In 1992, the criminal action movie American Boy of Ukrainian filmmakers was released.
About the director of the film Yuri Rogoz never heard, neither before nor after the film American Boy.
The plot of the film for that time is quite relevant. It touches on the serious topic of internationalist soldiers who returned from Afghanistan in the late 1980s and are striving to find themselves in the reality that confronts them. In fact, this theme runs throughout the film. The authors managed to show the atmosphere of the early 1990s in the provincial city of Kherson with the typical problems of those times: joblessness, criminal gangs, racketeering, food shortages. This is all based on local color.
The main line of the film is the story of former Afghan soldier Nikolai Naidenov, and now US citizen Nick McKen, played by Alexander Peskov, who had previously been seen in small roles in the Soviet films Detachment in 1984 and Mirror for the hero in 1987. His hero flies to his friend from the United States in post-Soviet Ukraine (it should be noted that the filming most likely took place during the Soviet era, in 1991) and finds that he is no longer alive, and the blame for his death lies with local criminal authorities. From this moment, the main storyline begins - the attempts of the protagonist Nick McKen/Nikolai Naidenov to find the killers of a friend.
The film, as noted above, takes place in the Ukrainian city of Kherson. Special attractions here we do not see except for the unremarkable cafe "Zodiac" and the local beach. An ordinary provincial city, eyes do not cut anything, but there is nothing to admire. From the scenes taking place on the streets of the city, an episode with the Zaporozhets car and the memorable dialogue between the main character Nick McKen and the hero Oleg Rogachev (disabled Afghan Pavel) was remembered.
(Alexander Peskov/Nick McKenn): "Is this a car?"
(Hero of Oleg Rogachev disabled Afghan Pavel): - Do you want a convertible Chevrolet? Thank you for that!
(Alexander Peskov's hero Nick McKenn): Thank you!
It is worth noting the scenes of fights and musical accompaniment of the film. Fights are very professional in my opinion, here it is worth noting the good physical training of the main characters of the film. Musical compositions are also very memorable!
Play actors in the film worthy, it is clear that their selection carefully worked. Of course, the heroes of Alexander Peskov (Nick Macken/Nikolai Naydenov), Anatoly Hostikov (Twins) and Vladimir Gostyukhin (Zheleziaka) stand out first. The characters and motives of their actions are well shown.
In general, the director managed to show the difficult story of the main character performed by Alexander Peskov / Nick McKen. It touches on such acute topics as: soldier’s friendship, the problem of choosing between risking life for the sake of justice or humility with life circumstances beyond your control. Also, for especially observant individuals, there is an interesting point concerning the problem of marital fidelity.
In conclusion, it is worth noting that the film is remembered after watching and you want to periodically review it. This is one of the domestic film hits of the difficult 1992.
The orphanage Nikolai Naydenov is a veteran of the Afghan war. Thanks to the Red Cross, he moved to the United States, where he took the name Nick McKenn and became a hand-to-hand combat instructor. Nick decides to go home to visit a colleague. He was killed in a restaurant where he worked as a security guard. While trying to find out more, Nick was kicked out of the restaurant. Another friend of the murdered, who lost his legs in Afghanistan, encourages Nicholas to take revenge, but the one (which is unexpected for the militant) refuses: so Nick is not here, plus he has a pregnant wife in the States. McKenn comes to say goodbye to the widow of the deceased, but she is already lifeless herself - the bandits wanted to find out who came to the restaurant, but overdid and killed the unfortunate. Well, now the revenge has begun.
For its time, it is a worthy film. It is interesting on several points at once. The film is Ukrainian, but nothing in the frame indicates where exactly “we” the action takes place, so that the film can be sold for screening in other CIS countries (and with some modern TV series do). But the main thing - "American fight" looks like a negative released years later "Brother-2": the protagonist crosses the ocean and deals with bandits because of his killed colleague. Except that in this case the route is reverse – from the States to the CIS. Moreover, both films begin with the fact that the protagonist remembers his combat past: journalists came to Nick, Danila participated in the filming of the TV show. I don’t know if Balabanov watched Amrikan Fight, but there are a lot of coincidences.
More than a good example of post-perestroika cinema. Although filmed in Ukraine, it was always perceived as “our” because the sores of all post-Soviet countries are similar. Films of that time, of any genre and, moreover, had a pronounced blackness and carried hopelessness. Although in general I have nothing against this direction, even more - watched a cloud of such films, alas, poor in most, although in the bubbling of diarrhea sometimes pearls of the type of lawlessness or Reed Paradise came to the surface. Yes, even Intergirl, which I do not like in its essence, is made as a dramatic work ... not ineptly and with an interesting message “good where we are not” that for films of those years is unusual. Here's for American Boy - there's the hell knows how many times it's voiced as beautiful in the United States. And the food there is a million times tastier and people drink less and live longer, and generally shit butterflies and there is no need to die. But as a serious minus I do not perceive it, rather such a peculiar sign of time - as people thought. Given the catastrophic standard of living in the CIS in those years - and not a great thing. Plus, there are positive and extremely cute characters of Vladimir Gostyukhin (who does not know how to play poorly at all) and Oleg Rogachev, who look at yesterday’s Afghan, and now the happy holder of an American passport as... guess what).
And yes, the film stands out among the murky slime for the better precisely with greater positivity and some optimism.
However, Nick McKen is also handsome. In general ... it can be taken as an axiom, if you were worried about the hero - so the film was successful. Moreover, knowing how often the black woman of the 90s ends, it makes sense to worry - and what if they dock? Considering the fact that the hero is a good person (greatly played by Alexander Peskov, who, in my opinion, has not shone so well anywhere, and even at the same time, he resounded with age wide in face and body), a war veteran who slaps everyone, a loyal friend and just a man who finds himself in a terrible environment, but, being an eagle capable of rising above circumstances as a classic individualist hero, causes empathy and empathy. Well, seriously, who did not lose heart at 'It's not Moscow tim. . . It's New York time! Everything's fine, guys!
The rest fit to become, beautiful, as I have already said, Gostyukhin in the convincing role of an honest cop (yes, such exist), Rogachev and Khostikoev in the role of Glavgad. The latter is reliably frightened when the muzzle of an old British “wall” is pointed at him, but just as convincingly falls into a fierce, furious rage. In general, in addition to the general such a peculiar perestroika atmosphere of total lawlessness and good characters, there are still absolutely fierce fights beyond good and evil. Such tough fights are still looking for, and on the one hand, our protagonist Nick uses obviously karate, but the fights are made not in the spirit of American b-movies with the exchange of blows, but realistically: the opponents fold up from a good hit like a house of cards, and in the final fight the hero very quickly gets tired, plus a couple of blows in the back of the head, gets a broken democratic scoreboard in chlamine. All this is put really strong, in places the feeling seems to have been fought for real, and after the command “stop” from the director, the actors who entered the taste were dragged away. This American Boy favorably differs from the same Fan - excellent in all senses of the film, which, nevertheless, spoiled the fights - they look very artificial now, especially despite the fact that the camera work there does not "overlap" the blows, which, as in Bollywood, do not reach 10 centimeters, which looks rusty, with all the quite fitting production.
In general, the action, with the exception of fights, is no longer able to impress the imagination, especially given the bastard quality of the picture itself in the film. If "To Survive" is normally restored, maybe this peculiar classic will be lucky, I would like to hope. And what's fantastic is, I wouldn't mind even looking at a sequel like American Boy: 30 Years Later. Oh, dream dreams.
The late 80s - early 90s of the twentieth century ... The unprepared Soviet-Russian viewer was hit by a flurry of foreign charismatic men. Rambo mowed down enemies in the American forests, the Vietnamese jungle and the Afghan sands, the Terminator jumped in time with enviable tenacity, simultaneously taking away clothes, boots and motorcycles from drunk bikers, and John McClane poured bullets on terrorists with varying accuracy. But Kolya Naidenov, who by chance became an American citizen Nick McKen, is a little different. He is the hero of the Ukrainian film Boris Kvashnev “American battle” 1992 release, played by Alexander Peskov.
Nikolai Naidenov lives near Washington and works as a sports instructor at a local club. His life is prosperous. He is married to an American woman, Deby, who not only allowed him into her life, but also gave him the surname McKen. Nikolai is an orphanage who later became a Soviet soldier-internationalist, and later rescued from Afghan captivity by Red Cross volunteers and taken to the United States, where he later remained. At home, he has no relatives, only an army friend Sergey Gubanov, who once saved his life in the war. A trip to the Union in order to see a military comrade and becomes the entanglement of the bloody history of the times of “perestroika and glasnost”.
Native lands greet the American guest affectionately. Tanya, Seryoga’s pregnant wife, keeps him on the doorstep, reporting that her husband was killed a little over a week ago in a restaurant with the astrological name “Zodiac,” where he worked as a security guard. Gubanov’s friend Pasha, a legless veteran of the same Afghan war, is also unfriendly to Nikolai – he feels dislike for the fact that he satiated himself overseas after the war, forgetting those who remained at home. And at the same time for the fact that he will soon go back to the States and forget about what happened like a terrible dream. The story would end there, and Kolya Naidenov would return to America, where he would again become Nick McKenn, but fate decides differently.
The scene is an unnamed southern town of the late Soviet period with a provincial flavor. The location does not require specification - in one way or another at that time the same picture existed throughout the country with slight differences. Bandits of the city is divided into spheres of influence, and strong guys in slacks, leather jackets and cheap “adidas” collect tribute from anyone who felt a commercial streak.
A character that deserves a special mention is the police opera Mukhin, nicknamed Zhelezyak (Vladimir Gostyukhin). He will meet the viewer during the play more than once and in the final will play his role. His superiors are the personification of a bloodless and decapitated state system, he himself is the prototype of those who, although tired of the mess and lawlessness, but pulls the strap, knowing perfectly well that his work, at best, simply will not be appreciated: he became unnecessary. Mukhin is a servant to the bone, not used to bend his back in front of the leadership, pass before the crony, but this is not enough to turn the situation in favor of the Law. As Ryazanov’s “Garage” correctly said: “You can go the legal way.” It is difficult to get there.”
Against the background of the dominance of American militants, the film about a veteran of the Afghan war, establishing justice with his fists and firearms, passed almost unnoticed. Yes, the quality of filming, film and technical part is inferior to its Western counterparts, but, I think, mentally surpasses them. Perhaps because such a story is fiction, but very close to them. It was the one that can not be erased from the history of a large country, no matter how hard you try: the beginning of the decay of the state and society as a whole, and of each person in particular. But looking at Kolya Naidenov and militia lieutenant Ivan Mukhin, who will never become captain, it seems that the best is ahead. But that's not accurate.
Post-perestroika cinema, as the most popular of the arts, even in a difficult era for the country was the expression of time. With difficulty, but still came out pictures, the variety of which was limited mainly to the genre of the action movie, simple comedy or eroticism. The quality and overall level of products left much to be desired. Militants and criminal dramas were focused not on the disclosure of characters and the story told, but rather on the successful demonstration of explicit scenes of violence, which, combined with an extremely low level of technical and performing skills (cheap and low-quality film, the involvement of non-professional artists, etc.) did not allow even close comparison of domestic products with foreign counterparts of the same period. One of the successful exceptions in Russian film production of the early 90s was the picture of Boris Kvashnev “American Fight”. The story of Nikolai Naidenov, an orphanage, a veteran of the Afghan war, and now a respectable American citizen who decided to visit an old military friend at home, has a quite fascinating and dynamic plot. But what is more important here is not so much the spectacular stunts, explosions, chases and shootings, but the story itself, told unassumingly and extremely trustingly. The creators managed to convey the spirit of the era, a sharp contrast between a thriving Western society and domestic hopelessness (although the film was shot in Kherson, but what happens in it can easily be attributed to any Russian city, large or provincial). Of course, to deny the influence of Western tapes about just retribution is pointless here: it is visible to the naked eye. The film reflects the triumphant individualistic approach to justice, which repeatedly skillfully and very talentedly demonstrated paintings with Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson, Burt Reynolds and other Hollywood stars of the 70-80s. However, the secondary plot does not spoil the impression of viewing. For this it is worth thanking the performers of the main roles: Alexander Peskov and Vladimir Gostyukhin. Thus, “American Fight” is an organic picture of the triumph of justice in a world where there seems to be no more justice. One of the best in the genre of action movies today looks very informative both for fans of the genre of action, and for all nostalgic for a good movie.
7 out of 10
On the film "American Fight", in addition to the perfectly played and filmed intrigue, the years from which everything began are forever captured. And it all began with an unsuccessful restructuring, which provoked a coup d’etat.
The change of power led to an explosion of chaotic banditry - to the surface of all this silhouette, which found itself literally on every corner (the last money was taken right in the entrances). He didn’t shoot, steal or cheat, just lazy or just kind. Everyone else was not confused and began to do what. Some traded banal racketeering (on one scale or another), others engaged in more serious crimes. . .
At the household level, there were also negative shifts due to the sharply surging poverty (the work of some people, as we remember, was paid for with boiled toilet paper sausage, toilet paper itself, as well as household soap). Proper and logical citizens went on airliners to America. . .
In short, it was a very strange time... After many years, almost nothing has changed, except that the former so-called "Cool" & #39; boys who managed to survive, growing up and becoming smarter, began to act in much more intelligent, wise and seemingly legitimate ways. And the outer essence of our reality is now structured in such a way that there is no more urgent need to emigrate to ' graceful' by all standards, the United States. You can also do business here.
The main character of this film came from the United States to the already collapsed and hopeless Soviet Union to see a friend with whom they fought together. Probably, he was a very bosom friend to overcome such a distance for him and at the same time find himself in a real dumpster. That's first. Secondly, you can get involved in such a mess only for the sake of a real friend, with whom fire, water, copper pipes, and much more passed. That is, you can immediately see who this person was for the hero Alexander Peskov.
At the beginning of the film, we are shown a young man resting on his laurels and satisfied with a well-fed and comfortable American life. It does not show that he could ever participate in military operations. Painted (like all Americans), a little sweet and somewhat narcissistic. And so the very beginning of the film does not portend anything particularly interesting.
But, fortunately, the creators of the picture sharply reversed the flat and slightly sad start with one very powerful and eternal detail inherent in the best American militants - the return of the hero to his native penates. Then begins the gradual transformation of Nicholas. From a wealthy American, he turns back into a simple Russian guy who is not alien to everything Russian: vodka, snacks, heart-to-heart conversations in poor kitchens, which, as a rule, are infested with mice and cockroaches at night. Especially since Nicholas is still our man; just a long life in America in any case changes the character and even appearance (and not always for the better).
But the true essence of man manifests itself only in very dangerous moments of life. In everyday peace, you can be a beautiful, daring, brave superman, and in the event of any truly critical situation to save and show yourself a complete nothingness. Or vice versa. In the film American Fight, the true character of the hero was revealed after he had to recall the skills of military ingenuity, skill, and self-defense. And here we see a completely different person - clearly not overzealous Yankees. Even facial expressions have changed dramatically.
Technically, the tape is made in a great way. The film, the sunny atmosphere of the southern city, curious foregrounds and backgrounds, scenes (the battle in the warehouse is generally a charming farce), dialogues (especially the conversation between Peskov and Gostyukhin in the restaurant). The tape, of course, gives a bit of American stuff. It’s okay, because this feature is characteristic, in principle, of all perestroika films. . .
The film ' American Boy' is a beautifully staged story about what a true friendship should be, and about the fact that this bright friendship, as well as the memory of it, can not be destroyed even by a snow-white aircraft, sadly and rapidly rising over sinful land.
Time passes, and the next decade is glued to a whiplashy label, cleaned or, conversely, emphasized special signs and sent to the chronicle daddy. What it says on the label of the nineties - stray, dashing, bandit. Of course, even then millions did not live under the sign of a knife and knuckle, most drugs and Walters saw only on television, but still the turn from the sleeping-exposing eighties was made very cool. And not everyone has stayed on the curve.
“American battle” is flesh of flesh, spirit of the spirit of those years, which are already firmly overgrown with myths and legends. From suddenly accessible America comes to visit a colleague former orphanage and paratrooper, and now a respectable transatlantic Sitizen Kolya-Nik. Packed, smooth-cheeked, branded. And the boy dips up to his ears in his native garbage, which with the advent of the democratic vector became stickier and smelly to the point of impossibility. As befits a militant who does not claim to superprofits and festival twigs, here the revenge ball rules and one for all and tampers. With a characteristic turntable and a cold look on the brow.
What can not be taken away from the domestic paintings is the realism of the characters. Here the marginals do not dazzle with porcelain smiles, the scumbags will tear up with a bad look that cannot be put by any choreographers and makeup artists, the scenery is taken from nature, and not choreographed by professional artists on computers. If you take the metrosexual Peskov out of brackets, then the rest of the heroes could be seen in any town once vast and invincible Motherland. From honest cop Zheleziaki to Georgian thief in law. The shaggy girls graze around the bars, the sheared bulls in sweatshirts and leathers stuff sports bags with devaluation paper, the servant makes a stand for a crunch of green and gray papers, the magazine posters of sissy-faced models from the stale Playboys multiply with bright patches on the intricate walls. American Boy, I'm Going With You!
Our response to van Dammam and Chuck Norrisam went to a sturdy four. The action, despite the schematic and predictable, kept the whole film in tone. Mandatory black was played and justified. Of duty eroticism, preference was given to the flabby buttocks of the lustful gangsterito, "Combination" and "Forest" from irons did not sound. And frank blunders and supermandom were within the permissible value. It is clear that the automatic queue will never catch the main character (especially in the first hour of film events), and the turntables God himself ordered to demonstrate, standing on a hanging pipe – genre is a genre. Bruce Willis is not allowed to joke at the most dramatic moment. Well, the philosophy in the style of “How could you defecate such a country” took place.
Almost none of the team of creators built a successful film career (with the exception of Vladimir Gostyukhin). American Fight was not monumentalized by Little Faith or Brother 2. But, like a cartridge in the Kalashnikov store, he was well integrated into the picture of the stray nineties. When Rasputin winked and Zaporozhets disappeared, and raspberry jackets coexisted in a single idyll with high sneakers. And everyone had their own truth.
The gunman is pretty mediocre. The plot is simple and naive: a former soldier of the Soviet army, now living in the United States, decides to take revenge on the Russian bandits who killed his army friend in his homeland. In general, this can be understood and even forgiven, because at that time the fashion for such simple fighters was in full swing.
You don’t pay much attention to the actors here, because why? At that time, it was not particularly important, since such a genre did not fit in and was partially compensated by bright dynamics.
What’s in “American Guy” from the bright and dynamic? Yes, almost nothing, except rare fights, lasting no more than 5 seconds. This is already inexcusable, the canons of the genre are brazenly not observed and I suspect that not out of harm, but simply because it is cheaper without them. With such initial (without acting and action), the film should be dead already at birth, but its authors suddenly cheated and diluted the picture with just a couple of actors who played with hurrah and saved the gray film. Strangely enough, but the main character is not among them - his game, especially his lines, seemed too rubbery to me. I was pleased only by the cop Zheleziak in the face of Gostyukhin and several episodic characters who appeared in the frame rarely, but accurately.
So what makes me enjoy every time I watch this uncomplicated parody of foreign fighters from the 80s? Irony. The whole film is a solid irony of the state and society over themselves and over each other, shown by the screenwriter and a clear picture seen against the background of a monotonous director’s canvas. And since we did not yet know how to shoot a beautiful picture (or have forgotten?), the irony was thrown out through the replicas of the characters of the film. Here are some of the ones that still pop up from memory:
"They didn't get caught." They won't. The police are looking. But he won't find any shit either.
“We have a lot of things now, Coke. And bigger than you. Only a little bit smaller.
“You are right, American, you are right. It is not my truth and I will never accept it.
“Listen, Ivan Danilich. Do you know why you’re not even a captain?
“I don't give up ours, Kohl. That's why the lieutenant is still"
It is simply impossible to imagine a picture without these words, without them it will become terribly bland, all this is her calling card. And they are remembered perfectly probably because they were relevant for our country before, relevant now and will certainly remain so in the distant future.
“I’m a nice guy, I’m a tough guy.”
I caught a fish in the muddy waters of reconstruction.
Where business is the foundation of life,
I don't think I'm going to get my throat chopped off.
Vladimir Asmolov (excerpt from the song "I want to go to America").
The territory of the former Soviet Union is such a criminalized area of the earth’s surface (especially beyond the Urals) that it is even scary to talk about it. Crime and corruption have engulfed almost every aspect of our still post-Soviet life. And it all began with a failed perestroika, which provoked a coup d’etat (fortunately not very bloody). The seizure of power by capitalist-minded people led to an explosion of chaotic banditry, which finds itself literally on every corner (shoeing right in the entrances). He did not shoot, steal or cheat only lazy, or flawed, or simply kind. Everyone else was not confused and began to do what. Some traded banal racketeering (on one scale or another), others engaged in more serious crimes. At the household level, there have also been negative shifts caused by sharply surging poverty (the work of some people was paid for with boiled sausage, toilet paper and household soap). Proper and logical citizens went on airliners to America. In short, it was a very strange time... Today, many years later, in principle, nothing has changed, except that the former cool guys, having grown up, began to act much more intelligent, wise and seemingly legitimate methods. And the outer essence of our reality is now built in such a way that there is no urgent need to emigrate to the United States, which is fertile by all standards (and you can do business here). On the film "American Fight", in addition to the perfectly played and filmed intrigue, the years from which everything began are forever captured.
The main character arrived from the United States to the already collapsed and hopeless Soviet Union to see a friend with whom they fought together. Yeah. It must have been a very bosom friend to overcome such a distance for him and at the same time find himself in a real dumpster. Otherwise, the sheepskin is not worth it. It's on one side. On the other hand, you can get involved only for the sake of a real friend with whom fire and water passed. That is, you can immediately see who this person was for the hero Alexander Peskov.
At the beginning of the film, we are shown a young man resting on his laurels and satisfied with a well-fed and comfortable American life. It does not show that he could ever participate in military operations. Painted (like all Americans), a little sweet and somewhat narcissistic. And the very beginning of the film does not portend anything particularly interesting. But, fortunately, the creators of the picture sharply reversed the flat and slightly bleak start with one very powerful and eternal detail inherent in the best American fighters - the return of the hero to his native penates. Then begins the gradual transformation of Nicholas – from a well-to-do American, he turns into a simple Russian guy who is not alien to everything Russian – vodka, snacks, heart-to-heart conversations in poor kitchens, which, as a rule, at night are infested with mice and cockroaches. Especially since Nicholas is still our man; just a long life in America in any case changes the character and appearance (and not always for the better).
But the true essence of man manifests itself only in very dangerous moments of life. In everyday peace, you can be a beautiful, daring and brave superman, and in the event of any truly critical situation to save and show yourself a complete nothingness. Or vice versa. In the film American Fight, the true character of the hero was revealed after he had to recall the skills of military ingenuity, skill, and self-defense. And here we see a completely different person - clearly not overeating Yankees. Even facial expressions have changed so dramatically that I want to exclaim with undisguised admiration: I believe!
Technically, the tape is made in a magnificent way. It's clear. The film, the sunny southern atmosphere (the city in which the shooting took place, I learned, because I was there more than once), curious foregrounds and backgrounds, scenes (the final battle in an abandoned room is generally a charming farce), dialogues (especially a conversation between Peskov and Gostyukhin in a restaurant about how Soviet citizens destroyed their native country). The tape, of course, gives a bit of American stuff. But, firstly, this one is especially characteristic of all perestroika films, and secondly, such things have not been bothered by me for a long time.
In the finale, the snow-white plane, rapidly rising above the ground, gracefully and a little sadly completes the most interesting and beautifully staged story about what a real friendship should be.
That's a good movie...
