Tuesday, February 17, 2009
More cinema talk
This post is about Russian films and the renowned "Rossiya" movie theater (pictures are here and here) in Kiselevsk that I mentioned in a previous post. If you don't find this interesting, try pressing Ctrl+W in any decent browser.
Quite a few very good Russian films have come out recently.
The first of two I want to tell you about is called "Pro Fedota Strel'tsa" ("The Tale of Fedot the Strelets": more information, links and a trailer here). It's an animated film - my favourite genre - based on a humorous play by the late Leonid Filatov, and it just so happens that back in the days when I used to perform on stage with "Antwerpriza", this was the first play I took part in. I must say I'm pretty impressed with the quality of this and other animated films that have been coming out the last couple of years. Most of them are based on Russian folklore and very funny. I think it is safe to say that animated film is making a comeback in Russia and people are actually starting to make money on them, particularly Melnitsa Animation Studio, which is where most of the successful animated films of the last few years were created. If you are interested in animation, I'd definitely recommend you take a look at their web site (the Russian version contains more materials).
Anyway, just like most of the films we watch in Russia, we saw this one at movie theater "Rossiya" in Kiselevsk. Apart from us, there were about six other people. All went well (this time).
On to the second film I wanted to tell you about.
It is entitled "Stilyagi". Stilyagis (~ 'hipsters' or 'cool cats') were a class of people in the Soviet era who tried to express their individuality by copying the Western (i.e. American) way of life. They dressed in flashy clothes and had their own lingo. The film is more of a musical with remakes of well-known Russian songs. Not a bad movie, but I think they should have chosen another female lead. The actress playing the part of 'Pol'za' is not what you'd call a knockout, even though some - they were probably blind - have called her the Russian Marilyn Monroe.
We watched this film at ... you guessed it, movie theater "Rossiya" in Kiselevsk.
This time, however, things were different. For starters, there were a lot more viewers. Two thirds of the film were fine, but then the trouble started. You may recall the trouble we had at this same movie theater when we watched '12', you know, when the sound kept disappearing. Well, this time the same thing happened again. Of course, some people started complaining and the show was interrupted a few times, but unfortunately that didn't help. So, Olga and I decided not to sit it out and get a refund. Which we did! So, at least we got to see 2/3 of the film for free and got home in time to put our little boy to bed. We haven't had the change to watch it properly yet, just like we haven't seen '12' properly yet.
My mother-in-law wanted to go and see it too the next day or the day after that, but the show was canceled due to repairs. So, who knows, maybe, just maybe, we will never have to watch silent movies again (unless we really want to).
Quite a few very good Russian films have come out recently.The first of two I want to tell you about is called "Pro Fedota Strel'tsa" ("The Tale of Fedot the Strelets": more information, links and a trailer here). It's an animated film - my favourite genre - based on a humorous play by the late Leonid Filatov, and it just so happens that back in the days when I used to perform on stage with "Antwerpriza", this was the first play I took part in. I must say I'm pretty impressed with the quality of this and other animated films that have been coming out the last couple of years. Most of them are based on Russian folklore and very funny. I think it is safe to say that animated film is making a comeback in Russia and people are actually starting to make money on them, particularly Melnitsa Animation Studio, which is where most of the successful animated films of the last few years were created. If you are interested in animation, I'd definitely recommend you take a look at their web site (the Russian version contains more materials).
Anyway, just like most of the films we watch in Russia, we saw this one at movie theater "Rossiya" in Kiselevsk. Apart from us, there were about six other people. All went well (this time).
On to the second film I wanted to tell you about. It is entitled "Stilyagi". Stilyagis (~ 'hipsters' or 'cool cats') were a class of people in the Soviet era who tried to express their individuality by copying the Western (i.e. American) way of life. They dressed in flashy clothes and had their own lingo. The film is more of a musical with remakes of well-known Russian songs. Not a bad movie, but I think they should have chosen another female lead. The actress playing the part of 'Pol'za' is not what you'd call a knockout, even though some - they were probably blind - have called her the Russian Marilyn Monroe.
We watched this film at ... you guessed it, movie theater "Rossiya" in Kiselevsk.
This time, however, things were different. For starters, there were a lot more viewers. Two thirds of the film were fine, but then the trouble started. You may recall the trouble we had at this same movie theater when we watched '12', you know, when the sound kept disappearing. Well, this time the same thing happened again. Of course, some people started complaining and the show was interrupted a few times, but unfortunately that didn't help. So, Olga and I decided not to sit it out and get a refund. Which we did! So, at least we got to see 2/3 of the film for free and got home in time to put our little boy to bed. We haven't had the change to watch it properly yet, just like we haven't seen '12' properly yet.My mother-in-law wanted to go and see it too the next day or the day after that, but the show was canceled due to repairs. So, who knows, maybe, just maybe, we will never have to watch silent movies again (unless we really want to).
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