parahumanoid Reviews

Tycoon: A New Russian (2002)

A very Russian story

[9/10 · 16 January 2012]

This movie is very Russian. It's not intended for foreigners and will never work as an international film. You have to have lived there, to have feared to go out of the house after nightfall because of street shootings and grenades blowing up offices in a market sharing war of various mafia groups. You have to understand what a "thief in law" (вор в законе)means as a concept (a concept rather vague even to most Russians - and no, this concept is not what it sounds like literally, don't be misled that the term speaks for itself), you have to be able to relate to a bright person who found himself in a dog-eat-dog reality where intelligence alone isn't enough to sustain basic survival. This movie is GREATLY about being able to read the Russian reality between the lines. If you weren't there, you most likely won't get it and will join the thong of those who give this movie anything below 8/10 with comments about underdeveloped characters. Trust me, they are very well developed, you just don't get it, can't read between the lines. It's sort of like saying that Joyce's "Ulysses" is boring and conceded: most just don't get it.

Solaris (1972)

Great. One of the best I have seen in years.

[10/10 · 5 November 2001]

Wow. That was what I said when I finished watching it. One of the deepest movies I have ever seen. A warning to the impatient public, used to Bruce Willis: this movie is not about aliens that will eat human brains. Don't expect action. This is purely a philosophical, slow-paced thoughtful approach to the essence of a human being. The best things about this movie are subtle and require careful watching. It helps a great deal if you understand Russian very well, because English subtitles don't do justice to the connotations of the script. This movie is largely built on the Iceberg Principle. Look beneath the surface.

I would also recommend watching "Stalker", "Mirror", "Thirty three", and "Kin-dza-dza". They all have overtones of the soviet social analysis/criticism.