When the domestic literature (on the retelling of the textbook) ends, the directors and masters of special effects enter into the business. They aptly cover the script holes with direct quotes from the hits of world cinema. Beautiful was the unfinished Tower Bridge in ' Sherlock Holmes' Guy Ritchie? Give me the same one! And how cool was DiCaprio's friend with the Indians in 'Survivor'? Let's just replace them with Aleuts! Oh, and remember the indecent dress of the whimsical rich heiress from the State Counsellor & #39;? They have a lot to offer and they will!
And the main puncture with this heiress happened.
As the last straw in 'Batman vs. Superman' for many was the notorious Martha, so in this film with the charming heroes of Fedorov and Mashkov for some reason happened Princess Martha. It is not clear why, because the heroes had enough motives to hate each other. But the brisk girl, pushing the bare (which prostitutes did not always allow themselves in those days) shoulders of all other characters, gets straight into the center of the narrative. For some reason, it was on Martha that the literature textbook was ignored, and the best female role in the film eventually went to a secondary character - the Grand Duchess (partially written off with Karenina).
To close your eyes to the incorrect dress in the historical drama is easy - in the same ' State Counsellor' and the latest ' War and Peace' BBC they are forgivable. But why ' brisk' the heroine at decisive moments remains to slap her eyes in the carriage and behaves, to put it mildly, ignoble (which is often reminded of by others), I do not understand.
And you can swear at small things to infinity, because it is the abundance of details, often intelligent and appropriate, that try to cover the inner emptiness of the picture. But a stylish cover, stunning angles and a core blue color correction can not replace a worthy plot frame. The film desperately pretends to be an adaptation of almost Dostoevsky, but constantly lames without a real literary basis. The actors (forget Martha) are doing great, the pistols are clicking, but the film is trying to tell us not about duels or their reasons, but about how much budget was invested in this film.
And they may have deceived me. And the premiere in Toronto, and beautiful posters, and promising names. If I was preparing to see something medium-sized rather than a revival of Russian cinema, the film wouldn’t disappoint me as much. And this, sorry, is not the crown of the year of Russian cinema, but some toad.
6 out of 10
Original