Piter FM

Well I'm not to big of a fan of chick flicks, but this one wasn't too bad. Actually quite original compared to some that are in the US.

So the story is about a radio personal named Masha who is very famous for her radio show and is getting married very soon. There is also a man by the name of Maxim who is an architect. Whilst walking down a street Maxim sees a beautiful girl accross a crosswalk. When everyone begins to walk Masha is bumped agaisnt and her phone drops to the ground. Well who else but Maxim picks it up and almost immedietly recieves a call from Masha's boyfriend. Masha later meets up with her fiancee and he asks her about the man on her phone and then she realizes that she lost it. This is where the fun begins because Masha continuously calls her phone and makes many arrangements to meet Maxim and pick up her phone. Ironically everytime they try to meet up the just happen to miss seeing each other by mere seconds. I felt kinda bad for Maxim more because he was always asking girls with red coats on if they were Masha and it made him kinda look like a fool each time he was told no. The other ironic thing is how when they were talking to each other on the phone they were always really close to each other but were never able to see each other. Anyways, eventually as I expected Masha begins to doubt her marriage and eventually breaks up with her boyfriend. The next day she and Maxim are talking on the phone and Maxim drops her phone into the river. I found the ending kinda cool however becasue Maxim calls the radiostation that Masha works at and tells on air that he's looking for Masha. Masha of course responds with Maxim that's you? Lol I can only expect that they get together after that and probably get married.

I really like in this movie how St. Petersburg is portrayed. It shows such a bustling and lively town yet at the same time there is a sense of tranquility and peacefullness. The irony in the movie also keeps it very entertaining and kept me on the edge of my seat saying "oh seriously man look behind you she's right there!" I'm pretty sure the river held some sort of symbol but I really can't make it out, other than that I can say the phone could symbolize the forming bond and connection between Maxim and Masha. One thing that really bugs me though is why is it that every film we've watched with two people dating is it that the girl always has a boyfriend or husband and then decides to leave them? I mean seriously couldn't there be an instance where he meets the girl of his dreams and she's single?

Night watch

Well this was an interesting film for me, kinda feel like it was a spinoff of star wars with the dark and light side type aspects. But overall I have to say this was one of my favorites that we've watched so far.

The story is kinda weird in the sense that it's the first sci-fi type that we've watched. Apparantly a long time ago there was a war between two sides, the dark and light side... go figure. Anyways after the begining sequence there is a man who wants his wife back so he goes to some old lady that apparantly places some spell upon his wife to kill the fetus within her and make her come back to him. The man eventually becomes part of the light side and joins a group of people who apparantly kill what appear to be vampires who break certain contracts. There is also a boy who is considered to be the one who will make or break the war for either the light or dark side... hmmm luke Skywalker maybe lol. So the man goes to protect the boy and figures out he's his father and has to leave to fix some tunnel problem which is something I had a real hard time following. Something about a lady that is cursed and a giant vortex of crows appears. So eventually the man breaks the curse on the lady and the funnel is fixed. But he has to quickly go back to save the boy. Sadly the boy decides to join the dark side after figuring out that the man planned on killing him when he was still a fetus. End of movie.

Overall I was very confused by this movie, it felt really hard to follow the plot at times. But on the plus side the action and blood scenes were absolutly awesome due to the larger budget. Themes I got from this are the usual ones about dark being bad and light being good. Other than that not too much I got from this movie. It was pretty good 7/10

The Return

Well this was one of those movies that made me angry. I swear to God all throughout this movie I wanted to kill the little F&*#er Ivan for being a little B*#!&. Now that that's over with now for the synopsis.

Basically this movie is about two brothers named Andrey and Ivan who meet their father for the first time in 12 years. Ivan is a little baby when it comes to just about everything, now granted I am able to understand the begining when Ivan is scared to jump because alot of people are scared of heights. But what really pisses me off about Ivan is how he complains about just about every little thing while on the trip with his dad. Andrey is a bit skeptical but eventually gains a liking to his father. Anyways, so their father comes back and their mom decides to make them go on a trip with their father to go fishing. But something comes up and the father takes them out even further and longer around the country and eventually to an island. During this time the boys find a different side to their father where he almost seems to abuse them a bit, not in the pysical sense (though he does hit them a few times), but almost verbally abuses them with harsh language. He even goes as far as to leave Ivan on a bridge and drive off after a bitching spree of Ivan's. Basically on the island Ivan has enough of his father when his father starts to hit Andrey. Ivan runs off and runs up some wood tower where he threatens his father that he'll jump. Well like a good father the dad keeps going up where he eventually falls and dies in desperation to get to his son. This is what pissed me off the most, Ivan is a snotnosed bastard for complaining so much and not accepting his father and that is what leads to his fathers death. Oh and of course then he realizes that it's his dad and feels sorry... he should have been the one to jump off, if he was the one complaining so much why not end his misery, why did the dad have to freakin die.

I have to wonder about a few things though like what was in the box that his dad dug up, and what happened afterwards when they drive off, it would have been nice to see what their explanation to their mother was. Also I can see alot of Tarkovsky aspects, such as the use of fire and water as well as a sort of confusing plot aspect in the sense of how so much of the plot is left untold. Also the ending scene almost mirrors mirror, ha no pun intended. Overall 8/10, 10/10 if Ivan would have been the one to die instead of the father.

Brother

This is byfar the best film we've watched in class so far. The movie's name is brother and is directed by Aleksei Balabanov. It takes place in St. Petersburg and follows the life of a man named Danila. Danila was part of the Russian army and is having trouble finding his place in life. He is eventually told by his mom to go to St. Petersburg and find his brother to straighten out his life. Little does Danila know, but his brother who is originally portrayed as a geeky looking balding man is now a hitman for the Russian mafia. But when they meet his brother gets him to start taking the hits that he is assigned. This gets the mafia angry and they eventually capture Danila's brother and Danila kills the mafia leader. During his adventure Danila meets up with a few allies one of which turns to hate him after he shoots her husband for beating her. He also meets a girl named Kat who shows him a good time around St. Petersburg.

Some of the things that got me kinda confused were why Danila liked music so much, why Danila's brother was such a fake, and why does Danila even think that the lady would fall in love with him?

This movie does a great job of portraying the city in its glory and faultyness. It also shows how life for people in St. Petersburg gets worse as time goes on due to mafia control. Overall I have to give this movie a 9.5/10

Moscow Does not Belive in Tears

Well another great movie that I have seen in class, and quite a unique one at that. I can't say that I have seen a movie before that starts off in the past and ends up in the future. What really struck me is how the movie also takes a serious position in the begining but in the second half of the movie it starts to feel almost like watching Irony of Fate all over again with the comedy aspects blended in to a serious storyline.

So basically the movie starts off in the 1950's and is centered around Katerina and her friends. Now they all live in a workers dormitory and work in different factories on very low wages. But something comes up, Katerina's Uncle is going out on a trip and needs her to tend to his apartment room for a while. This sparks Katerina's friend Lyudmila to have them actually stay there and tend to the apartment. But during this process Lyudmila convinces Katya to lie about being the professor's daughters and bring bachelors over to the house. This is where Katya and Lyudmila meet their lovers. But as the viewer finds out Katya gets pregnate from the man she falls in love with and he won't agree to marry her or take care of the child. Lyudmila on the other hand eventually gets married to the man she falls in love with. After that the movie goes probably about 10-14 years into the future where Katya becomes very sucessful and is now director of the factories. Her daughter has grown up and her friends relationships have changed quite a bit. Lyudmila is now divorced because her once sober husband had become an alcoholic and Tonya is actually in a very stable relationship. But something is lacking from Katya's life and it starts to become apparant that she is desperate for a partner even if she doesnt realize it. Then comes the day where she meets Gosha on a train. Pretty much from then on it's them falling in love with each other. But twoards the end Gosha kind of shows a side that most people today would find very sexist. Gosha tells Katya to never speak out against him like a lady should. So Gosha has an old fashion side to him where the male is dominate to the female in every aspect. In the end Gosha and Katya make up and are together and in love. It ends with them at a dinner table which pretty much says that they are back together and going to be with each other and get married.

From what I see this movie has no real techniques or metaphores that are apparent. Though one thing I noticed is the lack of communist ways shown in the movie, the only time I could see it was what appeared to be a picture of Lenin. This was a very great movie from what I could tell, the love story was inticing and the plot twists did have me going for awhile. I didn't have an instace where I wasn't paying attention to what was going on. The acting was absolutly amazing too. Overall I have to give this movie a 9/10.

Ivan's childhood

Well I finally got the time to make this post after volleyball yesterday. Anyways, the film we watched yesterday was called Ivan's Childhood and was directed by none other than Tarkovsky himself. He also made the film from the previous day Mirror. Unlike Mirror though, Ivan's Childhood was much easier to follow and had an amazing story.

Basically Ivan's Childhood takes place during WWII and is about believe it or not the Childhood of a boy named Ivan. Basically Ivan becomes a spy for the Red Army after he suffers the loss of his mother and sister. Though Ivan thinks that he has found his calling, the other officers think that a young boy like him should go to school rather than being a recon soldier. Sadly Ivan thinks that his place is in the war and runs away. After being found he is then taken back to the front where he is given a mission with two of his father like officers. They say their goodbyes and Ivan goes off to do his job. You learn later that Ivan is captured and hung by the Germans and that is where the movie ends.

Now from this movie one is able to see many similarities from Mirror such as the use of fire and water together and there is actually an instance where a mirror is used and seen later in the movie. Also there are recurring dream scenes of Ivan's past which show his mother dying twice and his sister in a truck full of apples. There is also a scene at the end which kinda confused me which was Ivan playing with a bunch of kids and it ends with him running after his sister. I can't really say that this was a dream scene but I have to wonder if this is representitive of an afterlife or not. Overall I really did like this movie, Tarkovsky really has struck me as a great director and has shown me that even if you make a movie like Mirror, you still can make other great movies. I look forward to watching this again.

Mirror

Well I had a very hard time with this movie. It was extremly confusing to understand exactly what was happening. The main character which would appear to have been the blonde woman is going from three different apects of a point of view. One which is in the past where the viewer can see a struggle between the woman and her husband over where her son will live. This point of view is portrayed in black and white to symbolize a past event which makes sense because films from way back in the past are generally in black and white. There is also a present point of view where you see the woman and her son living in both an apartment and also in a hut in the woods. The final point of view is the future which is only seen a few times but most prominent in the end of the movie where she's an old lady and is re-visiting the home in the woods. During this scene it seems she looks down a well where I really couldnt make out what was in there so if anyone could tell me that would be nice.

Anyways what I really found peculiar about this video was the constant transition of the time periods that pretty much made the movie hard to follow. Other than that I can't really say much. I really can't say that I liked this movie nor did I hate it. I'm very neutral on my opinoin here.

Ballad of a Soldier

Well this was a interesting movie, it does a very good job of showing the troubles and overall suckyness of WW2, not only for the main character Alyosha, but for the soldiers that are fighting with him. The scary part is, WWII was really like this. The other thing I really noticed is how this film doesn't make much referance to the communist or socialist ways in any way that would glorify it. I must say that this was a truely eye opening film to me and I will never look at war in the same way after watching Ballad of a Soldier.

Burnt by the sun

Well I finally got to watching this movie and I must say I was impressed by this film. The acting was pretty decent and the story was great. Though it was a bit lengthy for my liking... Anyways I have to say that the fireball during the singing was a bit confusing so I guess I should have payed attention when we were talking about it. Other than that it sucks how Cononel K got his ass beat so badly at the end. Overall I really liked this film 8/10.

Ivan the Terrible pt 1

Well it looks like the movies are getting really good. Ivan the Terrible was a great example of cinema awesomeness. I have to say that the acting was freaking amazing, the man that played Ivan did an awesome performance. Though I have to say that the usage of eye movements and eye expressions was a bit overexagerated. Most of all the story was awesome. As usual of historical movies it adds some false info just to juicy up the story and action, but it does a good job of not getting to off track.

Ivan is the kind of leader that is both charismatic and decisive. This is seen through his speeches and stratgies seen throughout the movie. Like said before he is very decisive and charismatic, these are his big strengths, weaknesses include his lack of trust and his tendency to make enemies. Ivan can be compared to a dictator in the sense that he believes that he is the absolute power and uses that to try and make everything as he sees fit.

Chapaev, the next great film

Well I was very impressed with this film, now not to say that the special effects were great, but that's to be expected of an early film. Now on to the pro's of this movie. Well first off the story is amazing; that of Chapaev the great commander of the Russian Red Army, and his adventures. It also goes upon the love story Petka and Anka. Though it is sad to see both Petka and Chapaev die in the end. Other pros for me include the camera work and the actual decent special effects for that era. Con-wise I really can't think of much to say. Actually I can't think of anything...



So now on to some of the questions. Well Chapeaev was able to appeal to the public in the sense that he was like Hitler, a man of speech. It is especially seen when he talks to the public about the soldiers raiding the town and robbing it. He is given thanks to them for making his soldiers return the stuff they stole. By this he gains appeal from the public and they begin to like Chapaev. Now had this been in silent format I can't say how much I would have liked it. You really couldn't have gotten as long as a movie as well as the same feeling from silence and intertitles. Last off the ultimate hero is definatley Chapaev, without him the Red Army would have not gotten anywhere. Though he is saved by Petka, he was able to inspire the people and his soldiers to victory.

The Man with the Movie Camera

Oh God... I can' say much about how much I despised this film. Not like the begining was bad, it's just the fact that the movie goes on and on and on and on. The concept of going from first person view to third person is a nice effect and the lack of intertitles is original, but the length just kills it. I did like the begining only because it shows life before and during motion. That's about it, I have nothing else to say but that I'm disapointed.

Battleship Potemkin

Well compared to the other silent films we've watched in class so far I actually didnt mind this one. The different camera angles along with the action and story really made this silent film stand out. Though I still felt like alot of the time I could pull off alot of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 on some of the comments and scenes. It was also a nice touch to see the flag colored at the end. On another note, despite the fact that there was alot of action in the film, it would have been nice to see some more as well as a focus on the crew more than the people on the shore. 8/10 on this film.

The Silent Films

Well I'm looking at "The Dying Swan" and all of it's silent amazingness. Though it had no sound and like most early films little if any special effects, it was still able to capture a decent story and my attention. Though I must say it did stretch out for a bit and by the end I was just wishing that the movie would end. Overall silent films have their own appeasment value, for starters, they make the viewer focus more on whats going on and actually to me I would feel that with sound and color the movies would be completly different. Directors would have a hard time making the films in the sense that the actors really had to focus on their performance since all they had to rely on was their movements since vocal performance was unavailable.

Part 2

Well the movie is now over and I have to say that it was, despite its length, a very good movie. The comedy was excellent an kept me laughing the entire time, and the story of Zhenya's transition of both love and personality was amazing. There was not one point throughout the movie where I didnt have my eyes on the screen. It would have been nice to see the ending go on for a bit longer, maybe have Gayla walk in to add some drama. Overall I give this movie 5 stars due to the breathtaking performance, original story, and its comedy aspect.

Part1

So far from what I’ve seen the movie “Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!” is becoming an amazing video. As was stated in the beginning of class it compares very closely to the American movies “It’s A Wonderful Life” and “A Christmas Story.” What really makes the movie enjoyable is the many instances of comedy. Most of which occurs through Zhenya’s drunken adventure. This drunken comedy is something that is not seen too much in popular American films which is why it is so funny to see. It would also seem that this movie shares a common plot in most movies of the main man, the main lady, and of course them getting hooked up in the end. As for comparing the comedy in this movie to comedy that I’m accustomed to, I really can’t say that I haven’t experienced this comedy before. I am really into anime and a lot of the comedy I see in this movie is comedy that I’ve seen before. So as of right now I really like this video, and I am really excited to start the second part.