Day Sixteen, or How Sappy Equals Happy!

In Peter FM, a radio DJ and a architect share a interesting relationship of almost meeting each other as the architect tries to return the DJ's missing cell phone. This movie was the happiest film we have watched this year, and that even includes The Irony of Fate. After 3 weeks of neutral to unhappy films, this film was a fresh change of pace, even if the ending left something to be desired.

I commend the film for skipping out on the cliche that the two are just going to instantly meet and fall in love. It seems more like they may be destined for a good friendship, at least until the ending scene. Also, the ending..... maybe it was just me, but I feel that the ending was just rushed, even more rushed then the characters who seem to spend a good time of the movie running from place to place, frantically trying to meet each other.

I enjoyed Masha as character very much. She seemed down to earth, but at the same time also seemed to still have her inner child, if the scene at the gate is any indication. The rest of the characters, in particular Maxim, were just a boor to me. The cinematography was neat in how the camera was able to at times make it feel like this was almost more a movie about the city then about these two individuals.

Also, Masha is surrounded by loving couples in every place she goes. I think it makes her want love, but she doesn't want the kind of love that her fiance was giving to her.

Day Fifteen, or How Day Fourteen Became Irrelevant!

Congratulations to The Return, for several reasons. First, it is the only movie I have had in this class where I have hated all, yes all, of the main characters. The father is a flatout a**hole, Ivan is an unreasoning little vagrant, and Andrey is naive and ignorant. Second, it is the only movie that I have found myself continually calling it by a name other then the name it actually has. I keep wanting to call this movie The Island, which is a disgrace to any movie taking place on, near, or about an island, including Lost, The Island, and Gilligan's Island.

Now that I've complained about everything I hated about this movie, let me talk about what I enjoyed from this movie. The plotline was actually really good, and it did a great job of showing how time can alienate anyone from their family. The only thing that upset me about the plot was the fact that there were, hmm i don't know, about 20 RED HERRINGS ALL RELATING TO THE FATHER!!!!! Maybe it was just me wanting no rock left unturned, but I wanted to know everything! As for imagery, the island was so beautiful, and seemed to hold so many secrets that the movie barely brushed upon. I personally felt like it might have been possible that the island was some sort of demilitarized navy base, and they left barely anything behind.

Day Thirteen, or How the Sounds of the 1980's Were the Same Everywhere!

It's funny how you lose track of time when you get sick. Anyway...Little Vera. I liked the soundtrack of this movie. It was interesting to hear a contemporary soundtrack for one of our movies. It really helped establish this movie as a movie in late 80's Russia. Sometimes I think this movie was more about the time that the movie took place in then the characters themselves. Noting that, I in particular liked the imagery of the movie. The overarching themes of decay and disrepair are constant in this film. The beached ship, the dock area, the playground next to the train track, they all add up to make a film that shows that people survived in whatever life threw at them, even if it was not the most pleasant of surroundings.

As for the characters, the relationship between Sergei and Vera upset me, because jerks should not get the girl. Actually, all of Vera's relationships with men, minus her family, are tragic. It seems that men are just out to use her. This movie also had an interesting perspective on the father. His drinking problem is mentioned throughout the film, even during the times (and there were actually a decent amount of times) where he was sober. His drinking makes him lose his calm and reverts him to an almost useless state, like a toddler. No one says he is an alcoholic, they just say that they wish he didn't drink as much.

Day Twelve, or How the Movie Title Lied to Me!

There were a lot of tears in Moscow. In fact, I think every woman minus Alexandra cried during this movie. Moscow may not believe in tears, but that does not mean they do not happen anyway!

I found this movie interesting, even if it was a bit on the long side. Another movie that relies more on character development then flashy cinematography, the story did feature a lot of interesting characters. I think the character I found the most interesting was the witty Lyudmila, who after all her hard work of trying to find a good man just could not catch a break. I did not understand the significance of why the men they were looking for had to be Moscow natives. Love is love, it should not matter where they are from.

I also enjoyed watching the characters during the two time periods. The characters were different and interesting, yet did not fall into general stereotypes. It was also interesting that we were able to find out so much about the characters from the dialogue that occurred between them. If fifteen years can lapse in a movie and the viewers can still understand what has happened, the is a success in my eyes.

Day Eleven, or How War is Bittersweet!

War is always such an interesting subject for movies, because there are so many stories that can come out of a war-time scenario. Ballad of a Soldier is an example of one of those many stories. For once in a long time, we have watched a movie that does not focus on camera angles.  This movie is meant to amplify the good of Russian soldiers by showing that even if it causes them self-sacrifice (Alyosha is barely able to spend any time with his mother.) the soldiers are truly shining examples of their people.

This story is more then one man's journey back home though. The reason this movie is popular to many
(including yours truly) is because it has a theme that everyone can relate to: the desire to return home. Everyone wants to return to where they came from...whether it be the man who sends his wife soap, the girl going to live with her aunt, or the wounded man returning to his wife. We all want to go home, but things come up that change that for us. We can only try our best to return to the ones we love, and hope that is enough.

Day Ten, or How Art is Beautiful!

Maybe it is just because I like bizarre, but I really did like The Mirror. It had some of the most beautiful shots that we have seen this term. For me, there is some strange pull to when a movie uses black and white, but has access to color. Some of my favorite scenes from the movie were the ones that were in black and white. The first dream sequence with the water, followed by the woman's trip to work, were beautifully shot pieces. At first I thought that the sequence where the woman goes to work was a dream at first, because when the one woman dissappears to go find her boss, she goes through the door, then appears right back with the boss, instantly. The reason I think that this is a dream because we don't remember time lapse in our dreams, just the events that occur.

Speaking of that woman, she was an absolutely fascinating character for me to watch. It seems that she is non-aging, but that is just because the man just sees his mother and his ex-wife as the same person, for some reason. It makes it hard to tell who is who at times, and I would normally be upset by this trickery, but the way it is explained in the film is that because they act the same way, they can be portrayed the same way. I hate her bi-polar coworker. My favorite single shot involved her. It had her (in the present) moving back and forth between brightness and darkness, and this shot of her going from light to dark just helped for some reason to enhance her as a character for me.

Day Nine, or How Historical Epics Lack Both History or Epicness!

I am just going to say it so that it is out of the way: I do not like this film. I like Eisenstein, but I do not like this film. While the acting is good, the characters are portrayed in a boring and unrealistic manner. The characters, besides Ivan himself, are dull and uninspired. In terms of theme though, this does actually portray Soviet Realism quite well. Ivan's goal of unifying Russia under one leadership is a very Socialist goal.

There were two things I did like though. One, I thought the film had some very beautiful imagery that it used. In that sense, I can consider this piece a work of art. But like all art, it is in the eye of the beholder. The other thing I liked was the siege of Kazan. Battle scenes are fun, especially when done right. Luckily this movie did them right, and were very entertaining to watch.