- Did anyone tell you that? You are very beautiful.
During the nostalgic viewing of "Cadetship" disliked in childhood Syrnikov something hooked me now. This, perhaps, it all began and I began to watch a movie, which was so unusual for me plot.
A young Daniel, whose life is quite average and monotonous, notices at the station Marek, a young man who wanders around the area with a group of Russian-speaking guys in search of work. Earnings, as the description makes clear, are not easy: prostitution. However, the heroes are not particularly embarrassed, to survive in a foreign country without legal grounds somehow necessary.
And if before their meeting, the film seemed long, then now all the fun begins: the next day on the doorstep is not Marek, and a child from the same group, and even with friends who clean Daniel’s apartment well. The latter, in turn, looks at what is happening from the outside, as if it does not concern him. Maybe it’s for the best.
After a while there is still a meeting of our main characters. Their relationship, as well as the whole situation in the film, do not give relaxation and constantly keep the tension. Even if everything seems normal, even if they laugh or walk around the store. Perhaps this is why two hours pass unnoticed.
In order not to retell everything, I can just add that until the last moment I did not know how the film would end. In any case, everyone will decide for himself whether this is a good end or a bad one.
I also wanted to mention the rather believable performance of the actors.
Kirill Emelyanov - could not break away from him throughout the film. I believed him, even though he didn't have any violent emotion or anything like that.
Olivier Rabourdin played a great single Frenchman who just lacks some light and warmth in life. At least fleeting.
Daniil Vorobyov – it is also difficult to find fault here, I liked his character, or rather, how Daniel conveyed the image of the smug leader of this entire group.
And one more small detail: often in the film were fleeting inserts of the city, sky, houses. It distracted a lot of people, but on the contrary, it helped me to feel the film even more.
Yes, there are no perfect films, and here you can find fault with something, but I will not, because I actually enjoyed watching and I think I will review it some other way.
10 out of 10
P.S. Special Thanks for Switch On The Light – Take Care
“Not as boring as it seemed, not as discerning as I would like”
Or just Lucky
The life of the metropolis is all in the palm of your hand, loneliness chases the heroes on the heels, and you can not get away from it. Whether you live alone in a posh apartment or a large crowd in a hotel, it doesn’t matter, multifacetedness is impersonal. The only difference is that money (alas, there is no escape from them) somewhat brightens up your existence with a TV, a gym and a silent cleaner coming. And free TVs and a cheerful company threaten to round up police and expel them from the country.
A company of young people-emigrants loitering in train stations, earning in a rather non-trivial way and, apparently, not so little. At first glance, young people offer sex services, but in fact they are a crowd and clean apartments.
In this trap and falls middle-aged man Daniel (Olivier Rabourden), pecking at the cute boy Marek (Kirill Emelyanov).
Then the story unfolds as if in two parts: the first tells the development of their relationship with Marek, the second shows living and being in a cheap hotel.
Despite the duration of more than two hours, the film does not let you get bored, although it is not very dynamic, the viewer simply observes the smooth development of the plot without leaps, as it happens in life, without excessive pathos and playfulness. In the monotonous reality of Daniel interferes with the company of teenagers, coming to his house, but if this knocks him out of tune, then no longer than the next morning. A silent housekeeper is like removing glass and memories. But then Marek makes him worry, but also not very much in appearance. Olivier Rabourdin perfectly played the inhabitant of the modern metropolis: almost without emotion. He takes everything for granted, does not hold evil and does not have the habit of looking into the eye before opening the doors. But the film shows trust - trust between the main characters, and this is very valuable: it is now becoming a delicacy and antiques. After all, based on the bitter experience of the first meeting, trust is fraught. Do not expect special emotions from Kirill Emelyanov: his hero is an immigrant, and there is nothing to rejoice in. But something distinguishes him from the rest of the crowd of grief-devils, perhaps a more thoughtful look into the sky.
Bright was the so-called Boss, Daniel Vorobyov. His methods of “ruling” are despotic, and his earnings are foolish and naive. But this is the only way to keep the power undesirable to the people, so everything is right. In his rightness he is sure of everything, and to accept what should have happened sooner or later and so, it is very difficult for him. What did the director want to show, the tragedy of an immigrant family? They thought they had moved into a fairy tale. This is clearly a game. Such raids occur daily, but who knows, we are watching from the outside and act as “catchers”.
The plot is interesting, so it is recommended to watch. At first, he resents the arrogance - he knows whose, but then everything falls into place. It is good that the door is not afraid to open.
Robin Campillo’s French drama is perhaps even closer to our mentality. After all, the main characters of the film are mainly immigrants from Eastern Europe. I think many people have come across this type of real kids in tracksuits. They moved to Paris, but continue to behave brazenly and audaciously in a foreign country, as in their street yard. The guys at the train station are looking for a potential victim who will peck on a young body and want to relax for 50 euros. So did the intelligent middle-aged man Daniel. I don't think a successful man has any trouble finding a life partner. There is probably no time or desire to do this. And then caught the eye of a shy pretty boy Marek, with whom they agreed to meet the next day. But instead of the planned romantic evening, a whole gang of street punks broke into a visit to Daniel.
The beginning of the film was already tense. I watched the reaction of the main character and waited for this situation to resolve in the end. It is obvious that it would be unwise to resist a whole group of young guys, so Daniel let it go. In the end, it is his fault that he fell into such a trap. But the most interesting thing begins after the same Marek comes to him the next day and still gives for the agreed amount of money. Here I was surprised, of course, that Daniel didn’t even ask about those guys, didn’t punch a petty scoundrel, and took him to the bedroom. And, of course, I was curious to see this strange business relationship evolve into something more than home-based escort services. It’s absolutely clear why Marek benefits from this relationship, which brings money, new clothes and an iPhone. But why would a grown man bother with this young man?
When the relationship between the two characters stabilized, it became clear that the story just can not end happy ending. The director saved the heat of passions closer to the finale, when the mystery of Marek was revealed by the Boss. By that time I was so imbued with sympathy for lovers that everything that happened tickled my nerves. The tension just went upside down when the hotel administrator went up to the second floor and when Daniel drove up to the hotel. Here it is worth commending the entire cast for a wonderful game. The ending, full of events, flew literally in one breath, but the alarming atmosphere did not subside for a second. Only when the door of that apartment opened again did I exhale with admiration. This movie is 100% my taste. As much as the moral ugliness of some men resents, so much does the courage of others who are not afraid to stand aside. A wonderful social drama that touches on many aspects of our modern life.
10 out of 10
A lonely man decided to get acquainted with the station young man, assuming his future friend in him, but he, out of habit, thought that a respectable passerby was going to remove him, interrupting, assigning himself a price, without limiting the confused interlocutor in the choice of pleasures, noticeably embarrassing him with his readiness, pushing him to agree to a meeting, getting a hastily sketched on a paper address of the date place, freezing under the stairs, scrolling something in his head.
The expectation of the meeting was hacked by a boy who slipped into the apartment, deceived his intercom: the classic wiring with the substitution of an adult hustler for a minor went into the business with the subsequent invasion of the entire street gang led by its leader, who outlined the unsightly prospects of police showdowns with a pedophile, exposing the intruding owner to a slow execution to forcibly get rid of indoor things, occurring under a musical rave of a home disco, a classy designed visual camera finish, Jeanne Lapuari, presenting a sample of a complex composition.
As for the owner, he, having survived the invasion of the raiders, remained in himself, meeting face to face with his deceiver, who in the morning returned to the looted apartment, as it seemed, to fulfill his promise, receiving in return not quite what he expected, but much more than he could think, looking at the photos of a pair of happy men attached to the mirror, tired of mooing without his happiness.
Robin Cammillo shoots not the first film according to his own script, presenting a simple psycho-emotional plot that contains a mixed background of the relationship of strangers yesterday, unexpectedly coming together on the basis of mutual loneliness, gradually changing his intentions as physical discoveries and trusting confessions to each other, fluently describing the path of a young man from the fire of the Chechen war, past poor Ukraine to the edge of rich Europe, turning here into an alien slave.
The structure of the community is revealed in the case, becoming clear in the dance of the strapped Boss (a purely concrete image performed by Daniil Vorobyov) and his henchmen, who arrange a color and musical performance at the beginning of the picture, then consistently adding details to the structure of the migrant community, almost without touching on his interaction with state institutions, eluding which, somewhere on the outskirts of the city, boys spend the same sad day after day.
A broader view is on the evolving relationship of a young man and a man, developing from a deal to complicity, moving from a tense expectation to the trust of people open to each other, which more changes the restless vagabond, who first met a person who cherishes them, no less than his body, which is best represented by Olivier Rabourdain (rightly compared with Kevin Spacey) and our Kirill Emelyanov (looms like Joseph Gordon-Levitt), whose contact and contactless interaction is not less than his body, which is incomprehensible from the nuance of love, which the poor person’s delight.
Giving no weight to the other parties, the director is busy with the private story of two people, the inner and outer aesthetic of their non-standard connection, how obvious, as well as doubtful for us, the audience, and for themselves, taking the courage and responsibility to accept one and abandon the other, doing it delicately and beautifully, in the words of different languages and unique views, stumbling only on the sluggish pace of the final scenes, leaving at all unclear, their overall result seemed so clear.
After reading the title of this picture, I definitely expected to see a slightly different story and other characters. Apparently, because of my mentality, I always forget that for enlightened Europe, the CIS countries are also the East, which is not always understandable, and often seems wild. Indeed, the story told in this picture seems to be the story of an individual who suddenly escaped from a flock of his own kind, who from the outside look savage. Therefore, perhaps the main feeling that the Ukrainian protagonist evokes is pity, even if it does not come immediately.
The way in which the plot develops is the transition from indifference to sympathy. The further the action develops, the more it moves from a crude and almost primitive narrative to an almost dramatic and piercing action. The more we get to know the characters, the harder it is to feel the disgust they can cause on first meeting. The picture begins as an almost documentary observation of migrants, not too honest, not too pleasant. The picture begins with dirt, and presents us with the same “dirty” heroes: a guy engaged in prostitution, and a typical representative of the middle class who uses his services. None of them are able to cause sympathy on the first acquaintance. And the whole reason is the lack of human relations between the characters. As long as one suffers with disgust and the other uses indifferently, none of them acquires a human face. Everyone seems to be a doll doing their part. A scene from the life of France, which she used to shyly keep silent. Frank scenes, perhaps, are too shocking not for their openness, but for their undisguised uglyness, which emphasizes the whole physiology of what is happening. It is unpleasant to watch, but not because of the characters, but because of the lack of history behind what is happening on the screen. Therefore, it seems that the whole film was made only for this: candid scenes where the camera almost savors every movement of the characters.
However, the film would not have been nominated for prestigious awards if the naked body was its only distinguishing feature. Therefore, gradually the picture begins to move away from its frankness and come to a lost humanity. The main topic is not so much the personality of the “savage” Marek/Ruslan, but his history and change of attitude towards him because of it. It seems that after learning this story, as sad as it is simple, the consumer attitude towards the hero leaves the French character. As long as Ruslan was just a pleasure doll, he had no soul, and what he felt was irrelevant. But once he has his own destiny, everything changes. From this point on, explicit scenes disappear from the picture, and crude almost pornography gives way to drama. There was a war in his life that made him fearful and indifferent at the same time. It influenced not only his character, but also his later life, because it is indifference to himself that leads to an almost slavish position. Probably, the feeling that Ruslan has for a Frenchman is the first in a long time, but this is not a feeling of love, in a hypertrophied sense of self-preservation, when the hero reaches for someone who gives a sense of security. Due to this change in his behavior, Ruslan suddenly begins to seem almost a child, an adult, but did not have a childhood. His desires are actually very simple and quite understandable, characteristic of a yet undeveloped personality. When a person suddenly realizes that he can afford more than he allowed before. Therefore, he allows, but very gradually and carefully, almost with fear.
The feelings of a gang of compatriots are quite unpleasant. They seem to be savages who understand only power. Skillfully using laws to their advantage, cunning but unpleasant personalities. Their gang has a strict hierarchy, discipline built on fear. The appearance in the frame of the family of one of the characters seems to be something out of the rule, because she talks about the presence of humanity, which seemed alien to the gang, but, in general, does not change the perception of the gang. In the picture there is a lot of mat on the part of these migrants, sharp rudeness and some sense of permissiveness characteristic of them. When heroes are outside the law, only themselves become the law, and this is noticeable. We cannot understand them, because their history is not open to us, and the position of the filmmakers seems clear: France is a stranger to all who violate its peace and order, but it is ready to accept those who are ready to join this society and become part of it. However, this position is clear for any developed country.
Overall, I didn’t like the film very much. Although I understand the idea, although I do not suffer from bouts of leavened patriotism, I cannot consider myself an advocate of such crude methods of impressing the viewer. I think this story could have been told more intelligently. Although the shock method can be quite effective. I will not advise you to watch this picture, although I am not going to condemn it. Perhaps this is the case when the structure of the film is its main artistic medium. From dark to light.
A sad story, which may seem so at first glance, about a group of young people forced into prostitution. We do not know the true reasons for choosing such an occupation. We can only see that it is necessary to do this, however, it is permissible to do it without much interest.
In general, the attitude to what Ruslan does is ambiguous. He may feel desire and even pleasure. But for the most part, he denies his occupation, preferring to finish and leave as soon as possible. You can see it in his face, in his eyes.
The meeting with Daniel, Ruslan’s only client, is something else that is unacceptable and has no right to be. No feelings can go, because a person engaged in the sale of his body, must think first of all about work and earnings. However, Daniel becomes something more for Ruslan, as Ruslan is for him.
“Boys from the East” is an appeal to all those who are many in the whole world. And here the East and neighboring countries (Poland, Ukraine, Moldova) are completely unclear. But it's not geography. The main impulse is to give a chance to change, although it is unknown how Ruslan’s fate will turn out and whether he will change his occupation. A picture of friendship, which can be found quite by chance, and the need for each other. And also the desire of people like Danielle to help, to give something more, just because of affection or love. But he does not exploit Ruslan, does not force anything, however, he has the desire to “make his own”. For this, he will have to risk and even rip the guy from the clutches of the “Russian community”.
The film, shot partly in the genre of documentary, is stretched, and it is in vain. Along with the main problems, the authors pay attention to the surrounding environment - the street and the bustling city, showing its beauty and "grin corners", as if thereby throwing the viewer into everyday existence.
At the train stations of Paris, a gang of guys who immigrated from Eastern Europe is cheating. The purpose of their stay at the station is very deceptive, they are not for the sake of trading the body, as it may seem at first glance, their body is a bait for much greater profit.
The meeting, the “hostage” of which becomes a wealthy middle-aged Frenchman – Daniel, occurs after the “removal” of an immigrant – Marik for 50 euros at the station.
Daniel is in his 50s, lives alone, meets friends from time to time, and spends the rest of his time at work. From past relationships, he has only photos of his ex, squeezed under the frame of the mirror.
We can only find out something about Marika by the time trust is established between the main characters. Marika’s real name is Ruslan, a Ukrainian, but he lived in Chechnya and his parents died. He does not have a residence permit in France, so friendship with Russian-speaking immigrants, who are in the same situation as him, is vital for him, because it is much more difficult for him to die in a “pack” than for one without documents in a foreign country, without even knowing the language. But here for Marik there are certain problems, since in each pack there is a leader and he needs to obey.
So, why did a wealthy Frenchman get a hooker at a Paris train station? Maybe it’s because Daniel is no longer young, single, and has not moved away from his past relationship. And is it easy to believe in love at such an age, when it is no longer easy to enthrall the body, it is easier to manage with a purse. And looking at the place where he decided to look for a sexual partner, you can doubt that for a Frenchman this is normal, and that he knows how to find a boyfriend for the night.
The relationship established between them at first has exclusively sexual overtones, but as the character of Ruslan (Marik) is revealed, a trusting relationship arises between him and Daniel. In the eyes of Daniel Ruslan is no longer a means of satisfying physiological needs, sexual desires fade into the background, he begins to take care of a guy who is actually still a child and became a victim of circumstances. He is the only one who can help him.
And there are two levels of relationship: male-man and father-son. After all, these people are further united not by sex, but by the “cry for help” of the lost guy. This is the only way I could explain the ending of the film. Daniel had to leave the guy in the country.
The film Robia Campillo tells about the not simple fate of a young boy prostitute named Malek, whom the second but no less main character Daniel meets at the station.
To be honest, I didn’t expect anything from this picture, although I plunged into the picture quite quickly. In the picture, in addition to what is primarily visible to the naked eye, there are problems with migrants and prostitution.
I also wanted to see the characters in this movie:
Malik is the main character of this film shy and modest, who tries to be sincere but he does not do it well due to difficult family circumstances.
Daniel is an old man who is quite wealthy but now lives alone before meeting Malik.
The boss is the main villain in the film who is also the one who terrorizes Malik is the head of the gang with which Malik lives.
This film hooked me with everything: its atmosphere, the acting of the story itself. I would like to mention Kirill Emelyanov, who fully got used to his role, I consider a wonderful debut in European cinema and Daniil Vorobyov for his charmingly crazy hero. I want to see these faces as much as possible. I want to see everyone who wants to see a good game.
This movie I want to put a ten but I didn’t have enough music in the movie.
9 out of 10
Spanning cranberries in French or Our boys in Paris
An aging man is looking for a thrill at Paris train stations. I didn’t realize that the train stations were occupied by gangs of Eastern boys, bandits and prostitutes. Captured by a charming young man (a Ukrainian with two names and one Caucasian surname), the Parisian arranges him a date in his apartment, as the young man promised him to deliver all the unthinkable pleasures of life for 50 euros. The fact that the young man does not speak French does not bother the hero at all, because the language of love, albeit corrupt, is subject to everything.
But at an agreed time, the unexpected happens. The young man decided to visit not alone, but with all his associates, and clearly not for love pleasures. Instead of spending 50 euros, our hero finds himself with bare walls in his apartment, and the boys did not hesitate to dismantle even a satellite antenna.
But the noble Frenchman decided to stand the test of fate, apparently not hoping for French justice. I didn't miscalculate. Soon there was a knock in his apartment again, and this time the young man came to “talk” alone. As a sign of remorse, he kept his word and gave up for 50 euros. He won the heart of the Frenchman once and for all. The Frenchman even offered him content. After a short trade, it was decided that the guy would suit the iPhone.
But not everything is so simple in the life of illegal immigrants. The documents of the guy are kept by the main villain in a suburban hotel, where the entire gang successfully lives at the expense of social services in France. The young hero no longer wants to live in that hotel, he prefers to live in a Parisian apartment, although he was already moved from the master’s bed to the office, which caused his slight discontent.
Then begin the action adventures about the release of documents. Realizing that the brave Frenchman, even with the help of hotel staff, could not cope with a bunch of bandits from the East, it was finally made a wise decision to use the best police forces in France.
It’s worth watching this movie for the finale. The finale simply cannot be described, as only the words that “our” people in Paris use throughout the film are asked.
3 out of 10
Only for faith in Russian-French cultural cooperation.