воскресенье, 17 февраля 2019 г.

"Žert" (1969)


And then I realized how powerless I was to revoke my own joke…

On the 1st of January, 1990, the new President of Czechoslovakia Vaclav Havel made a New Year address to the nation. Man, who was merely six months ago labeled as a «Western agent» and «bourgeois degenerate», didn’t use the new media power in order to wreck revenge on his numerous adversaries.

Instead of that, he addressed the national moral crisis. Vaclav Havel said the following: «The worst thing is that we live in a contaminated moral environment. We fell morally ill because we got used to saying something different from what we thought. We learned not to believe in anything, to ignore each other, to care only for ourselves…».



24 years before the Velvet Revolution, Milan Kundera wrote his first novel «The Joke» about Czechoslovakia of the 1940s and 1960s. In 1988 «The Unbearable Lightness of Being» was filmed and after that Kundera banned any further films on his books. But in the last days of the Prague Spring, the writer wrote a screenplay for «The Joke».

One of the main features of Socialistic Czechoslovakia was an official return to the roots. The state sponsored the folk festivities; on every march there were folk songs and traditional clothing; there were films about old Bohemia. Along with the picturesque Middle Ages there were also real Middle Ages.



In the Middle Ages there were no tolerance of free humor and if someone ratted on a joker, he would be seriously punished, even burned. The totalitarian regimes also never tolerated any humor about ideology, and the only permitted laughter was about adversaries (bourgeoisie, untermensch  and so on). You could suppress human nature, but the free thought would always find a way out.

Even in the scariest 1930s there were cynical jokes («Comrade Stalin, the representatives of the culture functionaries have broken out! They wanted to be whipped in advance! »). Those jokes were quietly told and quietly laughed, because if some other heard them, the joker would get in serious trouble. Such joker would be tried before inquisition, which doesn’t pay attention to such nonsense, as presumption of innocence.



Student Ludvick Jan was quietly laughing about the ideology and was pursing the model communist girl. When the girl came to communistic summer school, Ludvick have decided to troll her and send her a postcard with laughs about official slogans and, to add some pepper, praised Trotsky. The postcard is properly forwarded to the party channels and Ludvick’s life takes a U-turn…

All totalitarian regimes are creating collectives with an official goal to provide the joint working, friendship and help space. In reality, the totalitarian regimes were deliberately putting people against each other, because it is much easier to manipulate atomized individuals.



The real «collective» was tried on Ludvick Jan and on the party meeting, where every word is turned against you and all of his ex-friends were trying to outdo each other in crucifying their «amoral ex-comrade». His «best friend» Pavel Zemanek is very hard-working in it, because he wants to become a top apparatchik. So, in one day Ludvick Jan is turned from «comrade» to «class enemy».

The army’s work brigade, put up of class enemies, is an Absurdistan, where the joke against the regime could be painted in a right colors and the truthful adherence to Party principles is a basis for a harsh punishment from superiors and cruel hazing from your fellow soldiers. Soon, the «civil» Czechoslovakia would also become an Absurdistan.



After 1953, the Middle Ages were toned down and some class enemies, including Ludvick, are allowed to reintegrate into society. An ex-student comes back to his native town, where there is another state-sanctioned folk festivity, Ride of the Kings. Ludvick, who tasted the real Middle Ages, is indifferent to such cosplay.

The Czechoslovak society of 1964 is morally contaminated, which consists of «internal emigres» (Christians), conformists, regular folk and careerists. The careerists are no longer believing in any official ideology and they just want to keep their privileged placed and to sleep with pretty young girls. The young people are repelled by state-sanctioned history and they listen to rock-and-roll, not the Czech folk.



Ludvick came to the town in order to seduce Helena, a wife of Professor of Marxism Pavel Zemanek, and he thinks that it would be a cruel joke on his old adversary. As in 1949, the joke did the opposite effect. This joke would trigger a lot of other jokes, aimed at innocent people.

There are different kinds of jokes, including stupid, cruel and sarcastic. Milan Kundera wrote a novel about jokes and their consequences in totalitarian and post-totalitarian society. The film truly depicted the moral malady of the society and you would better understand Vaclav Havel’s motto «Truth and love must prevail over lies and hatred!».

суббота, 16 февраля 2019 г.

"Asphalte" (2015)


Gray concrete, warehouses, empty parking

What is HLM? A big apartment building, situated is some trashy suburban area of the French city, which houses the unemployed, immigrants and other not-so-lucky. If you follow the news, you’d think that HLM is a crime-infected place and sometimes inhabitants of those projects are going to the rich neighborhoods in order to burn cars and destroy some property.

Despite that grim news coverage, you shouldn’t degrade inhabitants of the HLM to merely sociological category. Those projects are inhabited by the people, who feel the same emotions, as everybody else. Almost everyone, including heroes of the film, are experiencing or afraid of loneliness. An aged man, who refused to pay for elevator’s maintenance and who ended up in a wheelchair; a burned-out actress, who moves to HLM; teenager, who lives without parents; an old Arab woman, whose son is in prison.



Loneliness methodically wears down the man and every he loses a bit of life joy. Despite that, in the tales, and sometimes in life, the miracles are happening in the most unusual places. Like an American astronaut makes a crash landing on the HLM’s roof and an old woman would get a substitute son for a few days. Those few days could bring the joy of life to someone and understand the meaning of such words as friendship and mutual help.

«Asphalte» is a kind and positive story, which takes part in the most unusual place. Film goes only for one hour and forty minutes, but the spectator, along with the heroes, feel the same good emotions. I recommend you to watch it, you will not regret this.



воскресенье, 10 февраля 2019 г.

"Fight Club" (1999)


Where is my mind

I first watched «Fight Club» when I was 15 and I developed fixation on this film. I thought that Tyler Durden was unbelievably cool and his quote «Self-improvement is masturbation» became my motto. Nevertheless, a little part of my subconsciousness realized, that I will follow, one way or another, the Narrator’s path and there will be too little anarchy in my life.

After 12 years and five years of office work, I could judge this film more maturely. And I have decided to have a little David Fincher marathon. Experiencing huge pleasure after rewatching «Seven» and «The Game». When I have heard the opening titles music, I have tuned myself for pleasure. Have I felt it?



The Narrator always followed the guidelines. He graduated from college with some not-so-personally-desired degree; he took a not-so-favorite job. He doesn’t have his own tastes and preferences and he merely follows the IKEA trends. Lack of any personal joy leads to an insomnia.

Sometime he is able to battle insomnia by visiting support groups, but another faker Marla Singer ruins it all. They are able to «split up the world», but one of these flights the Narrator meets a weird soap salesman Tyler Durden. After acquaintance, the Narrator’s combo blows up and he moves to Tyler. Since that, he life takes a drastic U-turn…



Almost everybody, when he steps up to adult life, tells himself that he will live as he likes and he won’t work some detestable job, he won’t serve some boss, he won’t worry about bills and debts, he won’t take part in some collective stupid recreations and he won’t try to pretend to be a good member of society. The reality turns out quite different and the most of us will end up as the Narrator.

Permanent insatisfaction steps out and the people are trying to cope with it. The society offers million way of pseudo-happiness as booze, online games, massage parlors and interest clubs. Someone gets lucky and he will find his true happiness, but the most will find only temporary relief. And someone goes even further.



Tyler Durden is a quintessential dream of an average office worker or a Russian school kid, who grew up in the 1990s. He is not bound by societal norms, he always has his own opinion and doesn’t try to suppress it for the society’s sake. He loathes the modern society and commits himself to small acts of sabotage. That is why Tyler Durden is an ultimate fantasy buddy almost for everyone.

Everyone dreams sometimes to punch somebody. Everyone sometimes dreams to smash a face of colleague, who is reading us morals about work ethics, accuracy and discipline. But the modern society banned such forms of dispute resolutions. Nevertheless, the dream lives on and sometimes we some wonderful dream pictures.


Fight Club is a place, where you could feel like a «real man». Every Saturday you could give way to your aggression and fight someone. It doesn’t matter, if you won or not, you have found a way to put an end to all disputes. After taking a part in one Fight Club session, you could tolerate the reality more freely, but you develop almost a drug addiction to these meetings.

Fight Club becomes a totalitarian sect. Sects are one of the ways to fill up the internal void. Clever sect managers are playing on human weaknesses and offers an easy way to get a meaning in life and internal freedom. In reality, sects are mental prisons, but voluntary non-freedom is not so painful, as compulsory non-freedom.


Such «liberated» people are ready to do anything to please their leader. With such loyal army, Fight Club transforms into Project Mayhem and the latter’s activities are far beyond the weekend’s punching club. The Project’s acolytes are turned into zombies and nothing can close this Pandora’s Box. The only thing, which you could do is to remember David Bowie’s lyrics -  It's too late to be late again.

In 27 years, you discover these extra elements in «Fight Club» and you’re no longer consider it a story about cool guys, who are leaded by the coolest of them all – Tyler Durden. Also you understand, that you should find some authentic source of joy and not one of the numerous surrogates.



That is why, friends, doesn’t abandon your internal Tylers or they will overtake your usual profiles. Blogging helps me to control my internal Tyler. And if you envision yourself as a sect leader, doesn’t miss «Fight Club» - it is a perfect guide for any totalitarian leader.

From the art point of view, the film is also excellent. «Fight Club» is a schizoid film, which is unpredictable until the last second. I hope that David Fincher would wake his internal creator and would please us with some cool film on the level with his «creative trilogy» («Seven» - «The Game» - «The Fight Club»).

суббота, 9 февраля 2019 г.

"Seven" (1995)


I can't tell you whether or not to keep the baby

After disastrous experience with «Alien 3», David Fincher pledged never return to filmmaking and he returned to his beloved music videos. Happily, New Line Cinema mailed him a script of Seven and David Fincher have decided to give filmmaking another shot. This time, he was given more artistic freedom.



1. The city is an evil force

In the mid-1980s, Andrew Kevin Walker went to New York City to find some fame as a screenwriter. He wasn’t too successful, but the Seven’s script perfectly captured the atmosphere of good old filthy NYC of the 1970s-1980s. I think the only director who was able to pull it was Martin Scorsese in Taxi Driver.

Nowadays, NYC is a decent city, where you could walk freely all day long. But in the 1970s-1980s NYC was a disgusting place with spiraling crime, even in the fanciest parts (back then, only the weirdos walked in the Central Park, because it was a perfect place to get mugged). Times Square, now a place for restaurants and tours, was a place with adult theaters and drugs.

Most of the NYC residents are living in tiny flats and the luckiest ones are living near the Metro rails, so they get an extra vibration and no sleep for free. Such lifestyle cancels any mutual feeling and the people are just strolling the streets, ignoring each other and criminal acts. The new inhabitants could nether get used to, neither get mad or neither run away.

The Anonymous City of Andrew Kevin Walker is a quintessential good old filthy NYC. The decadence and indifference is fueled by never-ending rain, bust out buildings and violent crimes.   And now remember, how Travis Bickle wanted «flush it right down the fuckin' toilet».



2. «Wanting people to listen…»

In a city, plagued by violent crime, you need to put some effort in order to get some attention. In one of these Mondays, the police discover a dead obese man, who was literally forced to eat until death. Next day, the police discovers Downtown a corpse of a lawyer with mark «Greed».

Sometime after, police deduce that these are not episodic crimes, this is carefully planned and executed series of crimes. Such crimes don’t produce informers and the police cannot use the usual methods.  The police is left powerless and they only can guess who is these man and could you they get even the slightest hint.

This murderer doesn’t make deliberate mistakes, he is very well versed in medicine, anatomy and classical literature. His every crime is a punishment for the sinner according to the classical texts and in order to understand it, the one should have such level of education, which is mot attributed to your usual police officer. It makes all his «hints» practically useless and the murderer doesn’t leave any admissible evidence.


3. «Ernest Hemingway once wrote…»

William Somerset has to wait exactly one week before the retirement. He lives in the City for a long time and he should already get the thick skin, but the meaningless violence of the City has choked him and he wants to run away to some humane place. Are there any such places left? He might never find out this, because the City have given him the final «gift» - a few brutal murders.

His colleague David Mills is a complete opposite of a quiet intellectual William Somerset. He absorbed the nervous energy of the City and it made him even more impulsive and incapable of long and methodical work. On the other side, his wife is unable to breathe the contaminated City’s air and she quietly fades away.

Only William Somerset is able to understand the motives, but all «hints» are just traps, who are directing to the wrong ends of the murderer’s twisted mental labyrinth. The only way to trace the murderer is to break the law, but it makes the criminal case shaky on technical grounds and the murderer is always a few steps ahead.


4. «I'm setting the example»

Will the City become a better place after murderer’s capture? In order to find an answer, you should watch the film, because you would find out until the last seconds. If David Fincher got the same carte blanche for «Alien 3» it would have been a masterpiece.

Sadly, there are no «ifs» in history, but David Fincher got the classical American «second chance» and used it fully. «Seven» is a great and tense thriller, which keeps you until the last second. Sadly, in his later films the great creator stepped away and the great craftsman took over. That is why, let’s all enjoy his earlier masterpieces.

воскресенье, 3 февраля 2019 г.

"The King of Comedy" (1983)


Better to be king for a night, than a schmuck for a lifetime…

In 1976, after the release of Taxi Driver, John Hinckley Jr. became obsessed with Jodie Foster. He unsuccessfully tried to stalk her at the Yale University. After that, he decided that a murder of the US President would properly impress Jodie Foster. So, on the 30th of March, 1981, there was an assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan.

Such extraordinary stories go way out of the normal boundaries and they become a subject of the wildest discussions. There are a lot of «normal» events, like the celebrities being stalked by obsessed autograph hounds, would-be lovers and would-be celebrities.



A 34 years old Rupert Pupkin is a classic loser. He is courier, who lives in some New York slum and nobody ever pays any serious attention to him. In his other life, Rupert is an avid autograph hound and the King of Comedy. One day, he is able to impose himself on the famous Jerry Langford and Rupert hopes, that his success is within the reach. When the reality disappoints him a bit, he decides to take some radical actions…

The 1970s in the US was an era of the harshest economical-moral crisis caused by, among other, by the Vietnam war defeat and Watergate. In the US, there were a lot of veterans, as Travis Bickle, who were willing to perform their own justice. That is why, Ronald Reagan said in his first inaugural address that «we are too great a nation to limit ourselves to small dreams» and pledged, that he would do anything to fight the crisis of the 1970s.



In the 1980s, Americans were again persuaded that they could anyone they want to be. The TV was full of glamorous soap operas, comedy shows and success stories of some inner-city kid. Cinema also took a U-turn – instead of depressing dramas, stepped out action movies with tough guys.

A lot of inspired people, took out loan on luxury things and unaffordable fancy homes, but nobody would give a loan to Rupert Pupkin. Despite that, Rupert never wanted a Mercedes, he always wanted to be together with Lisa Minnelli and Jerry Langford.



In his dreams, he and Jerry are old buddies, and he would get married with Rita right on the show. Rupert doesn’t care about differences between reality and fantasy and he really believes, that they will mix together. When he is a bit wrong, Rupert would do anything to mix it together.

Sounds a bit familiar, eh? All of you wanted to be famous in order to snub your childhood bullies and haters? All of you wanted to smile sinisterly to those, who always said that you will not achieve anything and nobody will never look at you? Well, we consider ourselves an adequate people and we are trying to achieve our goals by a rather traditional means.




Despite that, there is an old fact that the most bullied man is the most dangerous, because no one can predict his moves, especially when he is psychologically unstable. And as one critic have rightly pointed out, that the main danger of Rupert is that ordinary viewer could easily identify himself with the hero.

Happily, the state has not taught Rupert to handle weapons and murder people, but there are other ways to reach your «fifteen minutes of glory» and, maybe, become a celebrity afterwards. In closing, let me say that Martin Scorsese made a good film about negative aspects of a «celebrity culture». You could even say, that a hero of the 1970s was Travis Bickle and a hero of the 1980s was Rupert Pupkin.

суббота, 2 февраля 2019 г.

"The Game" (1997)


From a certain point onward there is no longer any turning back. That is the point that must be reached (Franz Kafka)

David Fincher was one of the music video directors (who made one of the best Madonna’s clips – Vogue) who made a successful transition to filmmaking. His first film experience was not too rewarding (Alien 3, but it was not entirely his fault), but «Seven» was very good. After «Seven», he made «The Game», which fully showed his talents.

Day after day, the stereotypical «fat cat» Nicholas Van Orton is losing any interest in life. He is reaching the 48th anniversary – an age in which his father committed suicide. On this anniversary, he receives a visit from his estranged brother Conrad, who gives a gift – an invitation to take part «in the life changing game experience». After agreeing to take in the Game, life of Nicholas is starting to take more and more sinister turn…



After rewatching «The Game» (I haven’t seen this film for ten years), I understood that I have to reread «The Trial» by Franz Kafka. By rereading this book, I was able to cast a different view on the film and make a necessary comparison, and mixing with my legal education.

The main part of any criminal proceedings is the documents. Any official action (arrest, charging, choosing a punishment, conviction) is made the basis of an official document (first of all, a court order). Also a suspect or accused is entitled to presumption of innocence and right to prove his innocence (by himself or with an attorney).



Compared to criminal procedure, the Game of Nicholas Van Orton, as the Trial of Joseph K., is a wholly different experience. There is also a major difference – Nicholas Van Orton volunteered for the Game and the Trial was started by some completely unknown force. So, another force steps out.

While watching the film, you recall the lyrics of White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane («And if you go chasing rabbits, and you know you're going to fall»). In some aspects, the Game is a variation of the Wonderland, in which the most hidden fears are brought out. And as Alice, Nicholas Van Orton have volunteered for this.



Authoritative, self-reliant and ruthless hero became a completely impotent person. In the world of the Game nothing is under his control and every minute brings out another loss. As in Joseph K. Trial, every acquaintance of Nicholas takes part in the Game, including his ex-wife and brother. Every one of them is going to pay back for the years of neglect or cruelty.

Nevertheless, the most horrifying part of the Game is the disclosure. Nicholas becomes a marked man, whose problems are known to any bystander. He doesn’t have an uncle Albert, who will take him to a lawyer, and the «courtroom» is abandoned. Imposed advisors, as in the Trial, are revealed as agents of the «Court – CRS». And one day, someone will tell him a parable «Before the Law».



Despite all of that, it is just a game, isn’t it? To find out an answer, you have to finish the film, because you would find out until the last seconds. David Fincher could have stopped after 1997, because he had already written himself into the cinema history, but he continued to make good films.