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Putins kys (2011)
Putin's Kiss: One kiss that undermined the political system of one country
The movie Putin's Kiss was filmed in 2011 by the Danish director Lise Birk Pedersen. It is about the situation in Russia in the beginning of XXI century, namely about the major youth movement "Nashi" ("Ours") and about its activities. From Russian "Nashi" means "Ours", like people from our group or our compatriots. Although this is a youth-led movement, the movie shows that it is more about achieving political goals by means of youth's power. This movement is very pro-Putin and its activities are led by Vasiliy Yakemenko, who is the founder and ideologist of "Nashi" ("Ours"). The main focus is on the life of Masha Drokova, who was one of the prominent activists of "Nashi" ("Ours") but in the end she realizes that this movement has some radical ideologies that she is not able to support, as they do not match her beliefs.
This movie was filmed as a documentary about the movement "Nashi" ("Ours") and the political situation in Russia. It is important to mention that there are many actors in the movie, but interestingly they all of them play themselves. Every person has some stories to tell the audience and many of them are negative, as these people are not satisfied with the work of "Nashi" ("Ours") or with some specific individuals, like the leader of "Nashi" ("Ours") - Vasiliy Yakemenko. Actors play very natural, and it is clear that they are talking about something that matters to them, as there is an interest seen in their words. As Oleg Kashin, popular journalist and one of the movie actors, states in his blog, initially Danish filmmakers had a different story to tell by this film: life of the girl who was a true fan of Putin. However, during the time when the movie was filmed, Oleg Kashin was attacked and Danish filmmakers changed the script to add this case to the movie. This was done on purpose, as people believe that Kashin was attacked by members of the movement "Nashi" ("Ours"). This shows that actors were talking about something that really happened to them and there was no reason for them to act fake.
There is a good choice of music in this film and the quality of sound and picture are on a high level. Movie was filmed on a camera with high quality and there is a smooth transition between film shots, which make it pleasant to watch. However, there are some film snippets that where filmed on different devices, like the video of an attack on Oleg Kashin, which was taken from surveillance cameras, thus the video quality is very different. Anyways, it does not disturb the viewer from the main idea of the movie. The sound and music are clear and easily understandable. Also, it is very important that music fits the situation and the atmosphere in different moments. Right choice of music helps the viewer feel the atmosphere, what expands spectators' understanding of the movie. In this movie, mainly serious and gloomy music was used, which shows that there are many negative emotions and cases related to the activities of "Nashi" ("Ours").
The main idea of the movie is that the members of the youth-led movement "Nashi" ("Ours") are acting against oppositionist people, as it is in the interest of Russian government to suppress the opposition. This is because opposition is questioning the government and sharing their ideas that may hurt the politics of the state. Initially, members of "Nashi" ("Ours") were doing some civic deeds, like finding spoiled food in supermarkets and dealing with such small-scale problems. However, later they started doing things that went beyond frames, like damaging the car of the oppositionist Ilya Yashin. As the movement "Nashi" ("Ours") was organized for the support of Putin, this fact might show that these people are pro-Putin and his ideas will lead them. Therefore, there was an idea that "Nashi" ("Ours") are never punished for their cruel actions as the government secures and supports them.
In general, this movie is very controversial. It seems like it is a movie about Masha's life and her activities, but in fact this movie is like a documentary about the political situations that was in Russia. This movie would be a good source of information for people, who are interested in Russian politics and would like to know more insight ideas of it.
The Yogis of Tibet (2002)
More than just a movie
The movie The Yogis of Tibet gives an excellent insight into the life of Tibetan monks. Moreover, it shows the viewer, who might not have any background in Buddhism, that meditation is somethings unusual and it is more than just sitting in calm. This movie was filmed only after the approval of monks what shows how hard it is to share the information about Tibetan monks, when all this information tend to to be secret. Monks were afraid that sharing all these details would destroy the pureness of their culture and eventually destroy it. However, monks agreed to give an interview and allowed to film themselves just for the sake of preserving their practices.
The movie gives a lot of information about Tibetan monks' life and their studies, and the authenticity of this information can be proven by the fact that everything was told in first person, by monks and nuns themselves. Some master Yogis even described the difference between regular monks and Yogis, which might be very interesting for the viewers. To explain the difference, the master Yogi said that Yogis are always concentrated and even if they are in a remote region, their mind can go anywhere they wish. In addition, Yogi's aim differs a bit than regular monks': by their practices, Yogis strive to escape sufferings, which happen in every person's cyclic experience.
Monks of different levels told about their daily activities. Some said that they have to sit in the box while practicing and when they are resting too. Other monk told that when he started practicing one hard and serious meditation, he had to practice it every day. In addition, there was a Western family, who shared their perspective on these Yogi practices. It is interesting that all family members, starting from the youngest kid and finishing with a dad, practice meditation. This shows that these practices are open for anyone. To prove that, a monk told that any person could go for a retreat and the master monk will help that person to perform everything correctly.
There are many pictures from Yogis' study materials, which demonstrate how some practices should be performed. Besides this, some of the Yogis allowed to film themselves while practicing, which gave this movie more interactivity. However, the Yogi warns the viewer saying not to repeat his actions, as it is very dangerous for health if practiced incorrectly.
Master Yogis' stories are very interesting. One Yogi said that he was able to see his previous lives and even call his former relatives. While another Master told that he does not remember when he first started his practices, as his mind has changed. Dalai Lama asked one master not to pass away, as he wanted him to teach other monks and surprisingly that monk lived a long life and has visited many countries, where he was teaching people.
However, the most important thing is that Yogis were able to do some supernatural things. There was a story that when Chinese soldiers came to harm monasteries the weather changed immediately due to monks and nuns' power. Thus, this shows that Yogis have power over their physical and spiritual substance. Monks say that it gives them a possibility to self-govern transition from one life to another, and even after death, their body does not change. Monk told a story, when one Master died but even one month after it his body stayed the same, there were not changes that are supposed to be on corpses.
All these ideas are used to show that material things do not matter when a person is seeking for happiness. A person should understand that he is happy already and that is what helps him to answer his inner questions. Yogis teach how to keep positive emotions, and get rid of the negative ones, even if you are angry on a person who harmed you, like Chinese harmed Tibetan Yogis, but Yogis are not angry on Chinese people.
Therefore, this movie helps the viewer understand what is important in live to be happy. It shows the real life of Tibetan Yogis and destroy the common Western view on meditation and other practices.
Brat 2 (2000)
How was the myth of 90s shown in the movie Brother-2
The film Brother-2 was released in 2000 and its director is Alexei Balabanov. This film is a sequel to the movie Brother, but the story in the second film gets some interesting development. The movie Brother brought Balabanov a huge success, great income and many film critics enjoyed assessing it. However, the Brother-2 strengthened people's love for Danila Bagrov, which is very important for the movie's rating. The main hero Danila Bagrov is played by Sergey Bodrov and Viktor Sukhorukov played Danila's older brother Viktor Bagrov.
Alexei Balabanov's works are very different: he filmed not only thrillers but also comedy and melodrama movies. People say that Balabanov had a good sense of 90s but his movies were overwhelmed with violence and gloom. Maybe this special sense of the era of 90s made Balabanov focus on filming thrillers, while films with optimistic scripts were rare in his repertoire. When analyzing Brother-2 it is necessary to keep in mind Balabanov's specialization and his experience in filming thrillers, as it makes his works credible from the perspective of accuracy of details.
The movie Brother-2 is about a good man with strong principles - Danila Bagrov, whose morality is about helping good and powerless people, and discipline bad and mean ones. He goes to America with his brother to seek and punish a businessman, who took the money of his close friend's brother. Although Danila does not speak English and had no one to help him in America, he does a great job communicating with different American people: a truck driver Ben, television presenter Lisa, gangsters, businessmen, etc. We see that Danila's brother betrays him, as he does not really help Danila in finding the businessman, but has fun and enjoys his time in America. In the end, Danila completes his mission and goes back to Russia, while his brother is caught by US police officers.
What comes to the technical side, I would say that the movie was filmed very professionally. There is a good choice of actors' clothing, props, music and even the smallest details are depicted accurately. For example, the way how Danila makes a gun from improvised means is so realistic because all the necessary details were considered. As this is a thriller, guns and bombs are important for making this atmosphere of dangerousness and viewers can surely say that these props were very realistic. Even though the movie had the smallest budget, the picture and sound quality are quite high. The viewer can notice that main character Danila's outfit does not change that much but it does not make a bad impression of the movie organization. On contrary, this fact shows that viewer should value Danila's personal traits, rather than his outfit.
This movie accurately depicts the myth of 90s and viewers can see many different ideas that are appropriate for the myth about 90s. The first thing, which comes into people's mind when they hear about the 90s are the powerful people, who are able to commit crimes and stay innocent. This case is shown in businessman Belkin's actions, when his employee killed Danila's friend and Belkin tried to hide this fact in order to stay safe. In 1990s, people believed that powerful people had a lot of money and strong bodyguards that could help them hide all their bad actions and this was shown in the movie. We can see this when Belkin sends his bodyguards to find Danila and his partners, so that they would not harm Belkin or his partner from America. In addition, there is a myth that in 1990s there was a huge gap between poor and rich people, and it felt like there is no social class in-between these two layers. Rich people benefited from having many good acquaintances (svyazi), like Belkin and his American partner, as it helped them develop their business and get more money. While poor people were poor and could not really help themselves. People living in 1990s believed in this myth and Balabanov depicted it in the relations between different heroes: Belkin and Danila, Kostya's brother Mitya and Mennis. Also, there were many minor things that are connected to the myth of the 90s: leather jackets, which almost every bandit was wearing; making illegal documents, as Danila and his brother had; free access to weapons, as Danila and his friends did, etc. These were appropriate for the myth of 90s and Balabanov used them to show in his movie the situation in Russia in 1990s.
Moreover, there is an important question this movie can answer - the question of the Russian idea. I might suppose that this idea was important for people in 1990s, as it was discussed in Pelevin's Generation P book too. The viewer of this movie might think that the difference between Danila and his brother Viktor is not that important, but I believe that this is exactly what shows the Russian idea. The thing is about Danila being honest, kind and he does not break his principles, while his brother Viktor may lie, act in his own interest and betray his sibling for the sake of his own safety and benefit. Therefore, I would say that in this movie, Viktor is the character, which shows the Russian idea of 90s: seeking to have more money, wants to live in the west and loves good luxury life. However, Danila is a character who is completely opposite of Viktor. Danila believes that money is not that important in our life and the truth is what really matters. Although Danila is more humane than other people, and could be called the hero of the new time, some people call him an anti-hero. This may happen because of Danila's willingness to help other, which makes him very different from common Russian man of those times. Such difference of Danila from other Russian men can be evidence from the actions and motive of those men: Russian men were mostly bandits, who were acting for the sake of their own benefit, while Danila did not need anything particular, except from helping his close friends and even not close ones too, just because they are his compatriots.
To sum up, I would recommend everyone to watch this film, at least to be familiar with this special post-Soviet era in Russia. This time period is like a separate history, which should be interesting for each of us.