Eisenstein's Challenge Nothing foreshadowed troubles and everyday life flowed over weekdays on YouTube, until one day the algorithm of recommendations offered me a cutting of frames with the participation of Fyodor Basmanov from the film ' Tsar Ivan the Terrible' 1991 release. I was surprised to find that one of the minor characters of the little-known cinema of the period of the collapse of the USSR became an idol and a sex symbol for a very tangible audience of video hosting. Under the impression of this fact, I sat down to watch the film. What can I say about him? Well, let's try to figure it out.
So, in the courtyard - the XVI century, the era of the reign of the great Tsar Ivan the Terrible. Malignant oprichniki harassed the simple and not only the people. For example, they disperse weddings, steal cattle, rape girls, hang peasants. Just one of these expeditions stumbles upon Prince Nikita Romanovich Serebryany (that is, Igor Talkov), who returned to Russia from Lithuania. Our hero is not all right: he failed to fulfill the order of the tsar, the beloved girl because of the harassment of the oprichnik married another, and the oprichniki themselves promise to arrange problems and the tsar also somehow reacts to Silver. The whole trouble is that Nikita Romanovich is an honest and kind person, and it is sickening to live in Russia today, because the Terrible Tsar... What about the terrible king?
The Terrible Tsar is feasting in Moscow, having fun with Fedusha Basmanov, executing people. Like ordinary royal classes, but still the motivation is not obvious. The creators tried to portray the sufferings of Ivan the Terrible, night visions of people killed by him, attempts to reason sanely and spiritually struggle and the image of his beloved wife. But it is done somehow so that sympathy or understanding of the character does not give.
Okay, back to Silver, he bravely endures the fight with the bear, the molestation of Fyodor Basmanov and the tsar's disfavor, and eventually becomes an ataman of robbers, but instead of resisting the bloody tyrant, disperses the Tatars' tabor ... for some reason. Well, it seems to save the Motherland, instead of confronting the Tsar, as was originally planned. And this is also depicted strangely and the formation of Silver Ataman is also swift and indistinct.
At the same time, Tsar Ivan falls into final paranoia and executes everyone in general: who is for witchcraft, who is for treason, who is for audacity.
And Nikita Romanovich still went to the monastery to his ex-girlfriend.
Yes, this is a rather confused review, but the movie is quite strange. In general, it is clear that this is a film of its time, a time of global reassessment, when everything was possible. And it is clear that this is an attempt to rethink the image of the formidable king. Unfortunately, not the best. If you compare this picture with the work of Eisensten, then the problems become obvious.
First, scale. Ivan the Terrible was the first married Russian tsar. He conquered the boyars, captured huge territories, corresponded with Elizabeth of England. And in the 1944 film, we see that. The royal choirs, feasts, battle scenes - everything is beautiful and spectacular. The painting of 1991 cannot boast the same scenery. It is clear that the times were difficult and to shoot large-scale scenes and expensive decoration simply was not possible. In this case, it is logical to pay more attention to the psychology of the characters, their inner world, experiences, emotions. And here we come to the next problem.
Second, the acting. I do not want to hurt the feelings of the people who worked on this film. Kakhi Kavsadze, Igor Talkov, Dmitry Pisarenko and many others are very talented people. However, it was in this film that few managed to reveal their characters. Talkov is absolutely wooden. And I didn't have much sympathy for him. Probably because the scripted nobility and suffering expression on the face is not enough to conquer the viewer. The same can be said about the main female character. In general, it is not clear why she is so attractive to all the characters - so much is the impersonal reincarnation of Tatiana Larina. About Kavsadze ... well, he tried. But alas. He's boring. The only truly successful character, whom the viewer noticed and remembered - Fedechka Basmanov (Dmitry Pisarenko), the royal henchman, pampered pampered nobleman, corrupt and beautiful. By the way, judging by the pages of the actor in social networks, in life he is not at all like that. What would you do for the sake of art? So why did talented actors fail to captivate the viewer with their characters?
Third, a bad scenario. Unfortunately, I have not read 'Prince Silver' but from experience 'Peter the First' I venture to assume that the characters of Alexei Tolstoy are very multifaceted and there is something to play. The problem seems to lie in the script. Simplifications were adopted. Heroes were reduced to the simplest images: the noble Don Quixote, a mad tyrant, a gentle maid, an evil courtier. And somehow it is not suitable for reassessing the era. No matter how pretentious the characters are.
Over. Despite the obvious problems, this film is not completely bad. I thought he was funny. People who are familiar with history will find it funny. Of course, the intoxicating freedom of the era of perestroika and the collapse of the Union affected. So we had the Terrible Tsar in one frame with naked girls. Well, experiment.
4 out of 10
Oh yeah! Fedechka Basmanov is van lav.