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Resurrecting Russian Cinema
Russian film fever is upon us! We check out some of the highlights at this year's Russian Resurrection Film Festival.
The Russian Resurrection Film Festival, which rolls out at Palace Cinemas around the country every year, has become an anticipated staple of the Australian festival circuit and with good reason. Now in its seventh year, this year's line-up presents the usual diverse selection of Russian cinematic fare, from epic dramas, romantic comedies, to political satires.
While this year's program reveals films with a strong Russian flavour, it also includes its fair share of mainstream box office hits with a number of movies revealing traits akin to Hollywood. It's a characteristic which Russian director Timur Bekmambetov recognises in his own work.
"I was growing up in the Soviet Union and was deeply influenced by the Russian cinema of course," he reflects. "However I had a great chance not only to see the Hollywood movies but to see how it is made. All my works are influenced by both Russian and Hollywood cinematography."
Indeed one can see both trends evident in the filmmaker's resume. Having directed the Russian fantasy/horror box office hits Night Watch and Day Watch and also making his Hollywood debut with the popular comic book adaptation Wanted, Bekmambetov has proven his inclination toward creating enjoyable blockbusters, evident by his two films selected in this year's festival line-up.
Taking the producer's chair, the first of Bekmambetov's films set to screen at the festival is the action packed modern fantasy, Black Lightning. The film follows a young college student (played by Grigoriy Dobrygin) who is having no luck with the girl of his dreams until he comes into possession of a flying car that transforms him into a superhero.
Bekmambetov, who was too busy at the time to undertake directorial duties for the film, offered it to his friend Alexander Voytinskiy who made his feature debut with Black Lightning. "At first it was a thriller about street racers, without any flying cars. Alexander liked the idea and he promised to think it over and came back two or three weeks later with a completely new story. He said he would only agree to be the director if our Volga flies!"
The other Bkmambetov film set to screen at the festival - which he did direct - is the big screen romantic fairy tale, Irony of Fate 2. Reprising the beloved Soviet New Year's Eve romantic comedy but only thirty years later, this modern remake highlights the enormous transformations in politics, fashion, and lifestyle over the past three decades. At the same time a continuation of the first film, the leading characters from the original story now have children, who face the same romantic obstacles as their parents once had.
Starring in the Irony of Fate 2 is Konstantin Khabenskiy who has previously worked with Bekmambetov on the Night Watch and Day Watch films. "It is interesting to work with Timur, because he is always a searching and thinking person," the actor says. "He is trying to learn something and we, together with him, are either also learning something or are making mistakes, or making some kind of discoveries."
Khabenskiy also stars in The Miracle (pictured), an intriguing festival film which explores the notion of faith as the Soviet Union emerged from its totalitarian Communist phase. Based on an alleged true story, the film follows a young woman who is suddenly frozen when she clutches a picture of St Nicholas. Khabenskiy plays a cynical Moscow journalist who is sent to investigate the incident.
"I wanted to work with the director, Alexander Anatolievich Proshkin," Khabenskiy recalls. "It so happened, that after I first met him, we were not able to actually work together, but I did not let this second opportunity pass. It was a brilliant script and I respect Alexander very much."
The 2010 festival program also features a World War II retrospective commemorating 65 years since the end of the War. Part of the War Retrospective will be timeless classics such as Tarkovsky's Ivan's Childhood and Cannes Festival winner The Cranes are Flying.
There is also a selection of insightful documentaries including Alexander Pozdnyakov's The Other Side of the Camera which reflects on the life of famous Saint Petersburg film director, Alexei German, who created his own unique style that influenced the formation of the famous Leningrad school of film.
The Resurrection Film Festival will run in Sydney (August 19-September 1), Melbourne (August 25-September 5), Brisbane (September 1-8), Perth (September 8-15), Adelaide (September 9-15) and Canberra (September 15-19). For more information, visit the festival. website.