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Reviews
The Body (2001)
A badly underrated movie
I haven't seen any trailer and didn't know the plot, thus being able to judge the film objectively. Being a non-believer helps, too. And my personal conclusion is that it's a very decent movie, covering not only the issue of faith vs politics (which stands out disturbingly nowadays), but also those of science vs decency, honesty vs survival instinct and so on. It questions everybody's values, be it the faith, the truth, the power or just peaceful life. The movie is truly contemporary, and perhaps the only daring attempt to the date to hint that faith still is exploited to "justify someone's personal agenda". It may not be perfect, but definitely deserves much higher rating than, say, "Predator".
Sibirskiy tsiryulnik (1998)
The Great Imperial Nostalgy
Well, I am Russian and I was looking forward to see the movie, especially since I used to respect Nikita Mikhalkov quite a great deal. Unfortunately, recently he turned to be some outdated sort of "russophil", dreaming of the long gone days of the Great Russian Empire, ruled by the Good Tzar. Not surprisingly, he modestly plays the Tzar's part himself, and in general, his much politicized opinions got reflected in the movie. There's no plot, no action, but a bucketful of tears and sobbing, vodka, bears and other aspects of supposedly wonderful life back then. That's what is caled "lubochnaya kartinka" - a simplified, though fancy and attractive, picture on wood, sold at fairs to kids.
The film is spectacular, the takes are great, and technically there's nothing to complain about: it's a visual pleasure. The idea that everybody speaks their proper language in the original version is really great (shall I mention that in the Russian version, Mikhalkov himself speaks over the original voices, attempting to re-enact all the actors, which is utmostly annoying). Julia Ormond is fine, and so is Richard Harris. Oleg Menshikov tries his best to portray a 20-years old, although it was difficult to believe that he is younger than 30 (err, how old is he indeed? 40?). Alexey Petrenko I never admired, although he is considered as a very good actor in Russia. In this movie he plays a caricature of a true Russian general - I guess, the way Mikhalkov sees it. Well, everything in this movie is a caricature, and one should keep in mind that it's not the way life was going in Russia those days, not the way Russians were or are, and ultimately this all is just a peculiar nostalgic fantasy by Mr. Nikita Mikhalkov.
American Beauty (1999)
Too much hype, too little art
This might be the best Hollywood movie of the year, but personally I doubt it. Let alone all the hype about the "best movie of the decade" etc. It's unusual, true, but not everything unusual is actually good. A snapshot of American life doesn't reveal anything new, while everybody can identify him/herself with one of those lunatics, living in an otherwise lovely neighborhood. As surrealistic as it might appear to some, it is utmostly and boringly realistic. By trying to capture every side of an average family's life, authors created a very scattered and disconnected picture, with many unexplored and thus totally unnecessary details. None of the messages is fully delivered, and I'm not even sure if there were any. The most clear one is: "look, that's you and it's your boring life and there's no way out but to die". Depressing. Occasional dream-scenes with rose petals are only adding to this depressing contrast between the real life and the dream. And still, this fruitful topic is spoiled and punctured with all the distracting characters like gays next door or the ridiculous lover - "The King". Even the histerical wife is sticking out as a sore thumb. The pretentiously phylosophical moments involving the drug-addict beauty-seeking teenager could have been developed better, with him being a seducing devil, but authors stop short of working out this theme, just as well as many other potentially interesting topics in the movie. And this is my overall impression: the great ideas and the great intentions were just hinted, mixed together, and left alone - perhaps due to the inability of the authors to cope with the enormous task they've set for themselves. The film leaves one with sad feelings: evrybody and everything is sad, and even the appearing-to-be-sarcasting hero is endlessly sad, and so is his wife and daughter, and their neighbours, and all the story. And I don't even want to see it again.