Welcome to the New Russia: LFM Reviews Generation P

By Joe Bendel. Only a bold film would invoke the name “Ishtar,” but Victor Ginzburg is clearly a bold filmmaker. The context is much different here, of course, but Elaine May’s notorious box office dud might have been quite popular in the old USSR, since it co-starred Reds helmer Warren Beatty. As it happens, Soviet era nostalgia plays a significant role in Generation P, Ginzburg’s adaptation of Viktor Pelevin’s Illuminatus!-esque novel of late Yeltsin-era Russia, which screens this week as part of the 2012 New Directors/New Films.

Eventually viewers learn that the Babylonian goddess Ishtar has a special relationship with Russia and its secret history. Though previously oblivious to the byzantine machinations of the behind-the-scenes power players, Babylen Tatarsky has always felt a kinship to all things Mesopotamian because of his name, originally conceived as a hybrid of Yevtushenko’s poem Babi Yar and Lenin. A failed poet working in a kiosk owned by the Chechen mob, Tatarsky falls backwards into a “creative” gig at one of the upstart Russian advertising agencies catering to Russia’s nouveau riche industrial class.

Tatarsky specializes in calibrating campaigns to appeal to Soviet nostalgia. He does not believe in it himself, though, because he does not believe in anything. That ideological flexibility allows him to advance to larger, more connected firms. However, he has a spiritual advisor in the person of Gireyev, a Buddhist mystic and expert harvester of psychedelic mushrooms.

The “P” in Generation P is an ironic reference to Pepsi, the cola of Glasnost. Though it never outright glamorizes terrorism, P is not that far removed from V for Vendetta, exhibiting similar anarchistic inclinations. However, the closest comparison might be Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, giving viewers a hallucinogenic tour of Russia worthy of Hunter S. Thompson.

P arguably peaks halfway through. At its most inventive, it mixes Mesopotamian and Soviet imagery to evocatively hint at ancient mystic secrets. However, once Tatarsky reaches the inner circle, the film gets bogged down in rather standard, dog-wagging conspiracy rigmarole.

Beyond its heavy-handed critique of consumerism, it is hard to get a bead on P’s exact ideology. While Tatarsky’s cynical nostalgia campaigns are clearly intended to be problematically simplistic, the only real reference to Russia’s Communist past are the fondly remembered Pioneer Days, which are presented with a Norman Rockwell-like patina of lost innocence. The film also has little love for Yeltsin, but plot developments ironically absolve him of much of his buffoonery. Likewise, there is constant white noise equating all capitalists with oligarchs, but they constantly wind up assassinated for running afoul the mob or the government.

Yet, the similarities between a blunt-talking nationalist “reformer” (literally created on a hard-drive) and the current Russian president – who refuses to relinquish his grip on power – are difficult to miss.

A relentlessly satirical look at the new Russia.

Amidst the maelstrom of satire and metaphysics, Vladimir Epifantsev somehow creates a memorable, multidimensional portrait of Tatarsky, the everyman turned insider. Ginzburg also keeps viewers’ feet solidly on the ground, giving them plenty of narrative handles to guide them through the complicated and surreal storyline. It is a very accomplished work, but it is not clear what it all adds up to, particularly for those coming from what the film somewhat mockingly refers to as a “Soviet mentality.” A strange, sometimes dazzling film certainly worth attempting to decode – but in no way to be considered the final word on the immediate post-Soviet years – Generation P screens this Friday (3/30) at the Walter Reade Theater and Sunday (4/1) at MoMA, as this year’s ND/NF concludes in New York.

Posted on March 28th, 2012 at 5:00pm.

Watch The New Chernobyl Diaries Trailer; Film Opens May 25th

While we’re on the subject of Russia here at LFM … there’s a new trailer out for the Oren Peli-produced Chernobyl Diaries, about a group of American 20-somethings who indulge in an unfortunate bit of ‘extreme tourism’ in Russia. Check it out above. Chernobyl Diaries opens May 25th.

The New Russia just keeps looking more and more inviting …

Posted on March 28th, 2012 at 4:59pm.

Malaise in Moscow: LFM Reviews Twilight Portrait

By Joe Bendel. In Moscow, you can never find a cop when you need one—if you’re lucky, that is. While ostensibly nonpolitical, a scathing picture of the Putin era’s petty corruption, casual cruelty, and moral malaise emerges in Angelina Nikonova’s Twilight Portrait (see a clip here), which screens this week during the 2012 edition of New Directors/New Films.

Initially, Marina appears to be a woman who has it all: a career she is ambivalent about, a husband she cannot respect, and a lover she despises. Unfortunately, after another unsatisfying tryst, the wheels come off Marina’s life. A stolen handbag, a broken heel, and a bit of dishevelment later, the cops pick up Marina on the assumption she is a prostitute and therefore fair game. The details are kept deliberately obscure from the audience, but we know some combination of the three officers rapes her in their patrol car.

Twilight’s second act might be the most realistic, bluntly unvarnished portrayal of the aftermath of such trauma yet rendered on film. Marina’s depression and anger manifest themselves in ways that are sometimes understandable, but often perplexing and off-putting. However, Twilight is just getting started. When Marina takes up with Andrei, one of the cops from that fateful night (who apparently does not recognize her in a different context), the film gets even darker. Is this part of an elaborate plan for revenge or compulsive self-debasement? Perhaps it is both or neither. Indeed, part of her seems drawn to Andrei’s unapologetic masculinity in much the same way Russia collectively submits to an authoritarian strongman like Putin. Twilight keeps its cards close to its vest, but it is safe to surmise their relationship is deeply twisted.

Olga Dihovichnaya as Marina in Angelina Nikonova's "Twilight Portrait."

At this point, it might be helpful to point out Twilight was co-written by Nikonova and her lead actress, Olga Dihovichnaya. Nonetheless, some might find the film’s sexual dynamics, as described above, considerably troubling – which is perfectly reasonable.  This is not a film for everyone, just like Bad Lieutenant is not a film for the masses. However, like Ferrara’s arguable masterwork, there is always a point to the degradation. Frankly, Twilight is not very explicit in terms of what it shows on-screen, but the implications of the character’s words and actions are undeniably disturbing.

Beyond visceral, Dihovichnaya gives a phenomenal performance that will make viewers squirm in discomfort. Film patrons will not see better work on-screen this year, but it is so brutally honest and tightly controlled, Dihovichnaya is unlikely to get the accolades she deserves, at least around these parts. (We’ll probably just shower our awards on Meryl Streep’s next schticky impersonation.)

Nikonova masterfully controls what the audience sees and what it thinks it perceives, keeping them off-balance and edgy throughout the film. It is not an easy film to watch, but it has some real arsenic to it. Recommended for those who fully understand what they are getting into, Twilight screens this Friday (3/30) at MoMA and Saturday (3/31) at the Walter Reade Theater, as the 2012 ND/NF wraps up a particularly strong year.

Posted on March 28th, 2012 at 4:55pm.

Watch The New Trailer for The Dictator + The New ‘Republic of Wadiya’ Website

In case you haven’t seen it yet, there’s a so-so new trailer out for The Dictator (it’s not quite as sharp as the first trailer). Also check out the bogus ‘Republic of Wadiya’ website recently set up for the film. The site’s actually funnier than the trailer.

Posted on March 28th, 2012 at 4:55pm.