Melodrama. Well, that was the last time I went to the cinema in the coronavirus year 2020, which left far from the best impressions. Let's hope that everything will turn out better in the New Year. Something carried me, it happens, we return to the subject of our conversation today, namely to the new brainchild of the Cinema Foundation and the master Nikita Mikhalkov, which turned out to be interesting and even watchable, which is even more surprising. And I went to the picture because of the trailer, which was cut so crookedly that it was not clear what the movie was about. But this was enough to interest me, and here is my brief opinion - Historical melodrama in snowy Petersburg. The picture has both pluses and minuses, and now I will tell you about them, so make some tea and sit back.
So the pros:
1. The story told - if we omit some points (let's talk about them in the minuses), then we have before us an ordinary love story of an ordinary proletarian Matthew and a representative of the noble aristocracy Alice, against the historical background of St. Petersburg on Christmas Eve 1900. The picture is disguised as a historical drama, an adventure and an adventurous action movie, but don't be fooled - this is a pure melodrama about the love of a girl and a guy from two social strata, even more - from two worlds. Romance here does not look fake, it develops gradually, drawing the viewer into itself. The ending is more than predictable, without surprises. The laws of the genre, as they say. He quite suited me, because I followed the heroes and they were nice to me.
2. Snow-covered St. Petersburg - the picture was filmed at the scene of events, and how nice it is to see familiar objects on the screen, which not only have seen with my own eyes, but also touched them. And also winter is a magical time of the year when the whole earth is covered with snow, and the frost on the windows of houses draws bizarre patterns that you really don't want to wash. Peter looks amazing, luxurious, gorgeous, almost like a fairy tale. I can't help myself, because I love Petersburg and winter!
3. Entourage - costumes, scenery, worldview of that time. All this is delivered at a high level and works exactly as it should. Socialist ideas, stratification of society, the emerging conflict of tradition and modernity, the eternal conflict of fathers and children, magic sessions and much more. All this does not look completely superfluous here, but on the contrary - it justifies the transfer of the melodrama to this historical period.
So the cons:
1. Age limit - no gentlemen, this picture is not "6+", because it contains curses with the letter "s" in relation to the female sex, as well as a scene of intimacy between doves in love. The picture, in this regard, must have a limit of either "12+" or "16+" (the latter is better). Apparently, pictures of domestic production are given such restrictions just like that, at random, well, or the master Mikhalkov is playing naughty again, you wretch!
2. Anti-Sovietism - I was ready for this, but reasonable viewers would have the question "What other anti-Sovietism, a film about the Russian Empire?", And I will explain. The fact is that the hero, in the first half of the picture, joins the "Marxists" - who rob the rich residents of the capital. The picture emphasizes that neither - ideological. But they are not Marxists - they are ordinary bandits who rob the bourgeois and aristocrats only for the sake of satisfying their own needs, but nowhere is it specified that they send expropriated money abroad, for the need for a revolutionary cause. Moreover, all the bandits are shown as good people, but why such persistent the desire to smear the communists in a brown substance? They could not have dragged "Capital" here, but would have been left out as ordinary bandits.
3. Modern dialogues - not respected Roman Kantor (screenwriter of the film) - well, Russian people did not say that in the late nineteenth - early twentieth century, well, what are you going to do. And if the speech of the proletarians even more or less resembles historical, then the nobles and the bourgeoisie are some kind of parody. Except for laughing and beating your head against the wall from what you hear, this does not cause any more reaction. Next time, not respected Roman, before writing a script for a historical picture - work in the archives and read the material so as not to fall into a hole, as it happened here.
4. Logical miscalculations - well, what kind of hedgehog are they coming from everywhere? The hero pursues one goal, then forgets about it, because he saw a beautiful skirt, and the goal is noble and dramatic, and most importantly - everyone understands. This is only the most obvious, and if you look closely, then wow. Okay, I'm kind today, so I will not develop the idea further - I think it is already clear.
5. English governess - I should remind citizen Roman Kantor that the governess in noble families was, in the overwhelming majority of cases, the French, because this language was common among the nobility from the time of Catherine the Great until the October Revolution, it is not for nothing that the majority of white emigrants and nobles they left for France. English was less common.
A little about the main characters:
1. Matvey, performed by Fyodor Fedotov, is an ordinary St. Petersburg worker, without a penny in his heart, forced to work hard on the bourgeoisie. As a result of some drinking, he becomes a member of a daring gang that rips off the rich. I met a beautiful girl by chance - and this was the beginning of a daring and ambitious adventure. A daring, brave and kind guy, who was driven by clear and simple goals at first. Fedor did a good job.
2. Alice performed by Sophia Priss - she is Russian, do not pay attention to the non-native surname, she is from Kurgan. Well, okay, because Sofia plays here a noblewoman - a know-it-all who dreams of a scientific career. A typical example of a family darling, who is "not like everyone else", she does not want to marry a pompous type, she wants to devote her life to science. But this is melodrama, so the ending will be obvious. Sofia played well.
3. Arkady Trubetskoy performed by Kirill Zaitsev is a prince, an officer of the security department, who must neutralize the impudent gang. An example of the young generation of the old aristocracy, but as a person - not very, too licked and does not keep his word. And if I had some hopes, they shattered under one word - "liberal". From that moment on, I longed for his overthrow, for in my eyes he fell below the plinth. Kirill did quite well.
There are many minuses, even more than pluses, but my overall impression of the picture is good. And the minuses lowered the final grade by one point, because there is still nothing more to watch. This picture will not get on the board of honor, will not be an object of imitation. This is a completely ordinary melodrama, only in a historical background, with a bunch of problems. But the viewing is worth it.
As a result, we have a good melodrama in the historical background of snowy St. Petersburg, with a solid script, excellent surroundings, with a bunch of problems and good acting work.
My rating is 6 out of 10 and my recommendation for viewing!
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