Stay human. At one time, the novel of the Ukrainian classic Ivan Bagryany shook me to the depths of my soul. He shook with his authenticity, sincerity, pain and at the same time pride in the unbending will and strength of the human spirit, before which even Stalin’s merciless repressive machine, which equally cruelly breaks both bodies and souls, stalls. Such a work was almost impossible to write to a person who did not go through it himself, did not experience this horror with every cell of his body and every fiber of his soul.
Even before watching the picture "Garden of Gethsemane" I felt a sense of great gratitude to the director Rostislav Sinko, who decided to film the novel, incredibly difficult to stage - the difficulties in transferring it to the screen are quite comparable to the difficulties of the creators of "Perfume". I was ready to write off and close my eyes to many things in order to feel (even if not fully) the spirit of this extraordinarily powerful book.
Fortunately, there was not much to write off. To the extent possible, the work of I. Scarlet was a great film. Spirit, accents, leitmotif - everything in the tape is preserved very carefully, albeit not with a reverent, but, nevertheless, a very respectful attitude to the source. The tragedy and triumph of a strong human personality are embodied on the screen sincerely and with the same striking convincingness. It feels that the film was created by a friendly, united team of like-minded people, charged with the common idea of making a good movie.
In the film, the heavily promoted stars of Ukrainian cinema are practically not occupied, with the exception, probably, of Raisa Nedashkovskaya.
A significant part of the names are out of ear even among devoted fans of Ukrainian cinematography, again with the exception of Vyacheslav Sumy, Tamara Yatsenko and Vladimir Abazopoulo. However, the film from this, as it often happens, only wins.
May God give Oleg Savkin a better role than in The Garden of Gethsemane. Unfortunately, I am not familiar with his other films, but if among them there are films where he played at least half of what he gave to the film. Shinko, O. Savkin can rightfully record them as an unconditional asset. Undoubtedly an exact hit in the image, the actor literally merges with his character, demonstrating the highest, albeit discreet skill of reincarnation.
Of the other roles, I note all the actors played by the above actors - Nedashkovskaya, Sumy, Yatsenko and Abazopoulo, and, in addition, the hero, whose role was played by Vasily Viter.
Perhaps a meticulous critic will find flaws in the film and will most likely be right. But, in my opinion, all the shortcomings are more than compensated by the fact that the creators of the picture with an amazing creative flair caught the main note in the novel. Scarlet and masterfully tuned to her all the movies. A small bow to them!
10 out of 10