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Cannes Silent Movies

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Cannes Silent Movies

20.05.2016


A real “Legion of Honour” gathered at the 69th Cannes Film Festival, which ends this Sunday – every name here is an icon of modern cinema. No Russian films are included in the main competition list this year, but interesting works of Russian authors are still included in several competition programmes.

Australian director George Miller is the President of the Jury this year. He is specialized in high-budget films in general and “silent movies” of Cannes is a stress of a kind for him. The winners will be named soon. Now, the Jury is regarding a German movie “Toni Erdmann” as the leader. It tells about the relationship between a father and a grown-up daughter; all the actors are great in it.

Kirill Serebrennikov’s “Uchenik (The Student)” is included into the “Un Certain Regard” category. A performance named “(M)uchenik” (translator’s note – Martyr) is now on stage of the Moscow's “Gogol-Centre”; the performance was directed by Serebrennikov, both the play and the film were written on basis of a play by Marius von Mayenburg. Apart from the director, it was also presented by actors Petr Skvortsov, Alexandr Gorchilin, Victoria Isakova and a young producer Ilya Stuart.  

Serebrennikov came to the Festival with a talisman. A schoolgirl passed him a bracelet during the last shooting day and said “Take it to Cannes”. It all came true. Sati Spivakova, brothers Igor and Vadim Verniks came to support Kirill, Marius von Mayenburg came from Germany. He missed the opening night of the performance due to political considerations.  

Martha Keller, an actress from Switzerland, who acted in the Nikita Mikhalkov’s film “Dark Eyes”, is the head of the “Un Certain Regard” jury and definitely has a special attitude towards Russian cinema. She will tell about her preferences a day before the festival’s closing day.

“Uchenik (The Student)” was shot in Kaliningrad and near it last summer. Petrs Skvortsov, a graduate of the Moscow Art Theatre played the leading role in the film. His hero Veniamin, enters into a conflict with his biology teacher; Victoria Isakova played the role. The action is transferred from Germany to Russia. So, the school where the whole drama is going on, is more than recognizable.  

Serebrennikov’s “Uchenik (The Student)”

Julia Aug’s role is one of the best in “Uchenik”. She could not come to the festival because she is issuing a performance in the Taganka Theatre. She played a lone mum, working her fingers to the bone at three jobs for the beloved son. 

And he is a troubled teenager and puts her to a lot of trouble – he does not go to the swimming pool, although they almost make him do that at school. He declares that it bruises his religious feelings. Venya is always preaching, he takes off his clothes as a sign of protest against the educational system itself. His head is in a muddle. He is an aggressive, would-be religious fanatic, although it is shown in the movie unconvincingly. When the teacher gives the class carrots and condoms as teaching aids, Venya shows the class what hell is. The movie is vivid, but it still lacks the emotional power for the viewer to empathize. The film was taken dubiously at the festival – many accused it of being too theatrical. The most of accusations were about the direct quotes from the Bible that follow the action.

Garri Bardin came to the Festival after many years. 28 years ago, he received “Palme d’Or” for his short film “Freaks”. Now his 10-minute-long film “Listening to Beethoven” is participating in prestigious programme “Director’s fortnight”.  

– This festival is the main starting point after the Lumiere brothers. And the fact that I am here is only confirming my profession, says Garri Bardin. – The people, who love my films, had collected the budget for it. There is no computer graphics, it took a year and a half to shoot it. The National Symphony Orchestra headed by Vladimir Spivakov, recorded music for the film absolutely free.

“Listening to Beethoven” by G. Bardin

Green sprouts are trying to grow through grey plates and asphalt on the screen, and horrible machines destroy them right away. In the end, the Earth becomes a green garden, the viewer sees the flowers blossom. It is impossible to destroy the willingness to live and to be free. The head of the “Director’s fortnight” said about the film: “Thank you for the symphony of life”.  

Both Serebrennikov and Bardin were acting themselves, when sending their films to the Festival. The films do not have state support. The “Uchenik” was bought by several European countries and there is still no Russian film distributor for it.

Starting from 1959 when the Cannes Festival was first created, a certain country is being chosen as a headliner; this year, Russia was chosen. The board of directors of the Festival knows that 2016 is the Year of Cinema in Russia. On this occasion, pancakes with caviar were served at the banquet dedicated to opening of the film market and Russian films, mostly blockbusters were actively advertised at the stands.  

Dima Bilan, who played the leading part in the “Hero” movie, was persistently following us from magazines and advertising posters. “Flight Crew” by Nikolai Lebedev was also actively advertised. And a new Fedor Bondarchuk’s film “Attraction” was successfully sold to China, where it will be distributed in a massive amount of copies, although it has not been finished yet.

“Attraction” was filmed in IMAX format. Vice-President of the company noticed fresh faces in the screen, watching the film. Indeed, actors yet unknown to the wide audience, played in the film. Its main star is Oleg Menshikov.  

There is no accurate information about the film yet. The creators fear leakage, which does not increase the attention to the movie according to them. It is only known, that extraterrestrial beings land in a commuter area of Moscow. Budget of the film is 520 million dollars, including promotional campaign and post-production expenditures.

Russian pavilion was actively working in the festival village, it has expanded a lot this year. During the first day, Vera Glagoleva and Fedor Bondarchuk visited it; Vladimir Hotinenko came on the closing day. Russian filmmakers presented their new projects during the Festival.

Leader of “Mumiy Troll” band Ilya Lagutenko presented his film “SOS Sailor!”, which will be made on his own expenditure. It tells about a popular band’s journey from Vladivostok to the USA. Its director is a popular music video director Danny Drysdale. The advertising poster includes a teapot, where storm is raging and a ship is swinging on the waves.  

“Mumiy Troll”, “SOS Sailor!”

A 57-year-old debutant Sergey Sarkisov, who is on the “Forbes” list of 20 most affluent people, is the producer and director of a short film “Floating On”. His son Nikolay Sarkisov was his father’s creative director. They have many plans – up to making film versions of “The Brothers Karamazov”, “The Life of Klim Samgin” and works of Hemingway.

“Volga” Film Company announced at the film market that it is finishing the work on a screenplay to a mystic horror “Bride”. Its scriptwriters are Marina and Sergey Dyachenko, who live in the USA and work in the genre of sci-fi and tales. They are known by their works “On-Drakon”, “The Inhabited Island”, series “Dark World 2: Equilibrium” and “The White Guard”.

Anastasia Razlogova presented an experimental film “Touch of Wind” at the film market. The project started as dramatic and it was filmed by debutant Olga Veremeeva. Soon, documental scenes were filmed by the Marina Razbezhkina’s student Elena Demidova.  

They were filmed in Buryatia; the creators were able to communicate its spirit and the presence of spirits the locals can communicate with. We see Buryatia through the eyes of actress Julia Aug. She is going to Buryatia from Moscow for the first time and it is all miraculous for her. But the main miracle is herself.

But there is a distance; her hero is not Julia Aug herself. It cannot be easily understood where the truth is and where is artistic fiction - does she really come to her lover from student life to tell him about their common daughter or not.

“Touch of Wind” by O. Veremeeva and E. Demidova

Apart from Buryatiya, the action is going on in Moscow, at “Theatre.doc”. Julia comes there wearing a red dress in order to be remembered. She declares a strange monologue: “I come at stage and say the truth. In the real world, I am always lying”. What an astonishing portrait of an actress! The film does not end in anything and, as Julia Aug says, it is not the result what matters, but the journey itself.  

A programme of the next International Moscow Film Festival was announced during the Cannes Film Festival, and completely new persons to many Lyuba Balagova and Mikhi Kandur presented a new International Sochi Film Festival, which is planned to be held in December.

Lyuba is a poet and a director, she was born in Kabardino-Balkaria and spent the previous 20 years in England. Mokhi is a writer and he also lives in Great Britain. There is a lot of skepticism about the new initiative, but they also have a powerful support. Will they succeed in Russia? Well, wait and see.

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