“Everyone should be in his place and do his own thing.” - If the general background is dirty black, then one’s own conscience, with some stain, looks snow-white.” (c)
In the early 90s, after the collapse of the Soviet rental system, the level of films shot in the country fell sharply, almost to zero, in some cases. And, again, in some cases – pleased with the quality of the film. First of all, these were films created by directors of the “old school”, who received the opportunity to create without censorship restrictions, which seemed to open their second wind at the end of their career. Over time, life in the country changed, improved. Fashion changed, money changed. Everything changed. Including the movie. There were a lot of new films, especially cheap ones, shot for TV. And the old ones, including the very good ones, are gradually forgotten. They have stopped playing on television, they are difficult to find on video. Now they can be found only on the Internet.
One of these great films comes from the harsh 90s and will be discussed in today’s review. This is an action-packed mini-series “Russian Transit”, filmed by St. Petersburg director-retired Viktor Titov, based on the script by Vyacheslav Barkovsky. Watching the film in my childhood, I didn’t pay much attention to the name of its creator. It seems rather curious now. This “gangster fighter of the St. Petersburg image” was shot by the same person who in the past put such hits as “Hello, I am Your Aunt!”, “Ilf and Petrov went on the tram”, and a little later – “Kadril”. Amazing contrast! To confess, I immediately remembered the same age as this director - director Yaropolk Lapshin. He, too, at one time was engaged in Soviet paintings, such as the epic "Ugryum River", and in perestroika time "shot" the hit "I, declare war on you!" - a militant with Nikolai Yeremenko in the title role. And although the directors at the time of the creation of these films were already in old age, this did not prevent them from shooting really cool, with an interesting plot, full (as it is fashionable today to say) of suspense, and able to withstand repeated viewing films. What many young directors today are unable to do. Especially this applies to the directors, who have already overcome their monotony, criminal TV series about “cops and bandits”.
Specifically, this film is remarkable for the fact that it started the career of a good (but not sadly stuck in one role) actor Evgeny Sidikhin. In addition to him, there were many good actors in the tape. This is the beautiful Anna Samokhina (a young karate player Sasha), and Andrei Urgant (mafioso administrator Misha Grunberg), and Anatoly Ravikovich (a snitch Perelman), as well as Vladimir Illarionov (a karate coach and a friend of Boyarova), Igor Dmitriev (the owner of the Mezentsev bar), and Viktor Bychkov, who had not yet become Kuzmich in a small role as a bandit named Glista. There are other artists who became famous much later, such as Anatoly Zhuravlev, who here also has a small role of the “six” bandos.
In terms of the plot, there is almost no fault with the film. There is also a strong detective leaven, and the characters-turnovers laid on the plot, who are not who they seem at first glance. There are also fights with chases and shootings. And all filmed extremely realistic, which makes you worry about the fate of the central hero. And this is a rather charismatic guy – in the past, the disgraced karate champion Boyarov, who by the forces of the Soviet system guessed at one time in Afghanistan, and now works as a bouncer in a decent tavern called Palmyra. That's where it all starts, one beautiful morning. First, the hero is called to the police department, where he is questioned on suspicion of threatening a certain Boryusik-client of their institution. And already in the evening in Palmyra, someone killed this same type, and everything turned out so bad that all the evidence points to Boyarov. Wanting to “cover the tracks”, he loads the corpse in the trunk and takes his countryside, but on the way he is trying to detain the police. In a skirmish with cops, the hero beats them and steals their service weapons. Now he is outlawed, and he is hunted by both law enforcement agencies (headed by his old friend, an associate in Afghanistan), and St. Petersburg bandits. Trying to prove his innocence in the murder, the hero decides to find out why the “new Russian” was killed and why he was framed. So Boyarov is entangled in the case of the international mafia, and the so-called “Russian transit” – the supply of Turkish heroin to the country. There is no chance to survive, and even more so, to win. But in the most difficult moment, his friends come to the aid of karate school, and the hero himself meets a wonderful girl Sasha.
In the picture, despite the constantly developing detective story, full of so-called "lyrical" digressions. They are connected primarily with the philosophical teaching of karate, which calls the hero of Sidikhin to calm and cold analysis of the situation. And also, of course, romantic. Although love Boyarov and Sasha is not given much screen time, but as always charming Anna Samokhin is able to settle in the memory of the viewer, even having a limited number of minutes on the screen. A special point is the soundtrack of the picture. Composer Nikolai Martynov recorded a disturbing musical theme, and as a leit motif chose the excellent composition “DDT” “This is all that will remain after me...”, which I personally consider one of the creative successes in the repertoire of Yuri Shevchuk.
Somewhere already mentioned the superbly conveyed on-screen atmosphere of the era. It’s like watching the film you are immersed in the 90s: household items, shabby apartments, stalls, cars and old buses, clothes – leather jackets, sports uniforms and long cloaks on the “bad guys”. All this is so recognizable that involuntarily causes a sense of a kind of nostalgia for childhood, which fell just at that time of the “dashing 90s”. Although the special merit of the director is not so much here. After all, the film was shot in the 90s. I do not think that the author counted on the long life of this mini-series, and on the fact that 20 years later it will be seen in the context of the past, already the era of raspberry jackets and black “mers”.
There are tragic and funny moments in the picture. Of the first, of course, this is the death of the artist “Uncle Fedor”, whom Boyarov entrusted with the protection of Sasha. As well as an episode at the factory, where the bandits kept the exhausted hero, and where he entered to save a friend, a karate coach. The way he ordered Boyarov to flee, and he remained to fight a dozen bandits with armatures and chains in his hands. By the way, these fights are pretty good. Although, certainly not as cool as in American action movies with Steven Segal. But for our television (especially TV-90s) - not bad. And to funny, or rather - funny moments, I would include behind-the-scenes monologues-reflections of Boyarov regarding various events and people happening around. This somewhat brightens up the gloomy, mostly style of the series.
8 out of 10