Unlimited terror Taking the inexhaustible theme of youth terror through the prism of subcultures, Saulius Drunga placed an interesting emphasis on women, pitting in one picture a rebel with a short haircut and an innocent angel from the province, showing what can turn the “pedagogical education” of the first and the urban underground second. The visual demonstration, in principle, turned out to be in a closing epilogue, almost contradicting the whole main picture and categorically unnecessary, but stormy scene finishing the main, apparently, the author’s idea.
The pace of action is very famously gaining momentum, the loud sound of the soundtrack regularly beats the ears, the uneven editing suddenly begins and interrupts the scenes unfolding on the screen, and against the background of the drama about survival in urban conditions, only anarchic boundless terror unfolds, but even the history of lesbian love, incredibly finely structured and brilliantly played.
Amazing casting, poured into its characters so perfectly, causes absolute delight from the very beginning. Here everyone is so sincere and alive that the picture keeps in emotional tension from beginning to end. The transformation of characters as the action progresses, the change of ambitions and the revision of priorities, are conveyed with a great deal of logic of events and direct interest in continuing what they see. Successful scenario finds before and then surprise and put the characters in such a framework, from which there is an amazing and impressive way out. Every time it becomes more and more curious where all this will lead, and what will happen to the heroes next.
Emotional saturation is added by a strong, gracefully thought out history of relationships. The angel and the devil in their interaction present such a contrast of views and worldview, sometimes divided, then closely intertwined with each other in different senses of expression, that the spirit captures from such wonderful heroes, despite the vandalism and crimes they arrange. Brutal cruelty contrasts with lesbian eroticism, naivety is an opposition to experience, and knowledge is in opposition to established realities. Rebel spirit and ways of adaptation in thought-out to the smallest detail history.
Anarchy, built by a stimulating background, is chosen rather as the most vivid and extremist trend among youth subcultures. In the end, to make a movie, say, about gloomy Goths, who do not understand anything about Gothic would be much more boring than about anarchists who have no real connection to anarchy, at the same time it was possible to place the eternal confrontation of “informals” with the so-called “Gopniks”, whose skirmishes can be devoted to a separate picture. Well, such stories among the underground of drug addicts or among the Nazis are traveled along and across, so it is much more interesting to look at no less relevant punk anarchists, especially when the vast majority of the characters are female.
The film would have turned out to be an absolute masterpiece if the director had the courage not to finish off with an anarchist epilogue, but to stop at the culminating bright moment - the final smiles in the educational institution, creating an urban fairy tale instead of a crazy ending. The ending ruined many good beginnings, although in a sense brought the character rudiments of characters to the proper end. But the form opposed the content, the plot too crumpled fit into the allocated timekeeping, and the sensible completion did not work out, which greatly hits the impressions.
And yet, despite the fact that all the problems raised, no thematic film, including this one, is able to cover the catching and touching story, the creators managed to unfold. Bright casting, which gave out equally colorful characters, is pleasantly remembered and plays out an excellent dramatic basis of the events shown, and the overall drive of the picture helps to plunge so rapidly into action and experience that the tenacious atmosphere really deserves praise. It turned out a great film, spoiled by its own finale, but does not lose many of its advantages. A beautiful and very interesting story about young girls in a criminal environment.
7 out of 10
Original