As a fan of Western (in this case, Eastern) and Road Movie movies, I’m sorry that this kind of movie hasn’t been much in demand in recent years. Therefore, I am even more pleased that gradually more and more Russian filmmakers are discovering streaming platforms, where at least relatively more space for creativity than in theatrical releases. And yes, there is a much greater chance of a series of these genres. In this case, I am talking about Lada Gold.
Here literally everything is teeming with the spirit of films about the Wild West, only in the Russian way. Bandit showdowns, the war of sheriffs (well, that is, cops) with the mafia, woven into the plot of the Kazakhs, in which you can see an analogy with the Native Americans. Even the plot is based on long-lost gold, which in this case is an old Lada. Well, Togliatti is chosen as a crime center, and many locations resemble the Mojave Desert.
And all these substitutions work perfectly, as the series is billed as such a black comedy with homages in the spirit of Tarantino. And there are all the elements here - hypertrophied violence, references to both Western and domestic culture (and sometimes to Eastern as to Oldboy), dark humor with a ton of absurdity. And most importantly, Lada Gold is just a dynamic show. Most Russian TV series, on the contrary, try to be sluggish, even if it is out of place, and here with the pace everything is really good. Starting from a non-trivial tie-up, and ending with the increasing action along the way, I did not feel bored. And this is also due to the unique atmosphere for Russian TV series.
And Lada Gold has one thing that I'm personally happy with, and she might not go in. You see, the series is divided into two storylines. In one, the action takes place in modern times, and in the other - in the 90s, where the main characters are the grandfathers of the main characters. And the point is that the storyline in the past is told in the words of other residents of the city, of course, strongly embellished, as do gossip. Each series is not related (or loosely related) to the history of the characters in pieces restore the then events, and is accompanied by a non-standard video sequence. If the events are told by older women, then of course it is black and white romance with vanilla dialogue. When the grandfather describes what is happening to the granddaughter, she sees everything in bright colors and sometimes “describes” what is happening in crayons. And the guard in order to impress the girl will pour a bunch of action into the story and will present the story in the style of Criminal Russia. And sometimes the story is just seen in stylized VHS. Someone is clearly not going to do this, calling the chip ostentatious, but I was pleased with the creativity of the authors for the exhibition. Even deliberate replay due to this style looks appropriate.
I was also pleased with the musical accompaniment. There are both old and new hits and almost all of them were listened to with pleasure. Even the track Lada Sedan sounded surprisingly to the place. For all my dislike for the work of Timothy, but the creators managed to insert it according to the mood.
The series has certain disadvantages. In the second half, a rather battered Santa Barbara with sudden family ties is introduced into the story and the endless rumour of the main characters can begin to infuriate by the end. But, again, what is happening initially is not presented seriously, events are hypertrophied and therefore even these disadvantages are not so striking, especially against the background of much more significant advantages.
If you leave the plot as it is, then a very vivid story about the difference of generations comes out with a clear ridicule of the so-called romanticization of the criminal dramas of the nineties. And unfortunately, because of the titanic hype on The Kid's Word that came out around the same time, this project was noticed by far fewer viewers. Sorry. I would like unique projects in genres rare for Russia to receive much more attention in order to give way to other similar experiments.
I follow the world of cinema, so I heard something about the project somewhere, but not that I strongly believed in it and waited for it. Absolutely spontaneously decided to take a risk and... what the wildest high, perhaps played my expectations, but it turned out so far the best series this year (yes, without watching Fisher, "Shelter" and several more, but the project in any case definitely deserves attention).
During all eight episodes there is just a frantic pace of narration, here they tell everything that is possible and impossible, trying to give as much as possible a story, both new, with the grandchildren of Midas and Ogurtsov, and directly flashbacks from the 90s to understand the whole conflict and the volume of bandits and not only. For 1 episode of Lada Gold, so many events can happen that another project for half a season would be enough and yes, at first it is very unusual and you do not have time to perceive all the information, but gradually you still get involved and the series go one by one.
It seems like a banal story about bandits and their legacy, as if this had not happened before. . . But how skillfully screenwriters Egor Chichkanov and Nikita Vlasov (also a director) twisted and unfolded all the details of this story, which does not become boring for a second and even despite the wildest pace, by the end you absolutely clearly know all the answers to the questions that appeared, and the story of many interlacings of the present and flashbacks is woven into a single whole.
Speaking of flashbacks, they appear, starting from the 2nd series and what a cool decision it was to present these flashbacks in each series by absolutely different methods. Their whole essence is that in a separate series they have a separate narrator and they visually adapt to it, if these are the stories of a security guard, it is stylization for recordings with VHS tapes with an emphasis on disassembly, and if the story of one friend another, while they make blanks for the winter, the emphasis shifts to love lines with black and white visuals.
In addition to the cool and working soundtrack, incredibly beautiful camera work, there are also a lot of cool and colorful actors, each of whom received his own memorable and unique image. Separately, I will highlight Roman Evdokimov, whom the project opened for me and he looks incredibly organic here, and with Eldar Kalimulin they have developed a very cool chemistry, and Daniil Vorobyov, whose Shamray is just the height of madness, who will stop at nothing, but goes his way “from dirt to princes”.
As a result, it turned out to be an absolutely unexpectedly cool project with just an incredibly fast pace of storytelling, a large set of interesting actors, an unusual story and an atmospheric soundtrack.
To be honest, Russian TV shows have been very, very exciting lately. What is not the premiere is success (or I am so lucky with the choice of the project), especially those that are focused not on television, but on the Internet space, where the vast majority of viewers gradually move. No exception was the new project of the author of the middle peasant 'Majeure in Sochi' (by the way, in my opinion, it is time to let go of Igor Sokolovsky, and not announce the beaten sequels in the form of another TV season and feature film) Nikita Vlasov - criminal tragicomedy ' Lada Gold' made with obvious love for his viewer and even some nostalgia for the dashing 90s.
Luck, even the cast. Having the status of a superstar in Russia, Pavel Priluchny, in fact, flashing in flashbacks in a secondary role, is the brightest and very charismatic character who draws the lion’s attention to himself. Yes, the role of grandfathers (and he even has a grandson) to such a young actor to play clearly early, and even makeup (which is not very much here) can not hide it - but the image of the leader of the criminal world of the Samara region, he embodies really great, you can write in the treasury of the best acting works Priluchny. Against his background, the opponent in the form of a cop-superman slightly fades, but there is a certain epic fairy tale in their confrontation, which creates a favorable atmosphere when viewing. Young people who try on the main roles are also not far behind. Unexpectedly revealed as Eldar Kalimulin (previously known only by 'Epidemics'), and migrated from full-length ' Major' Roman Evdokimov (previously causing rejection and irritation) - and both formed a kind of duet in the style of overseas friend-movie. It will not be news the excellent game of Daniil Vorobyov, who is still his amazing image in the first season & #39; In the cage & #39; proved that psychos and bandits play chic. Here it was he who got the most dynamic action scene, referring to the sophisticated moviegoer to the legendary fight from the Korean & #39; Oldboy'. All this colorful company is organically complemented by cute Stasya Miloslavskaya, Marina Zudina, the same in most roles Igor Chernevich, the unexpected Askar Ilyasov in the role of the heir to the Kazakh criminal empire (very contrasts after a good doctor from ' Zero patient' and a compassionate gay man from ' Epidemic'), funny Olga Tumaykina. Even in cameo lit up famous artists - Valery Afanasyev, Aziz Beishenaliev, Seydulla Moldakhanov, and, of course, Yuri Tsurilo.
The script almost entirely consists of a set of anecdotal situations, criminal showdowns, action, blood and again blood, a little smoothed love line, and even with such a tie that it seems - as if Tarantino or Richie participated in his composition. Funny dialogues, healthy humor, exciting action almost entirely from chases and shootouts - do not get bored.
The technical part of the project also did not disappoint. Especially the stylization of the video series from the 90s under the quality of VHS cassettes with a sharp transition to full-screen format in modern action - similar to the focus taken in due time by the creators of the Dyatlov Pass & #39; (stylization of half of the series under the Soviet black and white film format), but it is exactly right here.
I definitely recommend it.
Captain Flint? Clever John Silver and others? Pirate saga?
From the dashing 90s comes this ' plague', funny movie. Brothers, criminals, organized crime groups are a reminder of our recent yesterday. Togliatti is at the center of the story. What is that then? And this is AvtoVAZ. Production giant, stamping machines for the whole USSR. With the collapse of the country - delicacies of kush for the enrichment of bandits of different stripes. Fats, riches, shooting competitors guys. And many calmed down. Calm down.
This is now 'Lada', as well as 'Zhiguli' no one needs. Well, almost nobody. With rare exceptions. What is the percentage ' of sufferers '? One in a hundred? One in a thousand? Crazy? Stupid? A monster? And who else is he with such predilections? They say, a patriot is there to the bone or - I know this ' old woman' as peeled, as my five fingers and why change it for an overseas miracle? Right? But. What self-respecting driver will exchange the most bad foreign car for the ' work ' domestic car industry? Anyone who at least a couple of weeks sat behind the wheel of Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Volvo, Renault, Ford (you can continue to list further) is the same... ' drug addict'. Finished. He never exchanged a horse for a donkey.
Thirty years ago, there were no jokes here. 'Ladau' worn in hand. ' Ladu' worshipped. In front of ' OK' bowed down. She was a nurse and a policewoman for many.
The duo of writers decided to remind us all about the bloody massacres ' real boys' about the killer shootings, about the corpses of authorities riddled with automatic fire, about the police, which often, without sufficient funding, could not resist very much. And all this in a comedy frame with humor, with laughter, with fun. We go to today and then to yesterday. So the film pours, and streams murmur with speeches, faces, exhaustion of emotions ... Great and small things are done.
Thieving heritage, untold treasures 'bloodthirsty pirate' - the head of the gang - Midas (Pavel Priluchny) story in eight episodes. Where are you? Where ' groaned '? Where did you hide it? Honest police officer Ogurtsov (Ivan Fominov) put a rein on a criminal tycoon and put him in prison. Now, both the first and the second are dead. A & #39; Treasure & #39; it haunts many. And now the grandchildren - the Thief and Mente on a new turn must complete the work of their forefathers. Which one of them will get it? A 'Codla' meanwhile, does not sleep. 'Codla' She stores. ..
You can't help falling in love with this movie. Organic characters are so addicted to plot collisions - forget about time. The series goes for the series just ' hurrah'. In a moment come to life in the memory of charismatic boys from the trilogy ' Antikiller' - Métis, Barcas, Brooms, Crosses ... And ' gop company' from the old ' Brigades' with Sasha White, Bee, Phil, Cosmos... The obvious difference from its predecessors is not humour. Funny party with carousel chase, catch up. What a wonderful country we have! And the people are cute! Then and now. ..
Great show. Generations. How they change. The legends of the '90s are our wild west. The basis of all original capital is crime. – Karl Marx What matters is what happens next.
The film is just a superb soundtrack laying themes of the past into the present. Maybe someone is lucky to discover the Caspian cargo.
Super actors. Uncle Shamray is some kind of apotheosis of the reincarnation of Daniel Vorobyov, plays divinely. It's almost Scarface in its current interpretation. You can enjoy almost every photo with him.
A huge country has collapsed, almost an empire. And its end at the ribbon-tied lonely tree in the Kazakh steppe. Where the mother of one of the heroes lies. End and beginning.
A new beginning. Those of the past have only charisma. '90s, they can steal, kill, rob. The present have love, empathy, devotion. And they are much more powerful than blunt force. At some point, the gold that all the characters in this movie are hunting for ceases to be important.
People become important. And maybe when we realize that people are more important than conquered land, money, oil, then there will be a miracle transformation into a country of dreams. Where the man is most valuable.