About the dark and light in us It would seem banal plot with banal twists of the banal melodrama of the 21st century: husband, wife, mistress, abductions, surveillance, prison ... However, in my opinion, this series is knocked out of its category thanks to the soaring magic music from 'Spleen' and an interesting presentation of the characters.
Absolutely all the main characters, whose characters are allowed to reveal the script or directorial decisions, in each new situation cause a wide range of feelings - from irritation and anger to sympathy and love. Characters flow. Heroes are like us, sinners in this real world and at the same time striving for the light.
The most positive character of the film, it would seem, the heroine of Maria Kulikova. But, God, she was so annoyed when she talked to her daughter. A psychotherapist who does not understand that with a teenager you need to try ' to open ' to talk about your feelings and doubts - as softly as possible - yes, choosing the words - yes, but to talk! And total parental control (the heroine herself will later call it her phobias). Like any living person, it is a gift that the psychotherapist, she often makes mistakes, follows the lead of her own emotions. This is the truth of life.
The hero of Yegor Beroev, basically, tries to do everything right: save the family, think about the daughter. However, at some point, he suddenly wakes up a scoundrel, he begins to destroy his wife, and then, as if waking up from a bad nightmare, returns to the channel of his ordinary reactions and principles. The actor paints the hero either soft and subtly feeling, then pathetic and ridiculous, then strong and tough.
The heroine of Alexandra Vlasova is also voluminous. Here she got into the web of a pimp, here she seeks to escape from it, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel in the face of Sergei. Here she suffers that she knows his wife, but now, out of fear of losing her beloved, she goes on the path of war on a yoga mat and turns out to be the winner.
Separately, I want to say about the heroine of Nina Usatova. Every appearance in the picture is a song. The song of the Russian hinterland, a woman who carries everything on her shoulders all her life, the incredible charisma of the actress. Her soul is torn from a mercantile (to measure everything with money) attitude to the world, total distrust of people to simple moral categories (a child should be born, a daughter should be supported, God gives tests according to his strength). . . )
Subtle camera work helps to analyze the psychology of the characters, reveal their feelings: many close-ups, sometimes slow shooting.
I am impressed in this film by the desire of the creators not to lead us into the famously twisted plot twists and turns, not to escalate, drawing ' gloomy world' not to tell idyllic tales and not to strive for self-expression. The creators of the film encourage their viewers to think about what triggers work when generally good people for a minute, for an hour or a month suddenly commit disgusting or base actions. The beautiful thing is that the heroes fall, make mistakes, but still strive for the light.
9 out of 10
Original