First off: Wear something else when you go out hunny. That striped shirt is getting very annoying.
Gritty and dark. So, so gritty. This film has a dark look on Russian life. If it’s realistic, then I don’t want to live there. If the film was portrayed very brightly and colorful, it certainly wouldn’t give the same feel. It would be nice, but we would just hate the main character even more than how much we really do.
Every location seems tight. As in, the shots really offer a closed, almost suffocating look. The shots in the apartment provided us with a sort of claustrophobic feel. Since the apartments can be small to begin with, it couldn’t be that hard to shoot.
A shot where we’re given a generally good view of Russia is the shot where Vera and Andrei are by the docks at that shipyard. In America, the view of a large body of water is typically seen as beautiful and positive. Towards the end, the family goes to the beach and it’s very depressing. It’s cloudy, and it rains. Vera is practically a recluse and she goes missing. When the Father and Victor go for swim, it seems to me to be the last thing I’d want to do.
Vera is a character that I’d say I wouldn’t like, but I couldn’t blame her. Life seems terrible and her bad attitude is no wonder. Her Father, on the other hand, is a reason as to why she would hate her parents or just life in general. Her father, the alcoholic, is insane. He destroys everything and is quite…the bastard.
Best. Scene. Ever. You know the scene. “STAB.” Caught EVERYBODY off guard. Vera’s scream is wonderful and spine chilling. I like how it’s just so casual and the fall of Sergei looked so realistic. If he was really dead, then it would be even so much more terrifying. Also, not being able to say that your own father stabbed your fiancé is unspeakable and insane . HA! Get it? Unspeakable?! Ha!
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Hahaha, your blog, by far, was the most entertaining to read. You captured all aspects of the film, and made it rather humorous. I kinda want to watch the film again, only to count how many times she wore that stupid fugly striped shirt.
ReplyDeleteYeah I agree with Jesse, reading this was really entertaining. I Agree with you on the darkness of the film, it made it really depressing. I also agree with you on the fact that she needed to change her damn shirt. It got really annoying, its like change already damnit.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's absolutely no accident that she has that shirt on virtually all of the time. Soviets had essentially no money, and if they had any, the options available in the stores at that time were extremely limited. So it was not unusual at all(and sometimes still isn't) to see Russians wearing the same outfit several days in a row. It's details such as these that, I think, give this film its amazingly gritty ultra-realism.
ReplyDeleteDitto for the beach...just like you say, the last place you'd ever want to dip in for a swim, next to the oil canisters and garbage. Yet you'll go to Russia and see kids merrily jumping in, splashing and playing in these types of circumstances. After awhile, for some reason, it becomes almost addictive walking through these industrial types of parks simply because you see how casually and matter-of-factly the Russians deal with it.
And ditto for the claustrophobia of the apartment. Provides us with a somewhat different view of living quarters from what we saw in Irony of Fate or Moscow Doesn't Believe in Tears, doesn't it? The use of the kitchen in this film is another example of its ultra-realism.