Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderfully Interesting, June 20, 2004
This is an amazing little film with a ridiculous name. I can't help but think with better promotion and a better title, it would have had more play. The story of a Russian Godfather is interesting in and of itself, but Bodrov, the Director, has given this piece a unique visual quality. It is eerie and compelling. The scene between Oleg and Michael as they play cards is stunning. The smoke from their cigars and the extreme close-ups of the actors truly bring you into this relationship that may not be what it appears. The film is occasionally narrated by Michael who starts the tale and ends it. Makes you wonder exactly who Michael is in the scheme of the story. I'm being cryptic, but there is a lot here to enjoy and I don't want to ruin it. The music is also just lovely. It has a creepy, ethereal quality that gives this a foreign feel that works perfectly. The cast is just about perfect. Vladmir Mashkov (Oleg) should be a big star. I'm not sure why he isn't. He's handsome and charismatic. Jennifer Jason Leigh does a fine job as "the quickie" and Dean Stockwell plays Michael with his usual understated style and here it is right on the mark. Leslie Anne Warren plays Oleg's mother, an aging diva who still remains a diva. This is nicely done. If you enjoy quirky films with a lot of atmosphere, try this one. I have watched it several times and it bears repeated watchings. Something new comes to me each time I see it.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not what you expect..., April 25, 2003
For those who prefer a cerebral type Godfather, I recommend they watch it asap. For fans of Rambo, this is not the right film.
The antihero is Oleg, razor-sharp Russian kingpin gangster, whose absence of a mother figure as a child - his mother having left him and his father at an early age - plagues him increasingly in a flawed world. In an uncut setting, we witness the vain efforts of a man attempting to recover a harmony that he believes he knew in childhood, in a world now that he finds as flawed as he is today.
His attempts to break out against the forces shaping his environment and back to this perceived harmony meet, ironically, with tragedy. To me, at least, the sensitive watcher is left not so much with bitterness against the harshness of the human existence (I ask anyone who considers their life perfect to refute this - and tell me how they do it), as the immense sadness and, perhaps, futility of going against the grain in an imperfect environment.
In parallel, this tense, volatile plot asks the eternal question of if one should knuckle down and accept every piece of bad luck that comes one's way, or live one's own life hell-for-leather, true to one's own priorities - including the intuitive importance of the family. For this watcher at least, the film answers "Better to regret something you have done than something you haven't".
The result, for this viewer, is not just - with a twist - that one has to make do with one's history but that one needs breathing space in this all too fragile and tender existence. If not, you probably have to suffer the consequences of having gone too far.
As mentioned above, this is not for the superficial or quick-thrill crowd. The central character is far from perfect, but then - and thinking that this is an artistic "what if ?" type exploration of the way anyone might live their lives - no one is. And, who knows, if someone you knew in the same situation - we must all know half-rational people at least similar to Oleg - felt they had to make things right in their life at long last, what would any of us have against it?
Last but not least, the film was executed with a great soundtrack, script and atmosphere and comfortably repaid several subsequent viewings.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Haunting, February 13, 2004
Excellent movie which has the rare quality of being as moving upon successive viewings... Has a strange affinity in terms of the feeling it evokes to the classic "They Shoot Horses, Don't They"... The musical score is excellent both in itself and in the way it contributes to the portrayal of the characters involved.
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