The film "Earthquake" (2016) is a Russian and at the same time Armenian art picture created by director Sarik Andreasyan on the basis of a real natural disaster that happened in 1988.
In 2017, the work was nominated for an Oscar in the nomination "Best Film in a Foreign Language", but later it was removed from the list, as it did not meet the requirements.
What is the picture based on?
The story of the film "Earthquake" 2016 is based on real events that occurred on December 7, 1988. On that day, a terrible earthquake (magnitude 7.2) occurred on the territory of the Armenian SSR, covering almost half of the land of the Soviet Republic.
Cities such as Leninakan, Stepanavan, Kirovakan, Spitak, as well as about 300 more settlements were destroyed. The losses were colossal: the earthquake claimed 25 thousand people, 19 thousand received disabilities of varying degrees, and 500 thousand lost their homes.
The 2016 film “Earthquake” covers four days of the tragedy: from December 7 to 10 in the city of Leninakan. It has several storylines that are gradually intertwined.
Actors of the film "Earthquake"
About 43 actors took part in the filming.
Starring:
- Konstantin Lavronenko (Konstantin) - Russian actor, awarded the silver prize at the Cannes Film Festival for Best Actor and the Golden Eagle. The best films of Konstantin: "Return", "Exile", "Territory", "Composition for Victory Day" and others.
- Victor Stepanyan (Robert), who also starred in the series Black Cats.
- Maria Mironova (Anna) is a Russian actress who participated in the films "Swing", "Oligarch", "Wedding", "State Counselor" and the series "Scream of Owls", "Death of an Empire", "Battle for Space".
- Tatev Hovakimyan ("Lilith").
- Michael Poghosyan (Yerem) - an army actor, participated in the film "If All".
- Hrant Tokhatyan (policeman) also starred in Our Courtyard and Big Story in a Small Town.
- Daniil Muravyov-Izotov (Vanya) is a boy who also played in the series "Fizruk" and "Bloody Mistress".
- Sos Janibekyan (Senik), participating in the "Horse Riding".
Ratings and reviews of the film "Earthquake 2016
Basically, the picture received good reviews from the audience. Get to know them:
- Reviews of the movie "Earthquake" on "KinoPoisk" are above average: viewers give it 6.7 out of 10. Reviews in percentage terms: 82% (positive) and 18% (negative).
- In the Internet project "Kino-teatr.ru" the picture is rated 8.9 out of 10.
- In the world's largest cinema database IMDb, viewers rated cinema 6.4 points.
- Reviews of the film "Earthquake" on one of the largest Russian film portals Film.ru are extremely high - 7.7 out of 10.
Critic Review: GQ
Lidia Maslova, one of the authors of the monthly GQ magazine, perceives the picture "Earthquake" more as a restrained monument film, shot in a cold grayish-color palette. She believes that the work fully meets all the requirements of the Oscars and can be considered a reference for him: based on genuine events, saturated with humanism, singing the best qualities of human nature.
One of the main characters - Konstantin, Lydia perceives as a monumental and majestic man after the words he said: "So, we do it. We do as I say."
The critic also notes the director’s new style, attributing to him some shyness. Sarik Andreasyan is more familiar with the comedic style, where you can feel the author's individuality, but when the figure moves away from his usual territories, we see the director from a completely different perspective. Lydia explains this situation by the fact that the theme of mourning does not allow enough to give free rein to directorial work, because even the technique present in the picture, like a children's toy lying on the ground, is shown very quickly and a little "bashfully". As a result of this, the authors' excessive caution, due to the fear of "overtaking" with sentimentality, translates into an insufficiently strong film on an emotional level.
Newspaper "Interlocutor"
The following review of the film is given by Ksenia Ilyina, a film reviewer of the weekly Sobesednik newspaper. The critic calls the picture “Earthquake” “a long-distance race,” noting the unsuccessful attempts of past films on the theme that “managed to get dusty in the archives in 30 years.” Ksenia, like the critic above, praises the director for unpredictability and courage, referring to him more in the past as the author of humorous paintings.
However, Ksenia Ilyina, on the contrary, it seems that the picture is streaming with a fountain of abundance of drama. He is present in almost every episode: this is a mother dying in front of her son’s eyes, and a cheerful birthday boy joking in the company of fellow corpses. All this hints at the lack of a sober look from the side. The critic believes that the director, saturated with the suffering of the Armenian people, forgets to stop at the right time and review what has been done.
However, despite the sharp review, as it may seem at first, the movie reviewer is changing his mind in a positive direction. So she pays tribute to the director for an excellent attempt to raise the archives of thirty years ago: watching a movie, at one point you already begin to believe in everything displayed on the screen. The observer notes that the film claims to be high and serious.
The hollywood reporter
Yaroslav Zabaluev, one of the authors of the Russian edition of The Hollywood Reporter, also leaves a review for this work.
The critic’s review of the film “Earthquake” begins with the phrase:
A memory film to which it is strange to make artistic claims.
Yaroslav perceives the picture more as a cinematic monument to the victims than as an art work of a director of the comedy genre. The critic believes that the picture of Sarik Andreasyan is not an attempt to force himself to be taken more seriously, but a way to draw attention to his first big film. As a young director, Sarik makes a big and loud call in the cinematic field. The critic notes that the episodes of the catastrophe were thought up quite famously, but the schedule for their maximum implementation was not enough.
But the frames in the prologue with the life of the city are the author’s revelations about his childhood memories, which set him up in the right way. The critic feels one hundred percent understanding and sensation of the author. Thanks to genuine photographs Andreasyan was able to achieve the highest level of realism. According to reviews of the film "Earthquake," people really cried while watching this picture.
"Evening Moscow"
Boris Wojciechowski, one of the authors of the Evening Moscow news feed, talks about director Sarik Andreasyan in a negative way, discussing his past work. However, the critic’s review of the film “Earthquake” is completely different. Boris considers this work the best of all filmed by Sarik before.
The author of the review notes that the film only broadcasts a natural disaster for five minutes, yet the rest of the time is devoted to the human essence, and what happens to it during a terrible collapse of terrible stress: death, pain, powerlessness and fear.
In the end, the work takes on a whole moral concept - the story of redemption, holiness, meanness, forgiveness and, of course, love.
The critic believes that the “Earthquake” is far from a picture of Armenia, of geography and national mentality, it is about the spiritual side of everyone.
"News"
Feedback on the film "Earthquake" Anastasia Rogova (author of the news site "Izvestia") is positive. In her opinion, the director managed to combine large-scale shooting with a dramatic basis.
The moment with the earthquake criticized the audience as extremely convincing, the author has no complaints about the effects, casting and dramatic moments.
However, to the plot itself, a couple of questions still appear. Some lines seem Anastasia far-fetched, and the finale itself completely confuses the author with morality about friendship between nations and universal forgiveness.
"A New Look"
According to the critic Vadim Bogdanov (author of the media resource "New Look"), the film works quite well as a reminder of the story, but limps on two legs as an art picture. He states that cinema is the best work in the baggage of the director Andreasyan, however, in modern projects on historical subjects, it can hardly make competition.
Feedback on the film "Earthquake" by Vadim Bogdanov is very mixed. So he appreciates the beginning of the picture positively, calling it "ambitious." However, the car accident itself seems to him rather schematic.
The author of the review criticizes the director for excessive drama, when he poses as many as five scenes in a row, ending with the same thing - tears. Vadim Bogdanov understands that Andreasyan is thus trying to show the scale of the tragedy of the Armenian people and humanity as a whole, but to demonstrate five identical episodes in a row was unnecessary. The director himself is an Armenian, therefore it is difficult for him to look from the side of the eyes of those whom this tragedy has not affected, hence the sobriety of his eyes is lost.
However, the critic praises Andreasyan for his scrupulousness and responsibility for the detailed reproduction of the events of 30 years ago.
The main goal of the director was "not to lie", with which, according to Vadim Bogdanov, he coped flawlessly.
Interesting Facts
The shooting of one of the best films about the earthquake in 2016 lasted 42 days in Moscow and Gyumri (former Leninakan). In Russia, scenes after the earthquake were shot, in Armenia, the world before a terrible tragedy.
The casting was attended by 500 actors from Russia and Armenia. In the shootings that took place in Armenia, the population of Gyumri took part in mass scenes, most of them were real witnesses of those events. About 150 people starred in group shots.
As many as 5 trucks were loaded with details for filling the rooms: shelving, walls, chandeliers, dishes, books, toys and other items. Each day of filming ended with a minute of silence.