A story about friendship, family and love Growing up is a very difficult period that every child must face sooner or later. It is at this time that he begins to understand what friendship and betrayal, family and love are. And here it is very important that the child had the right example of behavior before him, learned to draw conclusions from mistakes and never retreated before difficulties, because in adulthood there will be a lot of them and how we accept difficult moments in childhood, directly affect how we become people in the end. This is what the new film Everyone Dreams of a Dog tells us about, which we will talk about later.
The main character of the film is a schoolboy named Yurka Khleborodov, whose father died several years ago. It was not easy for the kid to come to terms with this, because of which he became withdrawn, unsociable and even for a while stopped talking, for which he was nicknamed Socratik in the class - they say, he thinks a lot, and therefore talks little. While his classmates are walking after school and having fun, Yurka is left alone with his problems and no one can reach him. And recently, even the mother began to disappear more and more often somewhere and it is clear that she has new worries, which she is not going to give up.
It would seem that there is no light in Yurka’s life at all, but everything changes at the moment when new students come to his class, namely brother and sister Ivan and Toshka Kulakov. Yurka immediately found a common language with Ivan and seemed even to be friends with him. And the fact that the father of the Kulakovs is a famous pilot, immediately adds to Jürke new envious, because few of the guys can understand why such a quiet and completely uninteresting guy was in such company. And Yurka and his new friends will have many adventures ahead, including treasure hunts, as well as the opportunity to go on an excursion to Leningrad. And here the guys should try hard to win the competition of school links, because even one deuce in the history lesson can cost the guys victory.
Interestingly, the film is based on the story of the famous writer Vladimir Zheleznikov, who is also known for “Stuffed”, which was filmed in Soviet times with Christina Orbakaite in the title role. Zheleznikov’s story “Everyone dreams of a dog” is considered one of the most important and dramatic in the author’s creative heritage, because it raised very serious questions that every child understands and I was very pleased that the authors of the film adaptation treated the original source very carefully.
Great charm of this film gave the fact that the plot takes place in the mid-60s. This time is very far from us, and nevertheless, the problems faced by the main character will be interesting to modern children, because they will never lose their relevance. In any school there are tycoons and bullies, popular and ordinary children, and those who are considered outcasts and completely uninteresting, sometimes it is very difficult to change their opinion. However, this does not mean that they are not worthy of attention, and the example of Yurki shows us that these most unsociable quiet people can actually present a lot of surprises. And the retro charm of the 60s adds a special color and soulfulness to this film. On the screen you could observe both charmingly embedded in the plot of the real chronicle of life of that time, and well-recognised locations that have survived to this day and served as scenery for this story.
From the actors I want to highlight Boris Deykov in the role of Yurka. The boy is still very young, but played his role very well and showed us a very interesting, multifaceted hero who finally begins to reveal and shows that he is also capable of great deeds. He just needed a push to get him to act and the boy took full advantage of it. Often Jyrka sees his father in his dreams and communicates with him, but at the same time he begins to understand that he needs to move on, because life does not stand still.
I also liked Ivan Kolesnikov, who played the school teacher of Yurka – Fedor Fedorovich. His role goes far beyond the literature class, and for this story, this character will be very important. Fedor Fedorovich in many ways replaces Jurke and the role of the father, and the role of senior comrade. Fedor Fedorovich perfectly sees how difficult it is for the boy, and therefore helps him not only with lessons, but also not against him just to talk and give advice. Ivan Kolesnikov in this image became a real revelation for me, because his role came out soulful, kind and lyrical.
“Everybody Dreams of a Dog” is a positive and kind story that tells us very important things. I think this is a movie that the whole family can watch. Trust me, it's definitely worth it.