The impetus for watching this film was clearly influenced by the presence in the lead role of Sergei Bezrukov.
The family of Gordej Bragin barely makes ends meet, besides he is obliged to pay a debt for the sins of his brother. Desperate Gorday does not know what to do, but he is rescued by a gold mine that makes an ordinary peasant a rich and powerful man. And many changes in the life of Gordej and his relatives.
I liked the film because it touches on important topics, namely how wealth changes a person. The whole film is dragged by Sergey Bezrukov, playing his role at the highest level. I couldn’t have any doubts about his acting, I don’t remember him having bad acting, unless he had bad characters who became so through the director’s fault and not the actor himself. The plot of the film is interesting, it is submitted sincerely, and in conjunction with the stunning game Bezrukov brings “Gold” to a worthy level. His character changes over the course of the film’s narrative, and every change he makes is unconditionally believed and treated accordingly. Andrey Merzlikin was also pleased.
A separate positive point would like to note the costumes and locations present in the picture, which perfectly recreate the atmosphere of long past times.
While watching, I did not cease to worry about the hero of the picture with the speaking name of Gordaeus, and if you are worried about any of the characters, then the film is already successful. The film "Gold" has succeeded, it has a soul.
In the movie "Gold" everything is good, I give him the highest rating, I want to tell about everything in order:
1) an exciting plot - eternal and relevant today. The script was based on the novel by Mamin-Sibiryak about the life of Russia at the end of the XIX century, the authors of the film managed to preserve the feeling of that time and at the same time create a “universal”, timeless history, very close and understandable to the inhabitant of modern Russia.
2) images of the main characters - members of the Bragin family empathize, sympathize, observe the change in the personality of the protagonist, no less interesting is the image of the prosecutor, who was magnificently played Merzlikin;
3) Acting work - all the actors coped wonderfully with the roles, separately I want to highlight Bezrukov, in my opinion, this is one of his best roles - the image he managed to create, surprisingly lively and bright, often so vivid that it becomes scary;
4) Directorial work - all accents are correctly, clearly, and eminent actors (Porechenkov, Merzlyakov), and less well-known play "in the same key", without knocking out, without creating dissonance. Andrey Marmontov did not leave an unpleasant feeling of understatement, as happens very often after our premium films. The actions and behavior of the characters do not cause doubts and questions, all the characters are “convex”, alive, like people, and not strange creatures living according to the laws of cinema.
5) Operational work - very beautiful mise-en-scene, expressive close-ups, beautiful landscapes of Russian nature, successfully incorporated into the plot, and not separated from it.
6) editing work - the narrative does not break, the authors managed to create tension that you feel until the last frame.
The only drawback of (and that, it's more nitpicking) - costumes of female characters. Why is it that both the mother and wife of the main character are dressed like Don Cossacks, even though the case takes place in the Urals? There were also Cossacks, but their clothes are completely different - embroidered sundress with a plume. But that doesn’t lower the film’s score.
“Money spoils people” is a simple, long-held truth with which hardly anyone is already arguing. This is a story about how a person changes, suddenly enriched, but not worthy of his wealth, which blinds him from habit. Yes, as you can guess, everything is quite banal and predictable (in terms of revealing the moral urge), but there is no dullness in terms of the storyline through which morality is revealed: the development of events is fascinating, the next steps are difficult to predict. Those who have read the literary basis for this film may want to see something more in its adaptation; the rest of the film will probably seem very complete, rich, and viewed in one breath. And let the topic is not new, but another variation of events and emotions, based on the problem of those to whom money clouds their minds, in this case, is very successful.
Beautiful shots, magnificent Russian nature, well-drawn village life, colorful characters. Based on my subjective perception, I will say that such actors as Merzlikin, Porechenkov, and in general, and Bezrukov, due to their excessive recognition, slightly outshine the characters themselves. Again, this is a very subjective view: I feel closer when an actor is not very bright, so it is easier to hide him in the character. In “Gold”, for this reason, I liked the images of the wife of the main character and their son.
A few words about the Bezrukov game. This is the moment that will not leave indifferent. After watching the film, you will definitely get an impression of the actor’s play, and whether or not it will be positive depends on your preferences. Many people don’t like the “replay” of Bezrukov. I agree, there are moments like this. Although in many scenes without this increased actor’s emotionality there would be a serious “failure”, and the frame without Bezrukov’s skill would lose its ability to “bring to goosebumps”. One reviewer noted: Seryozha has only two images, two roles, which he constantly plays from film to film. This is his Yesenin and his Sasha White. Indeed, it is very felt in "Gold" is the absence of semitones. Edaky Yesenin is a peasant, a good-natured Orthodox, and then suddenly Sasha Bely turns on sharply in the form of a self-dumb-gold digger. Perhaps because of this, the change of the main character occurred somehow too sharply and unnaturally.
The above — perhaps all the disadvantages that I noticed, otherwise — a very good film. Look for sure: even if the impression remains not the best, you will nevertheless definitely find something that you will like in this film.
8 out of 10
Yesterday I unexpectedly got to the film club "Eldar" at the Moscow festival of domestic cinema. The film “Gold” was shown, with Bezrukov, Porechenkov and Irina Skobtseva. Irina Konstantinovna herself came to say a few words before the start of the screening, and you know, it was the best moment of the whole evening. She's an amazing woman. She's 87. In this case, even in my mind does not arise the word “old woman”. This is a chic lady with an abyss of hidden charm and a fantastically young voice. For 15-20 minutes, she managed to tell several episodes of her biography, joke, brag, flirt and leave the hall of the absolute queen of the evening.
By the way, one of the episodes was like this. “A director calls me,” I.K. says, “and offers me a role in the series.” I ask, what kind of role, do what? He responds by playing a former operetta actress who broke her leg and lies in bed. Don’t worry, don’t do anything, just lie down. “And why then me?” – wonders I. K. – “there the director is torn down and explains that this is how, the name and face – this is the main thing.”
In general, she refused this role, although she joked on the topic that it was in vain - she would rest, lie down for several hours, relax.
That's all I'm saying. Despite the fact that in the “Gold” I.K. role is quite meaningful, in fact it is also a face + surname. Because when a woman with the appearance of an aging countess plays a Ural peasant woman, with all due respect, it looks completely unnatural. Actually, casting is, oddly enough, the main problem of the film.
The plot is as simple as a valenok: (a few details for those who have not read Mamin-Sibirak) gold and evil are words of one root. It turned out somehow too didactic, in the style of elementary school teachers:
Tell me, Vovochka, what did the author want to say in this book in this film?
Gold destroys personality, Mar Ivanovna.
Despite the obvious desire to make the film dramatic and deep, it turned out too straightforward, and therefore boring. At the same time, actors are often just godlessly overplaying. I love Bezrukov, but there is so much of him here that just ripples in his eyes, and every time it is on the verge (or beyond) of hysteria, which is emotionally exhausting. Again, speaking of casting: after all, a peasant, even brazen and rich ... well, this is not his role. We need someone simpler and simpler. Actually, I liked only two acting works here - the boy Mikhalka (perhaps the only one who did not overplay, and looked organically) and the prosecutor. The last one was just such a gust of fresh air in a standing swamp. Imagine warm, calm earthy shades, soft folds of simple peasant clothes and against their background a spectacular combination of ice bright white and contrasting green in a coupe with the severity and official uniform:
- Who's Turgenev? Are you a gold miner?
- Oh, village, you did not read Dostoevsky either.
It’s like the movie was planned to make a series (as we like it), and in this particular case, I think everything will look better in the series. Dilute the torment and hysteria of Bezrukov, add some cute household details, perhaps the storyline will branch slightly, the images will turn out a little more interesting ... Maybe I'll reconsider.
I can’t say I’m completely disappointed with the film (because I expected the worst of the gold mine drama), but honestly, it turned out so. Which is a pity, of course.
I will not say that I was surprised by the work of Sergei Bezrukov in the film “Gold”. I will say that I was struck by his fury and in the positive and disgusting soul of man.
Until recently, I thought that his psychotechnics arose in the Brigade, safely passed through a one-sided (drinking, women, scandals) picture depicting the life of Yesenin. She did not stumble on Pushkin (the kingdom of heaven to the poet), amazed the viewer with stunts with makeup in Vysotsky. A special place, of course, is occupied by Jesus.
But Gordej Bragin from Mamin-Sibirak is real in every sense. Spectacular, tense to hysterics, touching to a lump in the throat, believable at all peaks of human emotions.
That's the point. A fairy tale about gold and trouble is quite literary and appropriate, decorating the beginning and, in principle, the end. Title "1872." Ural says a lot to the viewer, but commentators and reviewers are not all. The city of Kungur (the place of filming) for some reason was sent to the Sverdlovsk region from the Perm region, but it does not matter. The homeland is big - this was known and understood by the classical writer, thank God, many Russian filmmakers now understand this.
I thank the producer and director for addressing the classics, the pro actor for his work, the viewer for his attention to our cinema.
"Gold" - a Russian film shot in 2008 and released only in early 2014 (after 6 years); in the main roles - People's Artist of the Russian Federation Sergey Bezrukov, remarkable actors Andrey Merzlikin and Mikhail Porechenkov; a film about our history, but at the same time values that are relevant today; a film that preaches "good", "fairness of the Lord, "," which is useful to people in the first place, and in the film, which is not worthy of reading;
This drama, with a small budget, collected a paltry 26,000 USD at the box office and constantly faced financial problems, and the money for it was collected by virtually ordinary people (look at the final credits).
“What men do” is a hastily invented “pseudo-film”, which has no semantic load, lacking the adequacy and purpose of creation, except how to knock out from the mass audience another few million “green” in their already considerable pocket, propagating to the young population (the most important viewer of this) promiscuous sex, debauchery and permissiveness, a film that has no problems finding funding, in the presence of a bright glossy picture, in the main roles – the idols of the TV channel of garage youth, who under no circumstances will receive only very short ones.
Box office – about 11 million USD, a wide advertising campaign and satisfied faces of the creators.
Question: What are we going to do? ...
This film is the golden nugget, which is not just possible, but should be watched by the younger generation. The creators dressed the film in a golden hue (not by chance) and it is periodically supplemented by a beautiful Russian legend. The central figure in the film is the change of a person after gaining untold wealth and power in his hands. From a simple stupid good peasant Gordey Bragin turns into a ruthless and greedy tyrant and the selection of the actor for the main role was more faithful than ever. Another emotional role Bezrukov came out on "Hurrah!" and is a brilliant work of the most popular and, perhaps, the most talented actor in Russian cinema, however, a couple of times spoiled by the obvious copying of Sasha Bely. In general, for the titanic acting work done by Sergei, I want to applaud mercilessly. He deserved it rightfully.
If you look at the creators of this drama, then it begs a comparison with the “Real Tale” led by the same Sergey Bezrukov and released a couple of years later. Both films have a lot in common: Andrey Marmontov (director), Sergey Bezrukov, Maxim Shibaev, Anna German (actors), the same difficulties with funding, the same messages of goodness and love, these are instructive films about the eternal. And if "Real ..." is something fabulous, then "Gold" is the most that neither is alive and real, what really could be.
The character of Bezrukov is really pathetic. It is a pity that he is not alone in such a sad denouement. “Neither we are, life is like this” – a similar slogan from Boomer will be very appropriate in this film. After all, that deception in the tavern, cunning, lying Chinushi, carefree flour throwing in the hungry years by the local nobility - all this is an integral part of the influence on Gordej Bragin, which resulted in such a Gordej, as he became in the finale of the film. However, do not forget about the female component. His beloved mother (Irina Skobtseva), constantly putting sticks in his wheels and irritating with her behavior caused a storm of indignation and gave every reason to expect some meanness from her son. That's what happened to promissory notes. The wife (Darya) also did not stay away. Until the middle of the film, being the very good that balances all the small anger in the Bragin family, at the end she became another assistant to the tragedy of Gorday.
The brightest game is unconditional in Bezrukov, the female component is inconclusive, with the exception of Irina Skobtseva, but the men's line in the face of episodic Porechenkov and interesting Merzlikin is very good. The most interesting thing is that the main representatives of the brightest crime films of the beginning of zero clashed in the film: Bezrukov (" Brigade), Merzlikin (" Boomer), Porechenkov (" National Security Agent). Playing teenagers: Maxim Shibaev and Love Kulikov have something to strive for.
Interesting analogies with modern life - Alenka: give me gold - I will give you a man's pleasure (an obvious reference to the commodity-exchange club life), the Bragin line - the prosecutor: I would have an English car - so what's the matter, buy - so expensive - so help me and there will be no fees (elementary corruption in the modern power elite) and such examples are found at every step, and very interestingly veiled and demonstrated to the viewer. There is actually no humor, it is difficult to say where you can find comedy here.
This film is a hope that despite the prevalence of low-quality films in a wide distribution, in our country they are able to shoot a sincere, kind, instructive film, so necessary for the younger generation and "Gold" is a brilliant example of all these characteristics, and in combination with the beautiful play of Sergei Bezrukov, stunning views of pristine Russian nature, ancient Russian life and interesting dialogues, the film deserves very high praise. Not the best, but definitely the best.
Good movie. Educative. Well shows our modern "golden" world and "golden" age. It is a pity that money means so much in our time that so much has been sold. And the picture shows how people change under the influence of money. I liked the story of Alenka, a very modern story, about how young people themselves can not deal with their feelings and eventually there is a mutual misunderstanding. Or maybe this is a test, a test of all of us, gold, money, power, a test of strength, a test of soul? I like the movie, I recommend it.
Russian classics are immortal, wise and always by time. Any talented work has no reference to the era - it is relevant in our time. So Mamin-Sibiryak in “Wild Happiness”, which became the basis of the script, the themes rise eternally. Family, home, God. Gold, greed, pride. Cynical dealers and corrupt prosecutors. The book is worthy.
Now to the movie. Even though I don’t like lubok, I took to watch because I have an interest in the works of Merzlikin and honor Porechenkov’s talent. The movie is objectively good, kind, touching, bearing a certain morality. The mesmerizing Ural landscapes are so rods from the screen that sometimes they can even distract from the plot. The entourage is recreated almost immaculately, except that it is too flattering and too carefully at times, almost as in some advertising about a house in the village, which naturally does not add credibility to the picture.
Roles. Let's start with the main one. It is difficult to overestimate the merits of Sergey Bezrukov.
Demanded artist who has passed a difficult, thorny path from the image of Sasha Bely to the image of Yeshua in the famous series Bortko. Infinitely cursed by criticism and also infinitely loved by the people. I sincerely believe (and will be crucified by his fans) - Seryozha has only two images, two roles, which he constantly plays from film to film. This is his Yesenin and his Sasha White. Light and dark. He has nothing else. No halftones, no shades. In the story, a simple working peasant falls into a debt pit and is forced to look for happiness in the gold mines for the sake of feeding his family, where unexpected wealth awaits him. The richer Gordej Bragin is, the more wealth he needs. Greed sharpens his soul and heart like a worm. They all turn away from him, his wife and son, and good people. One of his gold. Accordingly, here Bezrukov was first a shirt-guy Ryazan, and then, creaking included Sasha Bely. At the same time, Seryozha constantly overplays, and the director also deliberately delays all these aaahmoments, so that the viewer penetrated, as in the fire episode. Alas, but Bezrukov Sergey is a big, promising artist, popularly recognized and loved. Now for the actors.
Merzlikin as entrenched confident strong middle peasant in my mind, so they remain. Starting with the role in the sensational film Buslov, which gave him a ticket to a big movie and until the last, he did not compromise himself with anything. He did not star in candid shit, worked with different images, worked well, convincingly and, no doubt, Andrew’s best roles ahead. In “Gold”, the actor not without difficulty, but expressively drew an unclean prosecutor in the hand of pre-revolutionary times. Such a small, faint-hearted, cowardly human being, a kind of Chatsky, who has long sold his soul for card debts.
With his short role, he removes everyone. The episode with the merchant Eremeev I watched three times. A very talentedly worked out game, every movement, every look, intonation, posture. Well done, Misha. A good actor, although more realizing himself in the theater; however, he does not hesitate to shoot shitty action films and act in them.
For the undoubtedly gifted Anna Herman, judging by her filmography, this is the first serious role and she coped with a confident four. The light of the crown of Seryozha almost did not eclipse her.
Summarize - the time spent watching is not boring and sometimes not even without pleasure. I don’t like people and folk artists. Worthy promotion of the film and the support of state channels – the audience would be much wider.
What does God have to do with it if you're not seeing well?
Old as the world story about the curse of wealth “Gold” with Sergei Bezrukov in the title role came out in the Russian rental with a delay as much as two years.
The film based on the novel by the Ural writer Dmitry Mamin-Sibiryak “Wild happiness”, turned out to be strong, in truth with the Russian soul and pain.
Screening of domestic classics is always a time-consuming business, often ungrateful and requiring solid investments. The budget of the painting “Gold” is not known for sure, but there are neither expensive scenery (although residents of the village of Chusov, Sverdlovsk region protested against the necessary burning of one of the mansions), nor special effects. The film's trump card is its cast.
Sergei Bezrukov plays the role of Gordey Bragin, a simple Ural merchant and at the beginning of the story of a good father of the family, a simple and God-fearing peasant. Everything changes overnight, when trouble comes to the house and Bragin has to pay the card debts of his deceased brother. “Pan or gone,” as they say.
As it seems at first glance, a happy accident saves Bragin, dying Markush, reveals to him the secret where the gold deposit is located. Having paid off his debts, Gorday begins to realize that he is now rich.
Forgetting that happiness can not buy - Bezrukov's hero goes into all seriousness, oppressing his wife and mother, losing friends and explaining to his eldest son that everything in this world is bought and sold.
Ideal images were created by the actors of the film - a speech about Skobtseva, and about Merzlikin, and about Porechenkov. Not to mention Bezrukov himself, who surprisingly subtly conveyed the radical transformation of his character. The tape is saturated with really catchy phrases: "Russia will be ruined by ignorance!", "This is a game - buy a prosecutor," "God has anything to do with it if you start to see poorly?" "Lose, pay" etc.
The picture makes a powerful, indelible impression, undeniably touch the viewer. A lot of questions will arise in your head: is this the wealth that most of us aspire to? Can we save ourselves by touching the forbidden? Is there a limit to one of the worst sins - pride?
Everyone will have their own answer.
I watched the latest domestic x/f "Gold" in the cinema yesterday.
This picture is an adaptation of the classic work “Wild happiness” of the glorious genius of the land of the Urals Dmitry Narkisovich Mamin-Sibiryak.
Praise to the madmen who decided to invest their (and state ones too) blood in the film adaptation of Mamin-Sibiryak at the beginning of the XXI century. For the book, that the film is not glorified by gold and money in general, but rather, on the contrary, depicts the tragedy of a strong man who succumbed to the charm of a golden demon. Let’s take a look at Jack London’s books.
The movie... Well, what can I say here... Filmed with us, in the Urals, in Yekaterinburg (about which it was well said in the film that only Peter and Bordeaux are cooler than him), Kungur and Chusovsky.
The village and the mine are shown very well. But the main thing in this picture is the acting. Everyone plays just fine, but still it is impossible not to mention especially Bezrukov, Merzlikin and Kabalnov. And even Porechenkov in a very small role was more than good. However, Bezrukov and this time outplayed everyone. How he played! from a simple good man to a millionaire obsessed with yellow metal.
This film, and it is simply necessary to note, turned out to be in line with the Soviet tradition of filming the classics of the “golden age” of domestic literature, and in the tradition of Russian literature 2/2 XIX.
In fact, this is the story of the rise and fall, the history of sin and the history of repentance. and a good illustration to the words as that for the soul of each person relentlessly fighting angel with hell, and that sometimes the Russian person suddenly becomes unbearably bored to live an ordinary life. and then he in a drunken banquet with his head as in a whirlpool, and in the summer he will dissect on the three, and sin and repent truly with a universal scope ...
Good drama. Strong, in some places just shrill. It is very sad that this has almost no advertising support and the film is in small halls of not all cinemas, even in us, in Yekaterinburg.
p.s.
I am proud to have watched Vladimir Kabalnov play on stage more than once, and in this film he played just fine. Although a secondary, but very characteristic role fell to him.
Gordej Bragin had a wonderful life: money was not so much, but in his large family reigned a truly beautiful atmosphere. One day, an Orthodox hero rescues a strange man from a gang of bandits who turns out to be his long-lost brother Makar. Soon, he dies and after his death, a bailiff appears, announcing that now all the debts of the wanderer are on the conscience of Gordaeus and his family. The debt, of course, is unbearable for a simple peasant from the countryside. Fortunately, Makar not just plowed the vast forests of the Urals, but was looking for gold and even found a mine. After a while, the money almost starts to flow. This leads to discord in the Bragin family and brings them many troubles, one of which is a huge number of people who want to get their weighty piece of the golden pie.
It is probably worth starting with the fact that this film was created for a very long time and it is connected not so much with difficult material as with financial problems. Despite all the troubles that the creators of “Gold” experienced on themselves, the movie still reached the domestic audience. Not to say that I was very much waiting for this tape, but the presence in it of the magnificent Sergey Bezrukov set up a positive mood. And the primary source, which is the story of the famous writer Mamin-Sibiryak “Wild happiness”, caused complete confidence. In the end, something was not entirely clear. It seems that everything looks good: the picture is wonderful, the operator just revels in the beauty of the Ural nature, the storyline carries a lot of relevant moral urges to this day, and the actor’s benefit is simply fantastic Bezrukov and completely fascinating. But with all this, clearly lacked some integrity that would bring the “Gold” to a higher level.
If you immediately focus on the shortcomings, then first of all I want to mention the absolutely inappropriate for the end of the nineteenth century soundtrack. Here it seems clear that there should be tense and dramatic music with Russian motives, and instead the authors for some reason include something very similar to the mixture of Hans Zimmer from “Inception” and his “Man of Steel”. At least it looked ridiculous. Also, somehow too modern looked Yekaterinburg of that time, although the efforts of the production artists cannot be left unnoticed. And if you note the most important minus, then this is undoubtedly excessive protractedness. If you cut Gold by half an hour, it would be much better. Otherwise, everything was done fairly well and it is clear that the director Andrey Marmontov, together with his film crew, performed a very large amount of work. But without its main star, the tape would lose all its charisma and visibility.
Sergey Bezrukov puts one hundred and one percent in each scene and pulls all the action on his limitless talent. Thanks to his efforts, it was a pleasure to observe the metamorphoses of Gordej Bragin, turning from a pretty peasant into a paranoid, malicious and domineering gold miner. In fact, everything in this film rests on him and Sergey coped perfectly with his primary task. Especially remembered a stunning scene with the interrogation of the family about the disappearance of promissory notes and his “don’t bring your mother to sin”, which literally shivered. In general, only for the sake of Bezrukov's efforts, "Gold" is worthy of the audience's attention.
Of the other actors remembered Andrey Merzlikin in the role of the prosecutor, ready for all humiliation for profit, Irina Skobtseva, who played the mother of the main character, as well as Mikhail Porechenkov. The screen time of the latter did not exceed five minutes, but his character plays a key role in revealing the main urge of the film. Money and power are only a game whose price is life. However, these moral teachings are as old as the story of Mamin-Siberian. And besides, in our time this is definitely no surprise, although from those time immemorial in this regard little has changed. This is the most frustrating thing.
Summing up, I want to note that the film turned out to be much more interesting than I personally expected, although it is still very, very far from ideal. “Gold” did not leave behind almost any memories, except for the exceptional performance of Bezrukov, although all the prerequisites for becoming something big and memorable in this picture certainly were. So, the final assessment is only as follows: