“Seven Couples of Unclean” is a military domestic drama about the heroism of Soviet soldiers and ordinary people who had to do the impossible to help those in need and at the same time stay alive. At the box office, the picture was not particularly in demand, so everything went quietly and almost imperceptibly. Information support and proper advertising in the picture was also not, so you should not be surprised by the poor performance, although what is the advertising, even if the trailer itself is made out of hand bad. What is the problem with the painting, you ask? In my opinion, there are three options: either the budget was mercilessly looted, and the producers did not care about the fate of the picture, or the film turned out bad, so the creators decided not to invest in further promotion, or the film was originally shot as part of a mini-series, and only then it was severely cut to collect in a full-length version for rental. The exact information, of course, is unknown, so the viewer can only guess and shake his hands, because the picture, unfortunately, did not live up to expectations, although they were very large.
Even before the premiere, many people paid attention to the name of the director, Kirill Belevich, behind whom one of the most successful military series of recent times, Badaber Fortress, was released. In addition to the series, the director has a rather good track record of works, among which there are series “Second Vision”, “Emergency”. Emergency", as well as another military drama "One", from which, by the way, also after the premiere of the full meter made a mini-series. In any case, the name of the director deserves respect, so each of his new work attracts a considerable number of viewers. By the way, we can add about the cameraman Andrei Naidenov, who put his hand in the creation of a visually beautiful film “Nakhodka” with Alexei Guskov in the title role. As for the script composition, their authority is not inferior to either the director or the operator. If such a professional team worked on the film, why did the film turn out weak, superficial and uninteresting? And the first claims, of course, relate to the script. I, unfortunately, have not read the novella of the same name by Benjamin Kaverin, so I can not compare and give an example of the book, so I start solely from the film.
According to the plot, a cargo ship carries a secret special cargo, for which a young and responsible officer is responsible. But by coincidence, a group of prisoners are transported on the same ship, among whom there are especially dangerous criminals and murderers. As a result, going on the way, the prisoners make an escape and capture the ship, but at this time they are brought down by their firepower flying past the German plane, intending by any means to sink the ship. And now the young officer will have to cope with the armed fugitives, destroy the air aggressor and deliver the cargo to its destination.
Oddly enough, but the concept of the ship, people and German aircraft immediately reminded me of another film “Save Leningrad”, which is due out early next year. Of course, you can throw everything on a simple coincidence, but similar details are painfully striking, as, for example, in both films, the main character is the daughter of an enemy father of the people, for whom the poor girl has to answer before the insolent muzzle of an NKVD employee. I do not know whether this is an accident or intentional plagiarism, in any case, we will leave it on the conscience of the authors of the upcoming film “Save Leningrad”, because the book “Unclean” was written in 1962.
I dare to assume that all the characters in the book were fully revealed, but, unfortunately, there is nothing in the film. Almost all the characters remained strangers, unfamiliar and incomprehensible. The authors never disclosed their images, motivations, personal problems and many other fundamental factors for revealing a particular character. In the film, we simply show the actions of certain individuals during the escape of prisoners, capture of a ship and brutal confrontation with the enemy, without going into details about those who committed these very acts. Take even, for example, a young prisoner, played by actor Artem Melnichuk. Over the course of the film, I kept wondering who he was, what he was arrested for, and why such a slim boy with frightened eyes was doing murderous murders among the physically healthy. And such incomprehensible characters the whole ship. Also, in the course of the story, one prisoner decides to help the protagonist, but why does he do it, what are his motivations and so on? All this simply remains behind the scenes, so ordinary viewing turns into one continuous discontent because of a bunch of unknowns.
As for the production, it is perceived quite well, but, again, expectations were very high. The picture looks with interest, but slow-mo in action scenes personally I already pretty much starts to piss off. How much can one repeat from film to film the stylistics of slow-motion shots during explosions and other extreme actions that have been beaten up and down? I don’t know about you, but I have such things already cause rejection than admiration.
But in any case, despite the numerous disadvantages, in the darkly mediocre picture there is still a ray of light, thanks to which it will be interesting to watch. And all this credit belongs to the cast. The cast is almost perfect. Each type is interesting in its own way, and some characters looked so great, as, for example, one of the thugs, played by actor Beso Gatayev. A beautiful face and a harsh look gave the image of the villain excellent features that cause the viewer interest and at the same time dislike for cruel actions. I also want to highlight Mikhail Evlanov, who played a troubled killer maniac. His excellent performance and wonderful immersion in the image did their job at all hundred percent. But the most admiration is caused by Yuri Borisov and Mari Vorozhy. Their tandem was beautiful in every sense. In the frame, the actors looked amazing. They wanted to empathize, and the soul ached for them during emotionally difficult scenes.
In general, it was the cast that saved the picture from a final failure in the eyes of the viewer. If we were to make a film with such artists and with a good production, and even with a great script, it would definitely turn out a masterpiece, but in the end we get an average film for one-time viewing. Of course, I would not recommend the film, but because of the actors, it is quite possible and even necessary to watch the film. Enjoy your visit.
5 out of 10
