The 10th anniversary festival of young cinema Voices has ended in the Vologda region. The program includes Russian debuts and European premieres, many of which came to Russia directly from the Cannes Film Festival. The key event is the screening of Alexander Sokurov’s latest film Fairy Tale, which the director introduced and then discussed with the audience. Permanent author of BURO. Katya Zagvozkina has returned from Vologda and talks about the main films of the festival.
“FAIRY TALE” ALEXANDER SOKUROV
Voices’ strongest impression is Skazka, Alexander Sokurov’s latest film, which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival last year. We can talk about the plot only conditionally, presumably, in limbo (in the background you can see the ruins of Rome; the rostrum on Red Square and the impenetrable forest, it would seem, from Dante’s “Divine Comedy”) four leaders contemporaries roam – Stalin, Hitler, Churchill and Mussolini – and their counterparts. The bosses discuss (each in their own language) the attitudes, exploits and uniforms of the others, and exchange scathing comments as they wait to be assigned to the next one. Jesus and Napoleon appear briefly. For those who are interested in the technical side of the problem, how Sokurov managed to bring the leaders back to life – they are drawn on a computer using deep fake technology (the audience is told about this at the beginning of the film).
Watching “Fairy Tale” is not an easy viewing experience. Like Sokurov’s other late films, The Tale is a riddle of quotations and references. Some of them are from the school curriculum (“Having gone through half of earthly life,” the heroes repeat), others are more difficult to unravel. The deciphering of this puzzle rests with the viewer and is largely determined by their perspective and attitude towards the characters in the film. Sokurov has long been interested in the nature of power (one of the director’s main projects of the last 20 years is The Tetralogy of Power – four films about dictators, respectively). And “Fairy Tale” continues this search. The most obvious interpretation of the tape is that it is a statement against leadership as such, any ideology of superiority – communism, fascism, Nazism and imperialism (this may explain the appearance of Churchill – for many an unexpected character in the company of dictators ) . Sokurov himself did not directly answer the question “what did the author mean?” in a meeting with the audience; he just smiled and said that all interpretations have a right to exist. You can read our interview with the director here.
Rent in Russia: unknown
“WAVES” BY SERGEY KALVARSKY
Sokurov, the honored guest of the festival, came to Vologda not alone, but in the company of his students. The competition program (small, only five works) included two films shot by them at once. Sergei Kalvarsky showed “Waves” in Vologda, a black and white medium-length film about a journey through the waves of memory. This film is closer to the experimental than other festival films: the sad consequences of the 20th century filmed in long shots alternate – abandoned labor camps, villages flooded during the construction of the Bratskaya hydroelectric power station – are commented on by a voice-over. off. As the director said after the screening, the name “Waves” refers not only to the waters of the Angara, which is shown on the screen, but also to sound: the soundtrack consists of the rumble of the wind, percussion and archival recordings. of popular songs, and immersion in this film-meditation would not be possible without it.
Rent in Russia: unknown
“A CAGE IS LOOKING FOR A BIRD” by MALIKI MUSAYEVA
Another Sokurov alumnus is Malika Musaeva of The Cage Seeks a Bird (premiered at the Berlin Festival this winter). About this soft and beautiful film about how difficult it is for young women in the Caucasus to manage their lives, we wrote above. Spectators in Vologda also noted “The Cage”: Khadija Batayeva, who played the main role, received an acting award (at the Voices festival, they decided not to share the award between actors and actresses and present only a gender-neutral award).
Rental in Russia: the premiere is scheduled for October 12
“WHIM” ILYA POVOLOTSKY
Also, a Russian film in the competition, the heroine of which is going through a difficult transition period, is Ilya Povolotsky’s Bliss. It premiered at the last Cannes Film Festival in the Directors’ Fortnight program. Father (Gela Chitava) and daughter (wonderful Maria Lukyanova) travel around Russia in a minivan on a simple business: they install a projector in the villages, pick up a screen and show a film. But the daughter (she is the cashier, the caterer at the screenings and even the selector of the film program) is no longer a child, and her relationship with her father, with whom they spend almost all their time together in a narrow minivan, is deteriorating. getting more and more complicated. “Whim” is the first feature film by documentarian Povolotsky: critics scolded for the lack of events and slow pace, not much really happens in this road movie, only the scenery outside the car window changes. However, I don’t want this leisurely journey (but not without its dramatic tension) to end. First of all, because of the very cinematic main character (we anticipate that Lukyanova has a great acting future). Secondly, due to the work of the cameraman (Nikolai Zheludovich), “Blizh” was filmed. Hence the grainy, tactile visuals and slightly nostalgic vibe.
Rent in Russia: unknown
FOREIGN PROJECTS
On Voices, viewers were able to see not only current Russian cinema. The festival was opened by the film “Scarlet” by Italian Pietro Marcello (premiered in Cannes last year). Marcello’s previous feature film was based on the Jack London novel (Martin Eden was released in 2019), and now it’s back to the classic: Scarlet is a freestyle adaptation of Alexander Green’s Scarlet Sails (Scarlet is “scarlet”).
Rent in Russia: unknown
The Cannes film also closed the festival – “Jeanne Dubarry” directed by Maivenn (she also played the main role). Filmed in Versailles but on a Hollywood scale, this spectacular period drama tells the story of King Louis XV’s mistress. Jeanne’s life is almost a ready-made movie script: she was born into a family of cooks, thanks to the patronage of men, she rose to the top of the social ladder, became a favorite of Louis XV, survived him and fell in disgrace afterwards. her death, but not the Great French Revolution-her new system recognized her as her collaborator and executed her. There is no artistic revolution in the film, it is a classic period drama in which Depp (this is his first screen appearance since the trial with Amber Heard) plays the king, but he has a supporting role. Perhaps, for the final of the festival, not the worst choice, there are more question marks for Cannes. The only disappointment (according to the Vologda residents themselves) is that Depp did not come to the premiere.
Rental in Russia: the film will be released on July 20
The editors would like to thank the festival’s general partner, Severstal, for their help in organizing the trip.
