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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stranger than Fiction, March 20, 2005
Tycoon, like The Godfather, may not be strictly accurate, but is in a profound way utterly true. Based not very loosely on the life of Boris Berezovsky, a real-life Russian oligarch who got his start in the car smuggling rackets, the movie depicts the meteoric rise of Platon Markovski, a Jewish mathematics student with an abundance of guts and guile. Markovski puts his considerable charm and ingenuity to work inventing a new breed of capitalism amid the anarchy of 1990s Russia.
Markovski and his loyal band of brothers run afoul of scheming Kremlin bureacrats who want their piece of the capitalist action without leaving the security of their government posts. The battle between the bureaucrats and the oligarch prefigures Vladimir Putin's real-life confrontations with Mikhail Khodorkovsky and other malefactors of great wealth.
The movie is overstuffed with characters and incidents, but Director Pavel Lungin keeps it all pumping furiously forward. Tycoon is a triumph of old fashioned storytelling and, like the Godfather, is filled with small moments of warmth and humor along with operatic drama. As outrageous as the plot turns get, none of it - the hypercreative business deals, the buying of politicians, the wild west shootouts between the state and the capitalists - is stranger than what actually happened in Russia over the past 15 years.
The acting and directing are uniformly excellent. This movie, while remaining true to its gangster tale roots, manages to indict an entire society for losing its ideals and sense of human connection once it discovers the delirious delights of the dollar.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tycoon: A New Russian, September 27, 2005
The Tycoon is a good movie showing the rise of a new Russian, allegedly resembling Berezovsky. It is fast and funny, and it genuinely reflects realities of the new Russia. Russia has had a tragic 20th century, with grotesque leaders all the way through: the weak and talentless Nickolas II, the crazy people-hater Lenin, the blood-thirsty Stalin, the clown Khruschev, the brainless chatter-box Gorbachev, and the alcoholic and hypocrite Yeltsyn. So the new business genius Platon, continuing this tradition of criminal activities, starts also as a criminal and, together with his gang of mates, creates an empire helped by the mafia from the Caucasus, an Afghan war crippled hero, and someone whose name is never mentioned, but who is obviously the new czar. Platon is portrayed as a heroic figure fighting injustice and at some stage you even empathize with him. He loves his friends, is a good husband and father, and is so full of energy and joy of life... But then we realize that he is another criminal, except he had more brains, stamina and courage to climb to the summit than others whom he ruthlessly eliminates, in particular after they killed his buddies. He stole what belonged to the whole nation. Nevertheless, he is someone we should know in order to understand this great country.
The artistic value of the film is high, the actors are brilliant, and it is a passionate affair with the new Russia and its talented people.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Powerful portrait of the "new" Russia, September 13, 2004
The timeframe depicted in this film spans from the 80s into the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of what is termed in Russia the "oligarchs"--essentially, robber barons who ruthlessly did, and do everything they can to make millions of dollars. One such, a real person, was Boris Berekovski, here christened Platon Makovski.
Using flashbacks, the director, Pavel Longuine, a dual citizen of France and Russia, gives us a penetrating look at how Russians thought and felt and acted as the backbone of their entire civilization, communism, disappeared, to be replaced by a capitalism whose brutality made--and makes--people like John D. Rockefeller resemble babes in the woods. In the new Russia, people openly kill each other for business. Is that true in the US? Sure. But it's true typically of criminals--i.e., those whose lives are on a specific path.
What Longuine shows us in this film is that in the new Russia, it's true of businessmen who follow a path of doing business that can just as easily include whipping out a Kalashnikov and blowing away their competition as it can sitting at a conference room table.
The flashback technique is used effectively, counting down the years--starting at 15 years prior to Makovski's untimely demise--until just before the day of his death. We meet Makovski, his business associates, his mistress(es), the judge who uncovers the truth, his rivals, his allies, his friends. As each character makes his/her presence known, more of the new Russia is revealed until we see a picture of just how cutthroat things became--and still are. To illustrate this, one of Makovski's associates tells a joke about a man who bought a tie for $3,000 and is told by his friend that he was ripped off, since he saw the same tie somewhere else for $2,500.
This is a unique film--no other cinematic work has explored this territory, certainly not as clearly and comprehensively as Longuine has here. Great job.
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