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NO-ONE (2018)
Chekhov meets Cabaret
This slow thriller written and directed by Vladimir Prudkin and Lev Prudkin reads like a futuristic Cabaret. All the elements for pre WWII Berlin are in place here: the spies, the characters who are constantly performing, the depravity, the helplessness of its participants, shot with an unsympathetic understated metallic reserve.
Taking place on the precipice and then during the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the plot centers around the story of one family, also at war.
"If I lose today, I'll win tomorrow." One of the family members remarks tonelessly playing a game of cards with two women, one his fiance, and the other his Aunt (not by blood) as the world around them collapses.
The crux of the action takes place on the Crimean Peninsula where various members of the family gather in the Chekhovian countryside as the tanks also gather (unseen) on the city streets, one of the most powerful family members remarking in a monotone: "I am incognito."
The cinematography is impeccable, the set design as well, and the acting is strong. Overall the story, couched in metaphor, is almost too understated to be fully satisfying but it builds towards its final destination.