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jiraffejustin's Avatar
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Let the night air cool you off
08-10-18
Originally Posted by Ultraviolence
The Cranes are Flying is one of the most beautiful films that I ever saw!
Same.

The scene where she decides not to take cover during the shelling is one of the most spectacular scenes I've ever witnessed. Dazzling is the only word I can think of to describe it.



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Winner by Default
08-10-18
Originally Posted by Camo
My god I just assumed you were talking about the wife, definitely know what you are talking about with the friend and agree
No worries.

But yeah, more of her character wasn't necessary. It's just that like you, I didn't find the wife particularly interesting, so if I had the choice between more of Lilya or more of the friend, I would definitely choose the friend (I clearly still haven't learned the character's name though haha).



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Let the night air cool you off
08-10-18
I am not going to do a regular write-up on Solaris. I don't know what I can add to it. I'll say that it's an all-time great film. It's one of the all-time greats at causing you to feel absolute dread. It plays into Tarkovsky's hypnotic style. He can put you in a trance, but with this film it's not as much a trance as it's a trap. I've used this description for Come and See, but Solaris can suffocate you too. Natalya Bondarchuk knocks it out of the park in this film with her portrayal of Hari. Her performance puts this film even further over the top. Every bit of dread, despair, and confusion Hari felt just further clogged my windpipe.

I'm starting to think he might be my favorite director of all-time, and it's pretty obvious that Blu-Ray was invented for his films. Doesn't need to be said, but this film is gorgeous too.



Citizen Rules's Avatar
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Noir Time
08-10-18
Originally Posted by jiraffejustin
...it's pretty obvious that Blu-Ray was invented for his films...
You watched this on Blu-Ray? Lucky you! Totally agreed with what you said about the film, especially Hari. I don't know if you're interested but I did review the film here at MoFo link I'm not going to read my own review until after I've watched the film and did a write up. I want to see if my opinion changes or not.



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08-11-18
I had toothache and was nauseous when i first watched Solaris, made it to the first scene inside the Station then i passed out. When i woke up i was no longer sick but i was still sorta dizzy, made it so much more trippy and atmospheric. One of my favourite experiences watching a film so everyone needs to get toothache before watching it.



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Let the night air cool you off
08-12-18
Ballad of a Soldier

I'm struggling to make up my mind with this film. On one hand, the technical hand, it's a very good movie. It looks really good most of the time. It has some truly great moments, some truly powerful moments, and the premise of the film is one that is unique (from my experience anyway). It, perhaps, courageously spoils itself in the opening moments of the film. It builds a romance that you know can't end on a positive note. Yet, somehow, I just don't think the tone really matches what we are seeing, and maybe that is a purposeful juxtaposition that will work for most of you. I also don't really care for the music that feels pretty hamfisted or heavyhanded. I'm really torn though, because the whole film had me bouncing back and forth on whether or not I actually liked it. I think I need to see it again, and maybe another time after that. I am not trying to talk myself into liking it, but some of those moments were fantastic and I just wish I felt that way about the whole thing. For instance, the scene with the woman who was going on two days without sleep that was driving the truck was great. So was the scene after Alexei and Shura split up with two of them dealing with their strong feelings for each other and realizing the lost opportunity the two of them just had. I will say that something about the actor portraying Alexei wasn't doing it for me. I can't put my finger on it, but it's kind of like when you are playing a video game and the camera angle just isn't working for you so you try to change it to find the right one but it just never seems to work out for you. Or maybe like a color setting on a tv. Or the bass/treble settings on a radio. I don't know where it needs to be, but I know where it is at just doesn't click for me. There are some minor propagandizing issues that I didn't care for either, but those are overlookable. I'm stuck somewhere in the middle on this one and it really bums me out. There was a lot of potential here that was missed.




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Let the night air cool you off
08-12-18
Originally Posted by rauldc14
It was a blind nom so I haven't seen it, and I didn't read much into yours but sorry you didn't like it.
Nothing to apologize about, in fact, I'm glad I saw it. It's a good nomination. I would feel weird saying I didn't like it, because I loved parts of it. It's worth watching, but I don't really know how to rate it. I went with the half-of-five rating because it's neutral.



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08-12-18


Planeta Bur (1962) by Pavel Klushantsev

I am not going to say to much about this film, as i dont like to berate films. This is mostly a reiteration of JJ's review, that this was a very tedious film, with sub-par acting and in my opinion it would only be interesting in terms of looking into Soviet propaganda.




Ballad of a Soldier (1959) by Grigoriy Chukhray

Aesthetically this was an immensely beautiful film. The story however was rather romanticized, with how it dealt with being a young soldier during war torn Russia in the second world war. I would guess that for some, the love story combined with the wonderfully depicted Soviet Union, could be regarded as a masterpiece. In my opinion it lacked nuanced characters and the nationalist propaganda go over board (which is a general problem of movies portraying wartime). I think that The Cranes are Flying is a slightly better film and overall that its interesting to see Soviet films depicting the second world war, in view of how big a tragedy it was for the Soviet Union, loosing millions and millions of lives. All in all, thought of it as a good movie, but not without it flaws.



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08-13-18
Ballad of a Soldier




Good film. This film was absurdly cheerful at first, everyone in the Army was at least outwardly fine and mostly happy. Of course i know a positive portrayal of the Soviet Army was the only way a film like this would ever be allowed in the Soviet Union, at this time at least. Because of that i think the film is interesting from a Soviet censorship (or just ingrained guidelines in artists that would prevent them from ever having to be censored as they'd not be dumb enough to stray) point of view. As i'd be very surprised if the director who fought in fudging Stalingrad and was injured three times has such a positive view of the Army, even if the Soviet Army is exaggerated it was clearly not so calm and jolly during ridiculous pressure situations like the one at the start.

I like what he has done with his constraints, he's been clever about making a film showing that war has a miserable effect on people in a way acceptable to the authorities. Making it about the soldiers missing their homeland and family which makes them something worth protecting. It's very interesting that this made it through and it seems purely based on the portrayal of the Army to me. The Army is shown as a family, they are kind they'll let you go home for a week despite it being against the rules, the General is the one that allows it showing that even the higher ups are good people. But even though Alyosha has an endearing spirit everything back home is subtly horrifying, every character he meets on his little jorneys is dealing with some type of tragedy, back home didn't look good even though it was sorta palmed away with following such a positive person throughout the film and not dwelling too much on those moments. I know the Soviets were big on emphasizing the devastation the evil Germans caused later films like Come and See going to the extreme end of that but the Germans aren't even mentioned much at all and i found that surprsing especially in a film this early. Then i remembered it was made during Kruschev's time when Stalin's influence was being condemned, initially i thought it was a sneaky attempt at an anti-war, anti-soviet policy film but i actually think it was an official soviet policy statement that Stalin's policies and handling of the war greatly effected the SU. I dunno, maybe i'm reading into the timing too much and it's statement is simply that war is devastating and should be avoided at all costs which is the most apparent, i just think it was portrayed in a surprising way for its time and in its political atmosphere if that was the case. Just never thought i'd see a Soviet approved war film that shows devastation and war related sorrow without any mention of the enemy, at least not this close to the war.

Yes some of the romance/love was overdone but i dunno i think the camerawork saved it in some places, some of the odd angles and close-ups used almost made scenes seemingly meant to be powerful, grotesque and suffocating. I'm thinking of Vasya and his wife as well as Alyosha and Shula renuiniting that would have been worse if it wasn't all shot so interestingly, still wasn't well done as a whole though i accept. I do get the focus on love potentially ruining a film like this for some, but i mean there's tonnes of morbid war is hell films (and it's not as if this was far removed from that) out there i think emphasising how desirable and strengthening love is, is just as powerful a statement on war and it felt unique because i don't remember ever seeing this approach (unless Pearl Harbour was supposed to be that ). I wouldn't call this one of the great cinematic love stories and i don't think it hit all the marks it was attempting to but some of it was powerful and it was well acted. His brief scene with his mother was incredible, and also the road at the start and the one he travels on to get to his mother reminds me of the one in the Koker Trilogy haha.

Alyosha annoyed me at first but he grew on me. It's very refreshing seeing such a positive protagonist in a war film of this nature, he may not feel realistic and he was probably at least partly the way he was for propaganda purposes but it was different. Shura looked scarily like an ex of mine which was distracting and weird, i didn't notice it until she was eating and laughing with him in the barn then i couldn't unsee it. She was good, haven't seen that many Soviet films but honestly every single female performance i've seen in them has been good. Think i just find Soviet women fascinating, even when they're playing a part.

The visuals were great and pretty nuts at times. Don't have much else to say about them other than the tank on the ceiling shot near the start was hilarious and awesome. The main thing holding this back from being a favourite is the romance was of course extremely underdeveloped and it could've been great too as i felt they had chemistry, was so relieved to see this was only 90 minutes considering how long most of the others are but i actually think it should've been longer. Her waiting for him at the train station and them suddenly having feelings for each other and acting like a seperated couple was just weird. They did have their moments tho, the train scene was beautiful even though it wasn't fully earned, again largely because of the way it was filmed. Good nom Raul. Planeta Bur next, then my own.




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“I was cured, all right!”
08-13-18
Planeta Bur (1962)


Planet Bur was an enigma for me at my first view, I was a bit tired so I don't think a paid much attention in the plot, so I watched again with a fresh mind and was bored with the plot and with the characters. I really liked the setting (dinossaurs in Venus, why not?) and I liked the robot and the practical effects. The actors and the plot itself aren't a good thing. There was some times that I was thinking: "Now it will start to improve!" but nothing happens. Sometimes interesting but predictable film.

★★



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“I was cured, all right!”
08-14-18
Leviathan (2014)


Just now I noticed that this film was directed by the same director of Loveless (2017), a film that denounces the bad state of Russian society in the face of love, the lack of attention we have with others, and how we open space for futility and alienation.

In 'Leviathan', Andrey Zvyagintsev does an exercise in detachment, the few characters look like ants in the midst of the immensity of the world around. We see the coast often, mostly painted with solitude. On the only occasion when the coast is filled with more than one person, a tragedy draws near.

The moment we saw Kolya sitting in the chair of the police station, listening to all those accusations, I knew with him that there was nothing more to be done, only to preach the truth, that he is innocent. Kolya is alone, from the beginning, his only companion is the vodka. The lack of love that his wife has with him is heart breaking, Kolya shows affection, in his way, was not enough to fill Lilya's heart.

I like how Mr. Zvyagintsev leaves to our charge the construction of the meaning of the work, causing us to meditate when the credits roll. I've only seen two of his films so far, I'll certainly see the rest of his filmography.

★★★★



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Winner by Default
08-14-18


Ballad of a Soldier / Баллада о солдате (1959)
Directed By: Grigoriy Chukray
Starring: Vladimir Ivashov, Zhanna Prokhorenko, Yevgeni Urbansky

I knew nothing about Ballad of a Soldier before I watched it, but judging by the title I was expecting something ground a little more in reality rather than State-issued idealism, so the unbelievably accommodating army really caught me off guard at the start of the film. The story focuses on the life of an individual soldier, and attempts to take the war down to a personal level that would be easier for audiences to relate to. That was a clever approach, however I often struggled to take the film seriously due to its occasionally blatant propaganda, so it ultimately lacked any emotional impact.

I did rather like the story of Vasya, the wounded soldier having second thoughts about returning home. I actually started to get a little invested towards the end of his screen time, however that didn't last long because Shura's introduction actually made me turn the film off for awhile. I just could not take her shrieking, and the realization that the story was probably going to focus on a romantic relationship between Alyosha and her for the rest of the runtime had me rolling my eyes and dreading watching the rest. When I later returned to the film, I fortunately found her to be far more palpable, and to my surprise the romantic subplot never became overbearing.

The propaganda also became far less intrusive, practically dying out for the final act. It became a much easier to watch film, though somewhat less interesting than how it started. Luckily the cinematography was incredibly well done, with plenty of great camera angles and lighting throughout. I didn't dislike the film, but it did feel a little conflicted to me. It was trying to paint a picture of the individual personal costs and impacts of war, however the tone of the film and the demeanour of its lead character clashed with those ideas. That may entirely be the fault of the political climate in Russia at the time, but I would've liked to see a more consistent ideology.


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Winner by Default
08-14-18
Originally Posted by Camo
Because of that i think the film is interesting from a Soviet censorship (or just ingrained guidelines in artists that would prevent them from ever having to be censored as they'd not be dumb enough to stray) point of view.
I agree with this. It makes me wonder how different the film might've been if it were made free from any regulations, whether they were official or unofficial at the time. I don't think it would've been quite as romanticised, as TokeZa described it, and probably would've leaned much harder in the anti-war direction.



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Noir Time
08-14-18

Planeta Bur (1962)


A beguilingly deep film about altruistic social ideas, that gets overshadowed at times by the prerequisite sci-fi creatures who draw attention away from the deeper concepts that the film offers.

I liked it!...I love sci fi and have always been interested in reading about the Soviet space program. One of the primary goals of the Soviets was the landing of probes on Venus. So I'm not surprised that a Soviet era film would be about a manned mission to the 2nd planet in our solar system.

I enjoyed both the space flight part of the film, and the look and feel of Venus. If Venus wasn't 800 Fahrenheit, it conceivably could have looked like it did in the film. NASA scientist believe that Venus might have very well had oceans and been habitable for 2 billion years of it's existences. That's before the run away greenhouse effect took place and turned the planet into a hell.

Back to the movie!....The story concept is deceptively deeper than the images of rubber dinosaurs would seem to present. I was impressed with the underlying theme that all life in the universe might stem from one single source, which then makes us all brothers. I see this as the director countering Soviet propaganda with some very progressive ideas of his own.

There's only a few blatant propaganda lines about the heroic Soviet people achieving space goals for the Soviet Union, and that was at the beginning of the film. I was very surprised to see that as the film progressed the Russian cosmonauts talked about getting home to Earth, not the Soviet union. I think that is the beauty of the film. In other words the director had balls!

The end credit song:
Planet of Storms, we'll see you soon, don't worry / And in your harbor, our ships will gladly berth / For not in vain are we the sons of Earth / For not in vain are we the sons of Earth / Earth, dear Comrades


And the discussion of the commonalty of the origins of life was far ahead of it's time in sci fi ideas. To me it seemed like the film maker was saying, life everywhere is akin.

What about a stone age rock painting in Sakhara? This drawing shows a man wearing a space suite. What about those ancient rust resisting columns in India? The way they treated the iron of the columns is yet unparalleled on Earth. And the mystery of the Atlantis? And the extraordinary knowledge of the ancient astronomers?
...
I'm convinced that interstellar flights are an inevitable step for development of life elsewhere. There's no isolation between the worlds. And Life immigrating in cosmos is as natural as spreading the plants seeds by the wind on Earth. And perhaps, the solar system planets are populated with one and common tribe of living creatures, who are
developing like different branches, Of the solar tribe.
That's ahead of it's time and later that idea appeared in the 1968 book, Chariots of the God by Erich von Daniken. Maybe the movie inspired the book?I found the film haunting with the siren voices in the wind and the mystery of an ancient civilization laying lost under the ocean...And oh that last shot in the reflecting pool, sublime.

Maybe the production values aren't always in line with the films more enlightened ideas, but I can overlook that and focus on the deeper meaning of the film.

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08-14-18
Originally Posted by Citizen Rules
A beguilingly deep film about altruistic social ideas, that gets overshadowed at times by the prerequisite sci-fi creatures who draw attention away from the deeper concepts that the film offers. [. . .]

Maybe the production values aren't always in line with the films more enlightened ideas, but I can overlook that and focus on the deeper meaning of the film.
I actually like that the film has both. But I love hilariously fake sci-fi creatures, so they won't necessarily detract from other elements of a film for me haha.

I'm glad you liked it, and that I'm not the only one who didn't think that there was a lot of overt propaganda (outside that "trust in Russia" opening text and maybe the collecting samples montage). I didn't even think it was as preachy as some classic Star Trek episodes.

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