FYSP 113: Recent Russian Cinema

Songs   I’ve done a down and dirty translation of the major songs in the film. See enclosure.

I read a short precise of the plot of “Night Watch” before watching the film last Friday, and came into the viewing with quite a bit of preemptive reticence. Vampires, the dramatic good-evil dichotomy that the film runs on, and excessive amounts of overtly visceral gore are all film elements that I have been happy to miss out on since coming into this FYS. I’m not sure that I can expand on anything positive or worthwhile in terms of the plot of “Night Watch”, since, even looking at reviews on the internet and watching the film in class, I’m just not sure that I totally understand it. On the other hand, I did happen to notice, and was able to resonate with, the range of techniques explored by Bekmambetov. The film is put together in such a way that there is this constant undercurrent of cultural media as the action plays out. Rather than using token 21st century effects, Bekmambetov utilizes alternative tactics for expressing action: the video game that simulates a car chase, a crash test dummy depicting a vampire being killed by one of the Seers, a Russian pop concert interjecting with the Night Watch pursuit. These techniques, while not necessarily high-tech, provide a melange of film angles and innovative styles that engage the viewer, in spite of the somewhat-mystifying plot. Because of Bekmambetov’s outreach to cultural media to express the action of the film, “Night Watch”- a film that could easily have been made into an epic film of sole interest to vampire enthusiasts and suspense-thrillers lovers from Petersburg to Siberia- becomes both accessible and entertaining. It is through these accessible means that the surreal elements of the film, too (the opening scene in which the strange old woman casts the spell on Anton’s wife comes to mind), can be of interest to, if not wholly understood by, the viewer.

I’m not sure if these thoughts are at all cohesive or coherent, but this is the only semblance of a critique regarding “Night Watch” that I am ready to come to at this point. I hope that I’ll have more to expand on and review once we’ve discussed and elaborated on the film’s plot in class.

So, I have a blog, but I can’t figure out how to link it up to this one.

Our final film of the nineties comes from director Valerii Todorovskii.  Land of the Deaf study sheet can be found here:Study Sheet

Brat was definitely different from the other two movies we’ve seen.  While there was still a prevalent political and moral connotation, it was more of an action movie than the others, which were more of dramas.  Danila’s impulsiveness was different from his brother’s well thought out plans.  He jumps between his relationships with other such as Hoffman, Sveta, or the girl from the record store.  The only two relationships that Danila seems to be completely stable with are his relationship with his brother and his love of the band Nautilus.  Danila’s still a teenager who enjoys going to rock concerts and behaving impulsively.  However, at the end of the movie, Danila seems to change and gives a fair amount of money to the girl from the record store and continues on with his life.  He seems not to look back, but not look too much into the future.

For some reason the library has this listed by the Russian title, Brat.   Here’s the brother-study-sheetfysp.doc

History in Recent FIlm  Here’s the Gillespie article.

Some advice about structuring a review. Guidelines

And some thoughts on style. Writing Advice

Thief Study Sheet You can always blog about one of the questions on the enclosed study sheet.

For your viewing pleasure: http://www.youtube.com/v/nAh5mfkuAXk

Here we will share our impressions of the films we are studying and discuss reading assignments.  You are expected to blog on the weekend about the latest screening and to  comment on postings of other classmates as well. The blog will also serve as a resource for articles you find on the topics we are covering.  Your first assignment will be to blog this weekend about a potential topic for your first film review.