do not need it. This film shared many aspects of an art film. I did notice many small things through out the film that seemed symbolic to me. It seemed that every traumatic even in the film was washed clean with water. The film opens with the boys jumping off of the tower, and the younger one needs to jump into the water to wash clean of his coward ism. Then when the father comes back it seems like every time he either hits or attacks one of the sons it then too it was washed clean by the rain. When he drops the younger son off at the side of the road it's perfect out, but when he comes back to make amends its now raining. Again later when they are in the boat, he makes them row, but then it starts raining again. And finally, once the father dies and is left on the boat it sinks. When I saw that, after a movie filled with subtle Christian images, I thought that seemed a little like a baptism and as soon as that happened both the boys seemed to forgive him, it was all very interesting.

All in all I'm not really sure that I like this movie. I mean it was an interesting story, and was shot great, but there was just something about that left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Despite all of that I do appreciate and respect the movie for what it is worth and its great use of artistic imagery.

Brother

I just want to start off by saying, wow. This movie was very Hollywood. It really entertained me well and I enjoyed it very much. Despite all the action and suspense in the film it still contained parts that I thought were placed there to reflect the restlessness of Russia at this time. The name brother is there to suggest and imply the unity between the citizens of the country and the ties of family. But that feeling is obviously gone, as Danila tells random people who call him brother that they are not brothers, and then in the end his actual brother is the man behind the plot to kill him.

I thought the two women in this film were particularly interesting also. Cat, the sly and often deceptive, but at the same time honest, and Sveta, the married woman who seems soft and level headed, but more tragically flawed than any one else. I thought Cat was particularly interesting because it seemed like all she wanted to do was get high and party, but it seemed that really she was just looking for one night to be happy, and she was just trying to escape something. But then again everyone in the film was trying to just escape themselves, maybe for just one night.

Danila runs from everything by listening to music and being introspective, which seems to ultimately save him. Sveta runs from her life by getting caught up in Danila, maybe she thought he could save her from her husband, but in the end she still chooses the man who would hit her rather than the man who kills to preserve himself. Even Nemets seems to play a role that suggests that he’s running from something by living in the woods.

All in all I think the message of this film was that the brotherhood and unity that was once the corner stone of Russia is long gone and has now been replaced by an emptiness that people are trying constantly to fill, leaving the country in a level of distress, but only on the personal level.

Little Vera

I'm not sure I liked this movie. It was all very confusing, in fact, it stressed me out a little. I wanted things to work out in her life so bad, but it just seemed like they were all just too caught up in themselves. It wasn't just the family either, it seemed that every one in the film was lost in their own way, which I believe was to show the general feelings of the country at the time. It seemed that in just a few years the whole moral of the country, it's citizens, and it's leaders all came to this extreme discomfort in a very short time.

One thing that I found quite shocking was the change in morals. The other films that we had watched seemed to show drinking as a social and casual affair, never in extremes, and never leading to addiction. Also it seemed that up until now sex was reserved to the married and love was very much a large part of the community. That was made evident in the things the mother said. I remember at one point she said to Vera that back in her day when people wanted to get married there were many years of courting before the engagement and never any sex, but now Vera just says she would marry this man and sleeps with him.

The alcoholism was another stark contrast from the other films also. Up until now drinking was taken lightly and it seemed that any sort of substance abuse was sort of taboo. But now in this film we were taken to the darker side of drinking. It wasn't just the family either, it seemed that every one in the film was in some state of non sobriety, and this was completely acceptable. Even with the pills, and how doctors seemed to think that they are just the magic bullet that can save you from any aliment.

Really watching this family destroy it's self mad me think of one of those Lifetime original movies. It was all very tragic and you couldn't help but feel like they all wanted to die, but just couldn't do it. It was sad, and deeply uncomfortable. I really wanted to enjoy this film, but I can't say that I did. It was not a bad film however, not in any way, it was just a bit too much. It really just felt as though they were all going to destroy themselves, and so long as they didn't say that was going to happen, it would be easier. I haven't see any thing this dark in a long time.

Komissar

I'm not gonna lie, I didn't like this movie all that much. I will give it credit where credit is due however. The more artistic parts were interesting, and I thought were shot quite well. They provided a contrast to the more traditional shots of the film and kept me interested. The other thing that I thought was good was the story's perspective. I think that it still took place from the point of view from a soldier, but a pregnant one gave the film the ability to show both the strength and power of the soldier, and the humanity of her. This was also aided by the fact the basic role of Vavilova changed through out the film. She came to the family as a battle hardened, and calloused soldier, but as the life with the family continued and she gave birth she became soft. This was kinda shown ridiculously obvious however by not only basic character development, but by her changing wardrobe also. I did enjoy the flashback during the birth. They provided a good look at her background and helped explain why she was the way she was.

The fact that it took place in a predominantly Jewish town also set a strange tone for the movie. I felt that it felt detached from the rest of the country, and those citizens were just innocent bystanders of a war that was not something that they necessarily cared about. This was all highlighted at the end by how the family just dances during the bombing, and how at the end Vavilova went upstairs to get changed and go fight.

Moskva slezam ne verit

So to start things off I just want to say how surprised I was that this movie was 150 min long. Originally I was expecting another relatively short movie similar to the ones that we had been watching. Despite the epic length of this film I did find it amusing. The over all theme of the film left me with a very strange feeling, very unlike the other films. I did notice some trends between this film and the other ones.

The first thing that I took notice of is that most of the love stories seem very clandestined and have little hope in actualizing its self. Most of the young people seem to be searching for love, and marriage. The other thing that I noticed is that a lot of those similar movies seem to have the same song in them. In fact I had the tune that played during the end of the film stuck in my head all day. The songs actually sound a lot like David Bazan, Pedro the Lion, Kings of Convenience, and other bands of the like.

One thing that I noticed that seemed generally contradictory to the soviet idealism in this film was it's not so subtle, subtle views on women and their place in the institution of marriage. A lot of the propaganda that I've seen seem to show women and promote them as strong and willing to work towards a powerful state. Yet despite this propaganda all the views on marriage seem to think that a woman should not be more powerful and wealthy than a man and is therefore subordinate to the man. I dunno, just seemed backwards to me.

Kiddnapping the Caucasians

So when I first heard the title of this film I thought it was talking about how white people kidnap. Then I realized that Caucasian refers to the people of the caucus mountains. The overall theme of the film did illustrate however how broken the soviet union actually was. The fact that there was a writer that was traveling to different parts of his own country to learn about the customs of its citizens was strange to me. I can't really think of any situations where that could happen here in the US. There did seem to be an underlying message that women should be strong, smart, in shape, and party members.

All in all though it was an entertaining movie. It had a very Mr. Bean, and Monty Python type feel to it. I thought that was maybe something that kept me entertained. Also the short time of the film seemed appropriate being that I think if the film were longer it would have become dull. I want to see more modern Russian comedies now.