It is extremely difficult to correctly assess the artistic value of a project created by an explicit political order, accompanied by obviously aggressive advertising and scandals related to rating rating on specialized sites. The fact that the film "Crimea" (2017) is one of the most anticipated domestic films of the year cannot be said. The picture of the events that took place in 2014 on the Crimean peninsula turned out to be outwardly attractive, but frankly propagandist.
Typical government order
The filming was initiated by the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation S. Shoigu, who recommended Alexei Pimanov to film significant events. The idea was approved by the Administration of the President of Russia and personally by V. Putin. It is not surprising that after this, critics, analyzing the movie "Crimea", in the reviews positioned the tape as a state order. Moreover, the film was offered for compulsory viewing in military units and universities. M. Kuvshinova, the author-contributor of Afisha, compared the project with a naive symbol of the propaganda power of cinema typical of the last century that lives in the hearts of the older generation.
The film crew of "Crimea" began preparations for the production process in April 2014 under the vigilant guidance of A. Pimanov, who combined the three roles in the project: director, screenwriter and producer. This famous TV presenter and media functionary is familiar to the viewer from the feature films “The Man in My Head”, “Alexander Garden” and “Dolly Sheep was Wicked and Died Early”.
Summary of Content
The plot of "Crimea" interprets the official Russian version of the events. The main characters - a resident of Sevastopol Sasha (Roman Kurtsyn) and aspiring journalist from Kiev Alena (Evgenia Lapova) - get acquainted in the sultry summer of 2013 on the Crimean coast. A romance erupts between young people. However, Alena returns home. Alexander goes after his beloved.
At this time, Kiev Maidan is in a fever. By the will of fate, lovers find themselves on opposite sides of the barricades. The girl wholeheartedly on the side of the strikers, and Sasha supports the Golden Eagle fighters. The ideological abyss deepens every day, but the heroes are obsessed with each other. Therefore, Alena goes to the Crimea at the moment when the Russian military, “polite people,” appears in it. The plot of "Crimea" has become the subject of heated debate and fierce debate among filmmakers of all stripes and ordinary inhabitants.
Acting ensemble of the tape
A significant budget is great. The patronage of the Ministry of Defense, which allowed saving on scenes with military equipment, is also good. But, as they say, a penny saves a ruble. Therefore, the author and producer of the film “Crimea” (2017) Alexey Pimanov decided not to invite popular domestic movie stars for the shootings, approving Evgeny Lapov and Roman Kurtsyn as the main performers. The characters of the background were embodied by the actors of the series, well known to fans of the TV channel "Star", and Crimean artists.
Of the significant personalities of the domestic film industry, actors appeared in the film “Crimea”: Boris Scherbakov, Elena Kotelnikova (“Down House”), Alexei Komashko (“Live”), Nikita Zverev (“Heavenly Court”). The professionalism of these artists has not been criticized by observers from the thematic media.
The on-screen beloved of the protagonist - Alena - was embodied by Yevgeny Lapova, “Crimea” for whom became a significant milestone in her creative career. The only thing that puzzles why Sasha constantly calls her heroine a man’s name Alyosha. The skill demonstrated by the actress did not impress most of the reviewers. As their reviews of the movie "Crimea" say, the manipulations made by Lapova are extremely difficult to call a game. What does the scene with her participation cost, which can be arbitrarily designated as “I'm upset and drink vodka”.
Lead actor
The image of the key character Sasha embodied on the screen Roman Kurtsyn. “Crimea” is not the artist’s debut project. The Russian theater and film actor began his creative activity in 2008. He is known to a wide audience by television and movies “The Sword”, “While the Fern Blossoms”, “Hotel Eleon”.
The last project in the filmography in front of “Crimea” by Roman Kurtsyn is Roman Karimov’s comedy “Walk, Vasya!” Perhaps this is why the viewer continues to perceive Roman in a comic role. His image of boxer Max is still too fresh in the memory of the people. Although Kurtsyn’s assets include several heroic characters played in the past.
Unfortunately, in the reviews for the movie "Crimea", many were unflattering about the work of this actor. The director did not pay attention to the fact that his central character is almost unemotional. The main thing is that he defends a just cause. Therefore, it behaves almost like Danila Bagrov, only without a music player and frankly gangster manners. Unfortunately, the “Crimea” actors were unable to pull to a decent cinematic level.
Genre blemishes
Some reviewers suggest in the reviews of the movie "Crimea" to be viewed not from a political point of view, but as a real thriller. Even as an average action movie, the tape looks many times better. The narrative of the film is quite dramatic and at the same time dynamic, but sometimes somewhat ridiculous. For example, nationalists disguised as hotel waiters.
Action in the project is also not enough. And the authors admit an unforgivable genre miscalculation that did not allow the hero to defeat the main antagonist in the climax. The central character in the action movie has the right to lose in a skirmish with a group of villains, but in the final duel he, according to all the canons of the genre, had to win.
The mournful mistakes of the creators
Fortunately, the dialogues of the picture are not disgusting, but rather weak, and the romantic line is unconvincing and the attractiveness of the central characters is limited. In addition to the irrepressible attraction of heroes to each other, nothing unites, and the full development of feelings remains behind the scenes.
The advantages of the tape include modern visualization, rare but dynamic action scenes and a good story with a claim to social drama at the heart of the script. Unfortunately, the director allowed the director to resolve the potentially powerful storyline because of the difference in the ideological convictions of the heroes - Alena refuses her point of view.
Surrounded by a scandalous halo
After the premiere of the tape, the authors of the project were at the epicenter of unpleasant proceedings. Pimanov was accused of wrapping the Internet rating of the picture. A weighty domestic television operator, according to many personalities from the field of cinema and the media, acted extremely unprofessionally and almost illegally. The scandal flared up around the massive hacking of accounts on the thematic site "Kinopoisk" in order to raise the rating and expectations of the film.
After the intervention of the moderators and cleaning the ratings of compromised users, the number of people expecting the Crimean premiere showed 17,000, ie 19%. By the end of September, the picture received an audience rating of 1.9 points out of 10 possible, which is one of the worst indicators on Kinopoisk. There is currently a feed rating of 3.0 on this site (IMDb: 1.50), and expectation: 20% (17,827).
Ineffective approach
For viewers who know the outline of the events that actually happened, after watching the film, practically no questions arise. But the tape covering such a sensitive topic should still be removed so that for its understanding it was not necessary to look for additional information. For example, showing “Crimea” to foreigners is almost pointless. However, even in Russia, an average person who does not closely monitor the development of events will be able to understand with difficulty a fragmentary, fragmentary narrative with a political motive.
The project is accessible for comprehension for those who are well versed in the topic. But such persons, on both sides of the barricades, do not need agitation and propaganda at all. They already have their own subjective opinion and their beliefs.
Generalization
On the whole, the undeniable advantage of Pimanov’s brainchild is the indescribable, mesmerizing beauty of Crimean landscapes and the brilliant skills of the special forces of the Russian army, effectively eliminating the “nests” of Ukrainian nationalists, flaunting in a new form with the support of impressive military equipment. At such moments, the protection of the Ministry of Defense is unmistakably felt, which is proudly announced in the opening credits of the tape.
This alert can immediately cause Ukrainian viewers to stop watching a movie. This approach is reckless for a propaganda film that should quietly rub into the soul of the public. However, given the significant marketing program (TV ads, countless billboards), the picture managed to earn almost $ 6 million, which looks significant even for the starting amount.