Unexpectedly good movie. What are the reasons for the unpopularity of Russian cinema? What is it that displeases us Russians the most, annoys us? The answers to this question may be many. Or is it just one? The account presented to Russkino by me personally boils down to the following main claim: the lack of freedom of creativity, the cause of which is custody of the viewer, his inner world, beliefs, the right to choose. Hence the outdated instructive, obsessive moralizing, designed to format the psychology of the Russian viewer, to make it standard, so that the latter regularly served the public interest. This approach is extremely harmful to cinema as free art, kills its soul, deprives it of the element of living fire, making it bland, tasteless and uninteresting. In recent years, how many Russian films have you watched that liberate the viewer’s consciousness, and not vice versa, directly or indirectly putting it under the control of ideological attitudes? A pleasant surprise for me, the film “Friday 12”, stands out sharply against the background of a homogeneous array of Russian film production precisely because it does not pursue such goals. The main task of this non-standard, by current standards, picture is to liberate our perception of the world, as well as entertain us.
Friday 12 is a black comedy with noir elements. And very successful, both in terms of atmosphere, and in terms of acting, the spelling of the main characters and an exciting plot. This circumstance contributed to the fact that the film is built on two main types of contrast: the plot, expressed in opposition to the present past, and visual, with its transition from dark to light. At the same time, the film is maintained mainly in dark tones. Paintings like this are no longer made. Therefore, it is not by chance that this one saw the light at the end of the zero years - the decade that pleased the domestic cinematographer with informal, cheerful and interesting films ("NLS Agency", "KGB in a skirt" and some others).
To say a lot about this film is not possible. Should I? The only reason for my withdrawal is to speak out in support of this, although not a masterpiece, but, nevertheless, a really good film. Only a few fleeting moments in it caused me to be rejected. My opinion is that Russian cinema simply needs works done in the same vein as Friday 12. Such a movie is quite suitable for having fun in the evening (even drinking beer is not necessary) - an unpleasant sediment will not leave. And why did the people go against him?
8 out of 10