A panacea for banality. Destructive addictions become the main characters of the films of young authors, “Panacea” by Ilya Shidlovsky is among them. The director, as if in an anatomical theater of morality and feelings, shows what is hidden inside his actors. Doing it as if detached, without showing their attitude to what is happening. He clearly feels in the picture, but at the same time he is not in it. Like a referee in the ring, he will only say his word when one of the characters falls and can no longer rise. An accelerated and slightly simplified chronography of the decomposition of the personalities of drug addicts, multiplied by a love triangle, will not give a complete picture of the film. It has a little more, something that the author puts behind the brackets.
Watching what is happening on the screen does not cause the sensation of the director’s “greenhouse”, in which the actors are quite independent and at some points it seems that they can live on, even when the credits go. It is worth paying attention to how the director and the cameraman help the viewer feel the space in the tape, how they move away from simple scenes, giving the city the opportunity to be the main scenery. The only thing that is a little bit boring is how to serve albeit subtle, but still obsessive play of light. As if in the sitcom "funny" places stand out with a voiceover laughter. So in Panacea, the dimmed, “dirty” light, albeit skillfully taken by the operator, becomes a marker of permanent tragedy.
The picture gives an opportunity to look at the old problem, but from a new angle. Walking us through his painting, Ilya Shidlovsky, as it were, carelessly, reluctantly shows us the pearls of subtle scenes that he managed to strung onto the film - those same accents, author's finds. Just do not forget that all this – albeit very deep, but still “restyling” the idea of voluntary, painful withdrawal from life – the feeling of deja vu follows the perception of what you see.
The painting by Ilya Shidlovsky “Panacea” deserves to see it. For the viewer, this will not be a favor, but a mutually beneficial meeting. The tape is waiting for a thinking, capable of analyzing the viewer. Let the idea not be a breakthrough, but the work of the director, the cameraman and the acting will make you think about it only after a while.