Crimean children and youth summer camp of the end of the two thousandth years, those times when the film “Night Watch” was still on hearing, and “Children of Corn” was already perceived as an aristocratic classic. Not by years of figure skater and deliberately tough almost sixteen-year-old Lyudka absolutely nothing to do among the dusty buildings still Soviet-built. The southern sea, mountains, sun and air let the kids rejoice, but her personal list of entertainment here is down to an insulting short: command girlfriends, tease counselors and “feed” on vacation the best boyfriend from the available. Not that I really want to, but the status of "Queen" obliges. And suddenly an outrageous violation of even such modest plans. A bruised roommate, looking thirteen-year-old skinny Tonya, by her very existence breaks all the worked-out schemes. She does not admire, does not obey, and (here is audacity!) dared to fall in love with her Yegor. Lyudka already knows how to effectively eliminate competitors, but now she will have to give her all, because Tonya-tikhona turned out to be a real witch.
“The Witch (Silent)” is the debut of screenwriter Evgeny Kerov, and, unfortunately, at first does not look independent or original. The film is based on the short story of the same name by Tamara Kryukova, also the influence of the screened Stephen King is noticeable to the naked eye. The semi-children’s love story was amplified to the scale of the Russian “Carrie”, and its simple educational element was almost completely replaced by the modernized riot of wild teenagers from “Children of Corn”. The result was a work elusively reminiscent of the teenage literature of Marina and Sergey Dyachenko, such as Vita Nostra, Tron, Digital, or Brevis Est. However, the hybrid fruit of the budding screenwriter’s work proved surprisingly tasty when viewed in its age niche. Why is that? The recipe is simple: first girl love, herd cruelty and miracles.
There is a boy Egor, who differs from his peers only by the absence of spermotoxicosis and the presence of an expensive gadget, and two girls. No, not quite so: there are two in their own active girls and one sluggish kid, always stuck his nose in a tablet computer. Ludka wants him out of boredom and for prestige, and Tonya fell in love only because he spoke to her and called her pretty. This situation can not even be called a full-fledged love triangle, since the male creature in it is only an object like a bull on a rope: one pulls and twitches in a bossy way, or even whips with tailwood, and the other one beckons with bread hump and the word affectionate. It is painful and inconvenient to see both female intrigues that usually remain behind the scenes for men, and painful attempts to get out of their shell of an autistic girl, but, on the other hand, classical melodrama would take the plot too far from Tamara Kryukova and Stephen King, without giving anything more interesting in return.
There are miracles, visible manifestations of the will power of the yurodish fool, significantly affecting reality in the presence of numerous witnesses. Strangely, adults do not see them even when they are in the same company with young people, but in the film this can not be explained only by the rickety childhood imagination. There are miracles here, but they have lost their value and in general any significance in the modern world. Adults immediately write them off for chance or natural laws, and before the term the matured Lyudka accepts their existence, but does not appreciate and immediately uses them to his advantage, simply changing the attitude of others to them. In good Soviet fairy tales, the hero, faced with evil spirits, said: “You are my witch, and I am your nature!” In this film, the confrontation and techniques seem to be the same, but they are perceived as “their own” and cause sympathy already sincere and completely natural “little Baba Yaga”, and the twists of fat-meat Lyudka and her retinue look ugly and gorgeous, receiving the power of the influence of witchcraft. The fight against evil is replaced by the inquisitorial “witch hunt”, in which the device with Internet access replaced the Bible.
Tonya, possessing supernatural abilities from birth, the bearer of innate morality and a “Christian” sense of guilt, at first seems to fit into the stencil of King’s Carrie, but very soon it becomes clear that her character is much more complex. Like the heroine from our “Stuffed”, she turns out to be an outcast just because of her “patchy” appearance, and publicly declaring her “witch” only aggravates the situation. However, Tony has neither the murderous vengeance of Carrie, nor the firmness and determination of Lena Bessoltseva, nor even a grandfather who could take her to another city. All she has is an unbending faith in goodness, justice, and, strangely enough, the Christian principles she has already consciously accepted. Her sentences about love, friendship, duty and beauty can impress the sympathetic viewer with their depth, but pass by the perception of the characters of the film. Kerov could have made her even a holy wonderworking martyr, but, fortunately, he did not reduce everything to one religious aspect. Tonya remained a strange and downtrodden timid girl and, at the same time, a young sorceress, ready for exploits for the sake of others, and so beautiful.
The film “The Witch (Silent)” is not able to attract with annotation or slogan, but leaves after watching a strange mixture of strong feelings. Filmed easily and without frills, as the series "Sasha + Masha" by the same director, Dmitry Fedorov. It seems to have to be relaxed. Expect a banal romantic story of summer love performed by high school students, involuntarily relax your brain and muscles, anticipating drift in a half-sleep along the flow of a simple plot, and suddenly you convulsively twist into a knot from an unexpected blow to the liver. Black mutor pain... The candy was poisoned - or is it not poison, but an unknown medicine bitter? What was supposed to be a film for children and young people with a clearly inflated rating of 16+, turned out to be quite heavy and painful even for adults.
Reading the annotation of this film, immediately recalls the well-known “Kerry” Stephen King. There's a girl with the gift of telekinesis, a mad mother turned on religion, and a fire-related finale. Throughout the film, we see everything that we have seen somewhere, but at the same time touch something new, frightening and in some ways exciting. If you do not find fault with a weak and simple production, then it turns out to be quite a watchable movie in the genre of a mystical thriller. Immediately I want to note that here shows the tendency of spoiled youth who drink, walk, engage in depraved actions, and adults simply do not notice, do not want to notice, and if they notice, they want to quickly forget. Children left to themselves have to make adult decisions, but no one wants to be held accountable for their actions. As for the main character, the authors, unfortunately, it turned out not that strange, but really mentally unstable and concerned special. Although I am sure that either the script was completely different, or the editing had to cut a lot or even cut, but watching the picture, it is such ambiguous impressions. Although according to the idea of the story, the viewer must have very much empathized with the heroine, felt her pain of loneliness and all the tragedy of her unhappy life, but, unfortunately, there is too much in the elaboration of her image. As they say, a little overdone. Instead of a really ordinary girl, the director made her overly detached and different.
Alas, but the whole story is perceived rather superficially. In the film there is no depth and the necessary immersion in the story, in the characters and in the circumstances. Of course, it’s not a big movie for big screens, but for a TV format it’s fine for one time. For myself, I especially want to note the casting, namely the selected types of the main characters and the efforts of the cast. Although not all young actors were on top, they did everything possible to convey their inner harmony. In any case, the film is worthy of attention. Good to see you all.
I don’t like to compare books to the movies they’re based on. And so it is clear that in 90% of cases the film adaptation will be a loser. Not only does the plot always undergo directing changes (most often quite inappropriate), but the characters for the most part do not correspond to the description of the author and the views of readers. There are, of course, pleasant exceptions, but "Witch" is not one of them.
Although it is worth noting that the film is watchable and worthy of the right to life. The plot of the story is mostly preserved, there is a rogue girl with supernatural abilities, and a beautiful bitch who spoils the life of everyone who gets in her way, and a pretty guy, the object of love of both girls. Initially, it even seems that the movie will convey the emotions that the book gave, but, apparently, not fate.
The filmmakers changed the appearance of the heroines to their taste, presenting Lyudka as a stereotypical blonde who prefers pink, and Tonya was gifted with the appearance of a witch with dark hair (apparently deciding that two hair colors are typical for witches - black and red). In the book, it is the opposite, Lyudka has a dark blond hair color, and Tonya is blond, she has a rather pale, nondescript appearance. Perhaps Tamara Kryukova wanted to emphasize that witches can be light, and “perfect” girls dark. But, unfortunately, this message was excluded from the film. As well as the possibility of the viewer to understand what Tonya really is. In the book, for example, there is no doubt that this is a kind girl who is pure in heart and thoughts, but who lacks the audacity to resist the cruelty of her peers. When watching a movie, on the contrary, one gets the impression that this is a weak-charactered and slightly crazy girl, whose only desire is to become like everyone else (this is what she writes in a note when they go to make wishes, although in the book the desire was completely different and this was the main message of the story). Yeah, I didn't miss the point, Tonya looks exactly crazy, because she has so many peculiarities that stand out, such as obsessive thoughts that her entire existence is one big sin. This is also present in the book, but for some reason it is not as obvious as when watching a movie. At the same time, there are several moments in the film where Tonya behaves like a real superheroine (including the finale), although in the book she is a simple (if magic is not taken into account) girl who dreams of doing good. Dmitry Fedorov generally pays great attention to Tony’s abilities and as a result, what the author of the story wanted to convey to us goes to the background. We are already watching the spectacle on screen as another fantasy movie, although this story should tell mostly about the cruelty of modern teenagers and the behavior of the crowd towards the typical white crow (it does not matter if she has magic or not). However, cruelty in the cinema is enough. Only here you sympathize with the book Tone much more than Tone of the cinema. This is due to the author’s interpretation with an abundance of vulgarity, which was not even in the book.
Therefore, the main disadvantage of the film I believe not that completely changed a lot of moments, including the finale (where important words of Yegor were lost in the background) and not that the characters are presented somewhat differently than it was in the story. The main disadvantage is vulgarity, woven everywhere and everywhere. She is in the relationship between Lyudka and Egor, and she is, oh horror, in the behavior of Tony, who, if you believe the story, was absolutely pure and would never dare to offer a guy to sleep with her. And the sudden "impotence" Yegor is a total failure. I can even foresee a lot of giggling teenagers who watched this movie and took nothing out of it, except the “trouble” that happened to their peer. Dmitry Fedorov wanted to be with teenagers on a short leg, and as much as possible rebuilt the film under the customs of modern youth. “Strawberry” he did not do from the work for schoolchildren, but decided that if the plot does not have conversations about sex, then no one will go to the cinema. And, to my great regret, he made his contribution, distorting the viewer’s idea of Tone, and Egor, and Lyudka (she was just a bitch, and she also became a dahlia).
As for the pluses, that is, the film has one moment that the book did not have, and here it is played out very clearly and well - the indifference of adults. The way the camp leader is presented fully reflects modern reality, when a person appears in children's and adolescent groups, over whom the majority openly mocks, and adults do not care about it. And thank you to the director for drawing attention to this once again.
To sum up. Tamara Kryukova wrote a beautiful teenage story with a strong plot and an impressive finale. Dmitry Fedorov shot not so bad, but still quite weak adaptation of this story. I read a collection of Kryukova’s works for a long time, but I remember the plot of The Witch as if I had read it yesterday. When you read the last lines of this story, goosebumps run on the skin, you want to sit in silence and think... When you watch the film, there is no such sensation. Yeah, it's not the worst movie. Yeah, maybe he'll impress someone and make them think. In addition, I am pleased that Tamara Kryukova will be filmed, because her stories, in my opinion, are necessary for both teenagers and adults, especially the parents of these teenagers. But still, I would advise you to read the original work, and watch the film adaptation only if you have free time and a great desire.
I would also recommend this film to anyone who loves stories about teenagers and white crows. But if you still decide to watch it, then you better do it before you read the story. Otherwise, the pleasure of viewing will not work.
Several children come to the summer camp for teenagers: arrogant and beautiful Lyuda, her friends - Marina and Zhenya, an ordinary guy Egor, a bunch of extras, and a quiet and modest Tonya. Within a few days, there will be many events in the camp, from which it will become clear that Tonya is a girl with supernatural powers. This “gift” will soon become Tony’s curse.
In general, the creators did not come up with anything particularly new here: they copied the typo from the famous Carrie film, and only at the end decided to change it. Tonya is an unusual girl, but despite her very dangerous powers, she does not use them for evil (although she is called at every step as a “witch”), even if she has enough abusers. Since our lady's mother is devout, she forbade her daughter to use her abilities, believing that this is the intrigues of the devil, so Tonya is very reluctant to use them. The first episode shows us Tony’s childhood, where she was almost drowned by her own mother for the fact that the girl just lifted a boat into the air (obviously, to kill a child, in the understanding of Tony’s “devout” mother, this is no worse than the fact that her daughter knows how to move things by force of will). However, Tonya forgives her mother at once (we do not forget that she does not wish anyone harm), and everything seems to be good for her.
In fact, Tony’s personality turns out to be very contradictory: here we see that she is not so much that she is a spoiler of fate, but at the first meeting with Luda, who tells her to free her favorite bed near the window, Tonya stubbornly climbs on the horn, trying to defend her right to the primacy. Have you ever done such tricks before? Is it true that until now, no one has rudely threatened Tona if she began to contradict - after all, the authors have made it clear that Tonya is a stuffed-up girl who will once again be afraid to open her mouth? In short, OK – it is important to understand that this is where the dislike of our witch on the part of Luda came from.
Then begin some strange, sometimes defiant to any logic, events, in the center of which, of course, will be Tonya, and partly all these episodes will push the idea that our heroine is slightly backward in development, otherwise I do not find another explanation. So, she liked Egor, a guy who once just talked to her and whom she later helped. In fact, he did not say anything special to her (just mentioned that she could get rich with her gift), but the naive Tonya so met him that there was no way back. Ironically, Luda is also passionate about Egor (and, Egor does not represent anything sensible of himself - he does not shine either in mind or appearance), but the audience is openly demonstrated that the guy prefers the last lady. This does not bother Tonya: she follows him on his heels, and then, when Lyuda shakes a magazine with naked women and informs her that this is “Luboff”, Tonya, spitting on all sorts of pious prohibitions and other nonsense (which, presumably, her mother told her since childhood), easily stripped before Egorka. Of course, all this is seen by the “mass” and laughs and other bullying begin, which, in fact, already took place.
In this sample, obviously, the bet was made on pity: from the viewer they stubbornly beat out compassion for Tona - a girl who tried to help everyone and make friends, and who eventually steamed up for what she fought for. But how can you feel sorry for a girl who has no brains? Her intentions are not just stupid - they are absurd, as if she had not lived in the world of white 15-16 years (or how old was she there?), but was just born. She is completely devoid of sound reason, and having been burned once, she is again thrown into the fire. This doesn’t even work in animals (kick the dog and it won’t work for you a second time), but Tony didn’t even have animal instincts, let alone human intelligence. In the end, it is the fault of the lady herself.
However, it is worth paying tribute to the other heroes: they also did not shine with any logic. Take Lyuda: then she mocks Tonya, demanding that Egor reject her, then she snaps at her friends, saying that Tonya saved them all and should be respected, but in the next scene she again mocks her, trying almost to kill her. When Tonya first showed her “gift” to the guys, having cured Egor’s leg, none of them were at all surprised by what they saw – do they observe this every day? The camp counselor did not feel responsible for the lives of the children at all (think, however, almost the bus fell off the cliff; think, something happened to Tonya there, etc.). What? How? Why? Why? – questions that cannot be answered, since the authors did not bother to answer them themselves.
In general, it is a madhouse where every episode is stupid. Why should I feel sorry for Tonya, a character that no one has bothered to give to someone who can and should be empathized with? Luda’s motivation is understandable in many ways, and that excuses her a little bit; but Tony’s motivation is impossible to understand, as what the authors call “kindness” turns into “stupidity.” It is commendable, of course, that the creators did not reduce everything to the finale of “Carrie” and came up with something of their own, but this “own” here does not justify half of the film, so I do not understand.
I’ve wanted to see this movie for a long time and that’s my dream. But it certainly won’t be something I would recommend, and I wouldn’t want to just review it. Thank you to the authors and actors, my expectations were only partially met.
Why did I wait for him? Because I have a weakness for evil and rather clumsy (as it happens in adolescence) plots, where the psychological problems of the younger generation push someone against their foreheads, leading not just to noisy scandals with matyuks and beatings, but to really dramatic events, and sometimes to real tragedies.
Indeed, teenagers have not yet learned to live, and therefore they do not always get along with each other. Preschoolers are not as quirky as teenagers and young students, so they are not capable of terrible actions (the worst thing that can happen to them is that someone will awkwardly push someone into a well or something else, but all from childhood clumsiness). Adults can already cunning, avoid direct confrontation; in the lives of accomplished people there is always something that allows you to somehow carefully, without fatal consequences, resolve conflicts: courts, money ... But teenagers, already able to hurt or even kill, but while poorly able to smooth out sharp corners, due to the radicalism of their decisions, unfortunately, fall into the risk group. That’s why all of us either got into terrible situations in adolescence, or at least heard about them (for example, something happened in the next room, someone from our peers was injured or participated in the massacre of someone).
Don't know. Maybe I’m biased towards such things (well, I have a weakness, I said). And on purpose. But I've seen a couple of horrific cases of teenage violence in my life, like the one in The Witch. I also know examples from literature. I have always been fascinated by these things, I am not afraid of this word. Just for the sake of the fact that I was given to watch such a story, played by pretty young actors in modern cinema against the background of the scant, dry landscapes of the Crimea, I am ready to forgive the film its shortcomings.
And there are many shortcomings. Everything is too artificial, hypertrophied, stereotyped. The witch walks clutched, with long loose hair, disheveled "icicles" (in the pejorative expression of my grandmother). She is poisoned, tortured, but she openly turns her neck to be soaped. At the same time, the girl all the time commits diametrically opposite actions: she saves, then harms, but invariably whispers and mutters incoherent apologies. She is deeply religious, but she does not have the spiritual core characteristic of religious people: rather, this is how the mentally ill behave. And the “wizards”, i.e. ordinary people, are not at all grateful to the witch when she saves them, but gladly mock her when it seems to them that the witch has conjured them and they have received the moral right to revenge on her.
There are so many patterns and stamps that one jumps on one, the third chases. Here is a male educator who is poorly coping with his duties, as if descended from such “canvases” of Khabensky as “Vykrotasy” and “Geographer” (but Kostya begins to reveal his characters at least under the second half of the action, and the character of Anatoly Goryachev until the end remained a rather spineless subject, because of which the rhetorical question arises, whether it is possible to let such a teenager, not better to work as an electrician all his life, in case he will only die, and then children can suffer). Here is a smart girl, in case of need to beg for something for her beloved, ready to give even a devil: In the hearts of such frosts, in the eyes – fire. Here's the main macho of the camp that the big bitch has his eye on. Although - what a macho he is after, what he demonstrates in close proximity to an experienced heartthrob! And here are two pairs, respectively, the girlfriends of the main bitch and the friends of the main "macho": the first two are spinless chicks, serving as maids of honor near Her Majesty or even pieces of furniture of her boudoir; the second two are ridiculous fools that they can only bash, talk, what is necessary and what is not necessary, and small errands of the Glavgadina perform. In fact, all honest company is there: not one, not excluding the witch, any complex, ambiguous and bright character. Oh, yes, there is also the mother of a witch girl, but here I can only say one thing: if Daria Ekamasova really has such a role, then this is some kind of cruelty. Once upon a time, there was a woman, where I recognized this actress, for all its lead-like abomination of wild Russian life, a great film in its own way. "Heavenly wives of meadow Mary" is also an entertaining thing. But here, I wouldn't be willing to play such a disgusting scene for any money if I were her! Why do you want to shoot in this way? Let's call one of those aunts that Glavgadin in the French film "Baise-moi" played! The bus driver, who looks like a real cattle locomotive today, can not be considered for the character of the film: the only function of the episode with him was once again to show that the “wizards” are never grateful to wizards; after all, even perfectly seeing that this girl-witch saved the bus, he still fervently praised not her, but God, kissing a cheap consumer icon.
But on the other hand, isn't that true in life? Maybe they did it right that they did not draw complex characters, but cut down a gaggy, most importantly, not looking so unprecedented, but also not painfully realistic film? There is a meaning, there is a simple message, there is a witch and her adventures. So I got my next dose of questionable pleasure in seeing creepy teenage stories with a not-so-good way to resolve interpersonal conflicts. To the quintessence of school cruelty - the Estonian film "Class" and to the late Soviet film - the personal disaster "Puppet" did not even approach. But approached the line of the heroine-witch Alice Donnikova in the book (not the film!) “Day Watch”. It's a bit of a clumsy camp story. Not for a wide range, but as for me - interesting, not bad.
I would like to end with an explanation of the title of my text, if anyone did not understand. This is a quote from the song of the group “Mill”, where it is simply sung about the burning of a witch at the stake. Clear and clear. Without a moral assessment of the executioners and their victims. A witch is too dangerous to let her live. And let the views and beliefs of ordinary people are rather uncouth and primitive: they say, not like everyone else, too different, then a witch ... But even a witch could at least take into account the generally accepted notions of witches and not so clearly stick out, since she does not live in a lonely cabin in the woods, but in society! Tea, not a small one, moved to 11th grade!
Sometimes I like to watch Russian movies made for television and not for wide screens. It is in such films that young stars are illuminated and very often the cinema itself comes out worthy.
So I watched a new film by Dmitry Fedorov, who in 2006 gave us a kind and touching film Kostyanik. Summer time, who has not seen it, I highly recommend that the children watched Kostyanik in the camp. Only his new film “The Witch” is more like a mixture of the films “Stuffed” and “Kerry”, but more like the latter. The film came out quite well despite different opinions, I would even say with an instructive message for teenagers. The atmosphere of the adolescent world and communication is perfectly presented.
But if you look deeper into the film, the main place is occupied by the drama of a teenager who cannot become part of society because he is not like everyone else. This teenager is an ordinary girl Tonya, quite a nice girl who is a lot all over the country. But closed in, afraid of others and ashamed of themselves. And the reason for this condition is the presence of the girl’s supernatural abilities, which she is trying to suppress in herself. Those around her who learn about her secret immediately call her a witch, and witches, as the story goes, are burned. Well, of course, there are many moments in history when everything incomprehensible and inexplicable was burned because they were afraid.
In our story, there is another girl who has by nature a sexy appearance and a strong character, she is used to getting everything and everyone thanks to her appearance. She's the one who makes everyone else see the monster in Tona calling her a witch. But it's only after Tony's death that everyone knows who to call a witch.
That’s what I liked, that the plot put meaning and instructive message and not just showed a terrible story. Just the message shows the old truth that appearance can be deceptive and beauty can hide the essence of the “witch”. In this case, the witch is a collective image of the negative behavior of women. And for the reflection of an instructive story in adolescence, we can say a special thank you. Now there is very little domestic material that would somehow positively educate young people on modern realities.
The acting game deserves special attention. Of course, the performance of the lead actor Maria Baeva is very convincing and deserves praise. But the breakthrough for me personally was the performer of the negative role Sofia Shutkina. The fact that the actress is very beautiful, she is also very talented. In addition to natural magnetism and charisma, she has an incredible energy, literally all the acting in the film is based on her. I hope that it will go higher and not get lost among TV soap series, it has a very high potential.
In general, the film has minor shortcomings, but the instructive meaning and play of Sofia Shutkina deserve a solid 7 points.
7 out of 10
Before watching, I tuned in for an hour and a half of noble arthouse boredom, with long Tarkovsky shots and meaningful silence of the characters. I will say right away that the film did not live up to expectations.
But already from the start it became obvious that I in my expectations – insidiously deceived. The episodes are dramatic, full of bright characters with solid, believable characters.
Moreover, it turned out that everything is in order with the dynamics. I mean, she's present. And the movie is pretty fast.
Plus “The Witch” was also a horror movie with quite a Stevenking plot. It's not that scary. But the mystical plaque covers the plot design with a noble patina. It does not stupefy or cheapen.
There's another fine line. This is the ability to believably show the world of a modern teenager, relationships in a teenage team. On the one hand, there is a great temptation to move to thrash (a la Gai Germanica), on the other hand, to leafiness, falsity and chusky. But neither happened. And that is merit.
The lead actress Maria Baeva is a phenomenal actress, and I want to think that she still uses her potential.
Very well worked the operator, densely stuffed "Witch" picturesque shots. A good and complex technique of shooting - for example, inside a fire, or under the bottom of a bus falling into the abyss. Plus beautiful, with taste and mood selected music.
The 16+ rating was given to the Witch. This is the right and proper teenage film. At the same time, the 12+ rating is given to openly vulgar and useless comedies.