Iconic Russian film director Alexei Balabanov passed away on May 18, 2013. He is best known for his portrayal of Russia in the 1990s, particularly in his films Brother and Brother 2.
Balabanov was born on Feb. 25, 1959 in the Urals city of Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg) and earned a degree in foreign languages. He fought with the Soviet army in Afghanistan, an experience he drew on for his films War and Cargo 200. In 1990, after completing an advanced training course in scriptwriting and filmmaking, Balabanov settled in St. Petersburg.
Balabanov’s first important production was Happy Days, shot in 1991. Constructed from the debris of the Soviet Union, the film heralded a new era in Russian cinematography.
In a sense, Balabanov’s films are comparable to the works of western film directors. Certain parallels can be drawn between his movies and the early work of Quentin Tarantino in their shared taste for crime, violence and a scarcely justified passion for atrocities.
One of Balabanov’s most scandalous movies, Of Freaks and Men, which provoked mixed feelings in even the most sophisticated film fans, can only be compared to The Idiots by Lars von Trier and 120 Days of Sodom by Paolo Pasolini.
However, Balabanov is a purely Russian film director in spirit, who is also a product of his time. He never cared for the glory of foreign film festivals, preferring to express his love of his country and the views of a true Russian Orthodox Christian.
All of his films were about Russia. He once said: “I don’t like festivals. They are boring. I don’t know anyone in the government. I don’t keep in touch with anyone. I live in St. Petersburg, and I don’t hang out anywhere. All I do is make films. It’s a good thing if they like them upstairs too. What’s the harm in that?”
Although Balabanov was frequently perceived by film critics and the public as a master of black humor and glorifier of violence, his films were not limited to crime dramas. He worked in a wide range of genres, completing 14 feature films, including the situational drama Brother and its sequel, Brother 2.
More here.
Friday, 24 May 2013
Saturday, 18 May 2013
Director Alexey Balabanov Died
Russian film director Alexei Balabanov has died near St. Petersburg of an “attack” at the age of 54.
During the filming of his latest movie, "I want" Balabanov said many times that his days are numbered, and this will be his last work.
Alexey Balabanov has gained wide acclaim of mass public thanks to his tough action movies about Russian mafia. Why bandits? “People have always watched and will watch films about bandits” – says the film director in his interviews. “I create films in turn: popular – unpopular… and it is not deliberately, it just happens this way.” Soon Balabanov is going to release a new (non-bandit) film, and time will show, if it is popular or not. Anyway, all of his films, whether obviously aimed at love of masses or not, are not devoid of significant ideas and powerful impact on the viewer – that is what makes Aleksei Balabanov interesting.
Alexey Balabanov was born on February 25, 1959 in Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg). In 1981 he graduated from Translation Faculty of Gorky Teachers’ Training University. From 1983 to 1987 Alexei worked as an assistant of a film director at Sverdlovsk film studio. Later Balabanov studied at the experimental course “Authors’ Cinema” of the High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors, graduating in 1990.
BROTHER (2) with English subtitles
Balabanov started his creative career in “big cinema” in 1991 with directing his first full-length feature Shchastlivyye dni (Happy Days) after his own script. In the same year he became the co-author of the script Pogranichniy Conflict (Frontier Conflict) by the young film director Nadezhda Khvorova.
In 1992 Aleksei Balabanov together with producers Sergei Selyanov and Vasily Grigor'ev established the STV Film Company, which later participated in creation of almost all of his films.
War 2002 with English subtitles
In 1994 the film director released Zamok (The Castle) after the famous novel by Frantz Kafka.
In the same year Balabanov debuted as a producer, with the film Ispoved neznakomtsu (Secrets Shared with a Stranger). Next year he took part in creation of the film almanac Pribytiye poyezda (The Arrival of a Train) (1995) dedicated to the 100th anniversary of cinematography; Balabanov’s segment Trofim won a number of cinema awards.
More here.
During the filming of his latest movie, "I want" Balabanov said many times that his days are numbered, and this will be his last work.
Alexey Balabanov has gained wide acclaim of mass public thanks to his tough action movies about Russian mafia. Why bandits? “People have always watched and will watch films about bandits” – says the film director in his interviews. “I create films in turn: popular – unpopular… and it is not deliberately, it just happens this way.” Soon Balabanov is going to release a new (non-bandit) film, and time will show, if it is popular or not. Anyway, all of his films, whether obviously aimed at love of masses or not, are not devoid of significant ideas and powerful impact on the viewer – that is what makes Aleksei Balabanov interesting.
Alexey Balabanov was born on February 25, 1959 in Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg). In 1981 he graduated from Translation Faculty of Gorky Teachers’ Training University. From 1983 to 1987 Alexei worked as an assistant of a film director at Sverdlovsk film studio. Later Balabanov studied at the experimental course “Authors’ Cinema” of the High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors, graduating in 1990.
BROTHER (2) with English subtitles
Balabanov started his creative career in “big cinema” in 1991 with directing his first full-length feature Shchastlivyye dni (Happy Days) after his own script. In the same year he became the co-author of the script Pogranichniy Conflict (Frontier Conflict) by the young film director Nadezhda Khvorova.
In 1992 Aleksei Balabanov together with producers Sergei Selyanov and Vasily Grigor'ev established the STV Film Company, which later participated in creation of almost all of his films.
War 2002 with English subtitles
In 1994 the film director released Zamok (The Castle) after the famous novel by Frantz Kafka.
In the same year Balabanov debuted as a producer, with the film Ispoved neznakomtsu (Secrets Shared with a Stranger). Next year he took part in creation of the film almanac Pribytiye poyezda (The Arrival of a Train) (1995) dedicated to the 100th anniversary of cinematography; Balabanov’s segment Trofim won a number of cinema awards.
More here.
Wednesday, 15 May 2013
Kinotavr Festival to be Opened with Govorukhin's New Film
| Add caption |
As the official website of the film festival shows, the Kinotavr will be opened with Stanislav Govorukhin's new work under the title Weekend. The film is based on the detective novel The Elevator to Scaffold by the French writer Noel Kalef. Mr. Govorukhin has transferred the action to Moscow. The leading roles in the movie are played by Victor Sukhorukov, Maxim Matveyev and Alexander Domogarov.
The main competitive program of the film festival has included 12 movies altogether. In particular, works by Alexey Fedorchenko, Alexander Veledinsky, and Taisiya Igumentseva will compete for the Grand Prix of the festival.
The jury of the main competition will be headed by the illustrious film director Alexander Mitta. The festival will be crowned with Dmitry Konstantinov's movie Farewell.
More here.
Monday, 13 May 2013
Russian filmmakers await the 66th Cannes Film Festival
Russian participation in the Cannes Film Festival began when the USSR was invited to the first festival in 1939. France extended the invitation during a period when it held high aspirations of turning the great power into its ally.
However, the first festival never took place. The scheduled date, September 1, 1939, brought the outbreak of World War II.
The Cannes Film Festival resumed in 1946, and the Soviet Union was invited as a victorious nation. “However, the nation’s involvement in the festival was spoiled by technical problems during screenings, and Soviet officials accused the organizers of sabotaging their films. Soviet movies were barely shown at the festival over the four following decades.”
There were, however, a few major Soviet successes in Cannes. Fridrikh Elmer's The Turning Point became the first Russian film to take the Palme d'Or in 1946.
In 1958, Mikhail Kalatozov's The Cranes Are Flying became the second, and also last, Russian film to take the prize.
Many have come close to taking the Palme d'Or since. Andrei Tarkovsky was nominated for the Palme d'Or three times, for Solaris in 1972, Nostalghia in 1983 and The Sacrifice in 1986.
Grigoriy Chukray, like Tarkovsky was also nominated three times, for The Forty-First in 1957, Ballad of a Soldier in 1960 and There Was an Old Couple in 1965.
In the late 1990s, the controversies and intrigues associated with the participation of Russian films came to an end.
Since then, the likes of Pavel Lungin, Nikita Mikhalkov, Alexander Sokurov (nominated for the Palme d'Or five times) and Andrey Zvyagintsev have had a chance to really emerge. In a recent trend, the juries have begun paying more attention to film debuts.
More here.
However, the first festival never took place. The scheduled date, September 1, 1939, brought the outbreak of World War II.
The Cannes Film Festival resumed in 1946, and the Soviet Union was invited as a victorious nation. “However, the nation’s involvement in the festival was spoiled by technical problems during screenings, and Soviet officials accused the organizers of sabotaging their films. Soviet movies were barely shown at the festival over the four following decades.”
There were, however, a few major Soviet successes in Cannes. Fridrikh Elmer's The Turning Point became the first Russian film to take the Palme d'Or in 1946.
In 1958, Mikhail Kalatozov's The Cranes Are Flying became the second, and also last, Russian film to take the prize.
Many have come close to taking the Palme d'Or since. Andrei Tarkovsky was nominated for the Palme d'Or three times, for Solaris in 1972, Nostalghia in 1983 and The Sacrifice in 1986.
Grigoriy Chukray, like Tarkovsky was also nominated three times, for The Forty-First in 1957, Ballad of a Soldier in 1960 and There Was an Old Couple in 1965.
In the late 1990s, the controversies and intrigues associated with the participation of Russian films came to an end.
Since then, the likes of Pavel Lungin, Nikita Mikhalkov, Alexander Sokurov (nominated for the Palme d'Or five times) and Andrey Zvyagintsev have had a chance to really emerge. In a recent trend, the juries have begun paying more attention to film debuts.
More here.
Wednesday, 1 May 2013
Ekaterina Klimova
Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Klimova born January 24, 1978 is a Russian film, theater and TV actress, who started her career in 1999.
In 2002, she received Viktor Rozov Award for the Best Actress Under Age 30.
One of her notable roles is Dutchess Natalia Repnina in 2003 television series Poor Nastya.
In 2002, she received Viktor Rozov Award for the Best Actress Under Age 30.
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| "We're from the future - 2" (2010) |
One of her notable roles is Dutchess Natalia Repnina in 2003 television series Poor Nastya.
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| "Poor Nastya" (2003-2004) |
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| Sins of Fathers 2004 |
Monday, 29 April 2013
Dmitrii Fiks: The White Moor, or Intimate Stories about My Neighbours - Белый мавр или три истории о моих соседях (2012)
Director: Dmitri Fiks
Writer: Maksim Stishov
Stars: Andrey Sokolov, Ekaterina Strizhenova, Aleksandr Galibin
The White Moor, or Intimate Stores about My Neighbors is a film driven by the romantic intrigues of what director Dmitrii Fiks calls “the top of the middle class.” The troubled personal lives of three professionally successful men are examined in an almanac film that is a loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s Othello. The three storylines each portray husbands in relative states of impotence: Andrei (Aleksandr Galibin), who cannot obtain a divorce from his wife to marry his mistress; Misha (Andrei Sokolov), who is estranged from his once-cheating wife and lesbian daughter; and Lenia (Igor' Vernik), a closeted homosexual facing increasing pressure from his wife to have another child.
The marital problems of the families are inextricably linked to each respective husband’s economic standing, a fact reinforced by the film’s mise-en-scène. Almost all important plot developments take place behind the wheel of expensive foreign cars. Whether Andrei is orally pleasured by his mistress, Misha is kicked out by his wife, or Lenia is harassed to produce another child, this is a class of Russians in motion. The film’s opening scenes reinforce an obsession with vehicles: Andrei’s wife hits and kills a man on a bicycle while she is driving, and Misha’s friend, Iura, is injured in a car crash that kills his wife, Ania. It is only in the final scene, moreover, that the three protagonists assemble in the same physical space as their cars weave past one another. If the train contextualized a way of thinking about social advancement in the days of Anna Karenina, The White Moor presents the car as the new symbol of class development.
The car, however, is not the sole symbol of mobility in the film. A vacation in Egypt, a business trip to Tver', and a lusty stay in a swanky dacha all reinforce the idea that these are Russians whose interests and conflicts rest on their relationship to the means of production. It is in Tver', for example, on a trip to examine one of his many dental clinics, that Lenia is able to sleep with another man, just as it is at her dacha that his wife, Vika (Zhanna Epple), meets a well-to-do man who will help her conceive, arriving, of course, in his expensive SUV. The intrigue between Andrei and his controlling wife, Natasha (Anna Iakunina), similarly must play out “elsewhere,” as Andrei contemplates to what end he will go to free himself from his suffocating relationship.
More here.
Writer: Maksim Stishov
Stars: Andrey Sokolov, Ekaterina Strizhenova, Aleksandr Galibin
The White Moor, or Intimate Stores about My Neighbors is a film driven by the romantic intrigues of what director Dmitrii Fiks calls “the top of the middle class.” The troubled personal lives of three professionally successful men are examined in an almanac film that is a loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s Othello. The three storylines each portray husbands in relative states of impotence: Andrei (Aleksandr Galibin), who cannot obtain a divorce from his wife to marry his mistress; Misha (Andrei Sokolov), who is estranged from his once-cheating wife and lesbian daughter; and Lenia (Igor' Vernik), a closeted homosexual facing increasing pressure from his wife to have another child.
The marital problems of the families are inextricably linked to each respective husband’s economic standing, a fact reinforced by the film’s mise-en-scène. Almost all important plot developments take place behind the wheel of expensive foreign cars. Whether Andrei is orally pleasured by his mistress, Misha is kicked out by his wife, or Lenia is harassed to produce another child, this is a class of Russians in motion. The film’s opening scenes reinforce an obsession with vehicles: Andrei’s wife hits and kills a man on a bicycle while she is driving, and Misha’s friend, Iura, is injured in a car crash that kills his wife, Ania. It is only in the final scene, moreover, that the three protagonists assemble in the same physical space as their cars weave past one another. If the train contextualized a way of thinking about social advancement in the days of Anna Karenina, The White Moor presents the car as the new symbol of class development.
The car, however, is not the sole symbol of mobility in the film. A vacation in Egypt, a business trip to Tver', and a lusty stay in a swanky dacha all reinforce the idea that these are Russians whose interests and conflicts rest on their relationship to the means of production. It is in Tver', for example, on a trip to examine one of his many dental clinics, that Lenia is able to sleep with another man, just as it is at her dacha that his wife, Vika (Zhanna Epple), meets a well-to-do man who will help her conceive, arriving, of course, in his expensive SUV. The intrigue between Andrei and his controlling wife, Natasha (Anna Iakunina), similarly must play out “elsewhere,” as Andrei contemplates to what end he will go to free himself from his suffocating relationship.
More here.
Wednesday, 24 April 2013
Aleksey Balabanov: Me Too - Я тоже хочу (2012)
Director: Aleksey Balabanov
Writer: Aleksey Balabanov
Stars: Oleg Garkusha, Yuriy Matveev, Aleksandr Mosin
Aleksei Balabanov described his new film, Me Too, as his most personal film. Can we then interpret this film as Balabanov’s statement of his religious views and of the coming end of the world?[1] With its allegorical elements and religious symbolism, can we call this film an expression of a “new sincerity” in contemporary Russian culture?[2]
The film certainly gestures towards the transcendental. In its interest in existential questions and use of the fantastic, Me Too shares thematic similarity with Andrei Tarkovskii’s Stalker (1979).[3] Yet do the film’s message and style suggest the timeless and the eternal? Does Balabanov’s fourteenth film significantly differ from his other ironic and postmodernist works?
Me Too begins in a way not unusual for a Balabanov film, when one of the characters, the bandit (Aleksandr Mosin) kills four of his adversaries. However, the film’s plot moves into a different register when its protagonist enters a sauna. The bandit tells his friend, the musician (Oleg Garkusha), a tale about “the bell tower of happiness (kolokol’nia schast’ia).” The bandit himself learned the story from his confessor, Father Rafail. Located somewhere between St. Petersburg and Uglich, the mysterious bell tower is surrounded by something similar to Tarkovskii’s Zone, in that after a strong pulse of electromagnetic radiation this place fell into a nuclear winter, where most people die because of high radiation. However, the bell tower is also a place of rapture, where the chosen are taken to happiness. The friends decide to go to this place of no return. On their way, they rescue the bandit’s friend, whom they call Matvei (Iurii Matveev), from a rehabilitation center. Matvei decides to pick up his elderly father (Viktor Gorbunov). On their way to the bell tower, they also give a ride to Liuba, a prostitute and a former Philosophy student (Alisa Shitikova), and, finally, to a boy-prophet (played by Balabanov’s son Petr), who can predict the future and knows exactly who will be “taken” by the bell tower.
Reviewed by Irina Anisimova © 2013 in KinoKultura
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