Customer Reviews

Autumn Marathon

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the movie about a man of thinks of himself as a victim of circumstances, but in fact his will is just not strong enough. He cannot make his own choise, and when the destiny decides for him - it turnes out to be the worst way out of the situation. It's a very thought-provoking film and it has a deep pshycological problem. A little bit depressing, though. But still good.

Russian with English subtitles. The translator called it "a sad comedy." Works for me. A humorous look at adultery with a serious undertone about how indecisiveness might be more painful than just breaking somebody's heart outright. Hey, it's Russian. You know they can't do anything, not even slapstick, without literary undertones. That's why we love them. Great writing plus an extremely talented cast equals another keeper.

It is funny indeed. However, the Spanish audio track is no good, as they put the Spanish audio directly on top of the Russian audio, so you hear both, and it isn't dubbed -- one guy reads all the Spanish translation (so there is never any female voices in Spanish).

Definitely, one of the best movies (yeah, you can read the previous review - I've no idea what the fellow is talking about; you should to see the movie instead). Of course, it must be seen in Russian, subtitles NEVER give you a clue what's going on. Actually, I read a lot of books translated from Russian into English - so pathetic... The same for movies.
This is a comedy (THE comedy) about our life. Don't expect "sights of Leningrad".

I have ordered this movie twice from two different sellers and both time couldn't watch in Russian. The first DVD actually started in Russian, and then after 10-15 min switched to English and never recovered. I returned it and bought another one, and this one never even tried in Russian; I pick "Russian" option, but it speaks English.
I gave this item 3 stars not for the movie, but for the defective recording. I love this movie and really wanted to have it, but couldn't stand English translation. But I am sure for American viewers it doesn't matter and they will enjoy it. It directed by one of the best Russian/Georgian directors, Georgy Danelia, and the cast is brilliant.

The film should be watched along with "The Conformist" by Bernardo Bertolucci that treats this theme from a different angle.

In no way this is a film about Soviet life and/or Leningrad although that's were the action take place. This is a brilliant film about conformism. Place and time are actually immaterial to the idea of the film in the same way as in "The Conformist" by Bernardo Bertolucci. You can easily imagine the same situations and the same people in Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sacks or the Congress (especially in the Senate; talk about lobbists here ;-)

Conformists are people who are unduly influenced by other people. This influence occurs in both small groups and society as a whole. In the USSR it also was also (at least partially) the result of direct social pressure to confirm to the ideology of the ruling gang.

But such behavior also is affected by personal traits and the main character of the film is something like the "ideal conformist". Such people are overly affected by expectations of others to the extent that they systematically betray their own interests and behave like a marionette in the hands of the person which whom they currently interact. That's what the film is about. It a very sad comedy with huge amount of psychological truth in it. Some moments are even difficult to watch to the absurdity and at the same time extreme realism with which behavior of such people depicted.

We can only speculate is this due to high insecurity, or specific personal traits (including what is commonly called "weakness of character"). But at the same time the guy is still pretty socially successful and that suggests that unwillingness to conform (typical to revolutionaries of various sort; see the film "How the Steel Was Tempered") also carries with it the very real risk of social rejection. In the film extremes meet. In some aspects conformity can be seen as a safe means of avoiding responsibility (and bullying) as well as attempt to make a peace with often confrontational peers. But as we can see from the film in its extreme it turns to something completely opposite.

A very telling part of the film is the part when our main character rebels against his own conformism and how soon he retreats into his usual stereotyped behavior. In a way there is no escape from this role and that makes the end of the film somewhat tragic.

Could have been titled "The Salmon", as the main character is a master of maneuvering through the eddies and currents of a demanding circle of people in his life. He lies almost unceasingly and in a skillfully benign manner to make everything go smoothly. He also has a great capacity for calmness, and when he finally can tell the truth, albeit briefly, the result is the same, sparing the recipient just enough to keep things acceptably tranquil. I found it amusing and really quite even in all aspects of the filmmakers craft.

I had a chance to see this movie again. It reminded me of my living in Russia. Actually, I believe the situaltion shown is common. A man can't decide where to go; he wants to look good in people eyes, be good to everyone, but sometimes it is difficult to achieve.

I won't bore you with my analysis of this movie. Chances are, if you are reading this, you have seen it. If you haven't, you must. Whatever one thinks about the merits of depicting mundane life in movies, one must at least appreciate the wonderful acting. This is a timeless classic.

I have not partaken in this DVD itself, but I have one small comment on the film.

Lost in translation would be the best way to put this - many non-Russian viewers, particularly those with only a passing interest in the Russian culture - will be stumped. One particularly negative comment here implied that this film is some kind of a morbid realist exercise.

Daneliya is far from a realist, of course. Even in the early years when he was starting out - which means adhering to commonly 'realist' approaches to filming - Daneliya made films that were, for the lack of a better word, animated.

Those who know about Daneliya are aware that after 'Marathon' he became quite creative, making "Tears Fell" (1981) and "Kin-Dza-Dza" (1986) which bordered on the surreal, mixing theatre and a kind of mysticism that is beyond words (I wanted to say indigenous, but I'm treading risky ground here). Needless to say he's a strange guy and, of course, Georgian.

This is Daneliya making a popular film - the signature elements are more subtle. 'Marathon' is about the Russian experience, a sad comedy - meaning, a film within a film. We have the drama involving infidelity and the comedy is within and is easy to miss. Our foreign viewers will attempt to relate to the foreigner within the film - the Scandinavian scholar who, after initial trepidation, embraces the country and all that comes with it.

Of course, our character within the film actually speaks Russian, meaning that when we see him get jailed for drunkenness and utter "horozho sidim" (repeating Leonov's lines), we know that he gets it and those of us who speak Russian also get the joke. However our foreign viewers who watch this subtitled will have the line translated as something like "aren't we having a good time?", which doesn't get the joke across at all.

What is the joke? Well, I suppose it's either just for us Russians or for those foreign viewers who love our culture enough to find out. Without this you will only get the infidelity portion and that, by itself, won't fill in any blanks.