Reviews of the film "Cramped", which was released in 2017, were very controversial. Some called him one of the three best domestic films of the year (along with "Arrhythmia" and "Dislike"), others simply left the cinema in the middle of the session.
Plot of the film
Reviews for the movie "Cramped" are collected in this article. Events in the film unfold in Nalchik in 1998. Time is poor and difficult, the country is experiencing another economic crisis, and the troubled Chechen Republic, which is fighting for independence, is nearby.
The main character is Ilana. She is Jewish, she works with her father in the garage as a car mechanic. She is only 24 years old, her family is not rich, she can hardly make ends meet.
One evening, everyone is going to celebrate the engagement of her younger brother named David. All relatives and friends of the family come to the celebration.
After the celebration, young people go for a walk in the night city. They are being abducted at this time. A common thing for this region in those years. They require a large ransom for them. The Jewish community lives here very cohesively. But they fail to find money in difficult times. The family hastily sells everything they have to save David and his bride. For this, everyone makes certain sacrifices.
Movie ratings
It’s worth mentioning right away that the reviews about the film “Cramped” were received as contradictory as possible. Both critics and viewers disagreed. Many were wary of the debut of the young director Kantemir Balagov, who had previously shot only short films. In the full-length movie, this tape became his debut.
Balagov himself is a native of Nalchik, so he knows very well what he is talking about on the screen. "Tightness" was demonstrated at the prestigious Kinotavr festival. At the premiere, the hall was full, but by the middle of the tape, many spectators began to leave. However, most professional film critics enthusiastically accepted the tape.
The film was riveted by increased interest. In many respects, the excitement was caused by the fact that the film "Cramped" earned rave reviews at the Cannes Film Festival. He received the prize of the international press, the second most important award in the competition "Special Look".
Based on real events.
The creator of the film Balagov notes his picture is based on real events. Cantemir claims that his father told him this story. He insists that the abductions at that time were not commonplace, but still happened with enviable consistency. Moreover, they abducted not only representatives of Jewish nationality, but also Balkars and Kabardians.
It was important for the director to show the tragedy precisely in the Jewish family, since it was especially interesting to follow the relations with this tiny diaspora, a small people living on a foreign land.
Features of the movie "Cramped"
In the reviews of the film "Cramped" an unusual format is noted in which the picture was taken - 4: 3. This is done in order to emphasize the narrowness that surrounds the heroes of the picture, as well as to maximize the viewer's eyes on the human face. Because it is man who is the main thing that interests the creator of the picture, regardless of his nationality.
Interior shooting of the picture took place near St. Petersburg. The entire film crew came to full-scale scenes in Nalchik itself. The final scene was shot right in the mountains.
It is interesting that the director was sympathetic to those people who left the cinema at the premiere screening. Accordingly, they left unflattering reviews about the film "Cramped". Balagov admits that in the picture there are many heavy scenes that not everyone was able to sit. For example, the film contains tough shots of the chronicles of the war in Chechnya.
Cast
According to reviews, in the film "Tightness" the actors and the roles they performed left a positive impression on the audience. Of particular note is the work of Daria Zhovner.
At the same time, the film is truly unique, because for almost all the filmmakers, the work in this film became a real debut in feature films. Balagov attracted non-professional actors or those who had minimal experience. For example, Zhovner before this film played only in the short film Anastasia Yulina "For My Sake".
Actress Olga Dragunova in the movie "Tightness" - according to reviews, her work also deserved all praise - and made her debut in the film industry. She got the image of Adina, the mother of Ilana and David.
Benjamin Katz, who played David, has only one acting job on his track record. He starred in an episode in the drama Alexei German Jr. "Under the Electric Clouds."
Nazir Zhukov, who played the young man Ilana, before the picture "Tightness" appeared only in the series "Nerds", "Forester" and "Trace". So in the film "Tightness" the actors earned positive reviews, despite their little experience.
Certain fame is only the Honored Artist of Russia Artem Tsypin. In the film, he appears as the father of Ilana and David. He made his film debut back in 1998, playing a journalist in the TV series "Senior". After that, he often appeared in serial Russian films "Streets of Broken Lights", "Opera. Chronicles of the Slaughter Department", "His Majesty's Secret Service", "Secrets of the Investigation".
He also received a cameo role in the film by Alexei German Jr. "Under the Electric Clouds", played in Igor Voloshin’s drama "Nirvana", the films "My Dear Man", "The Human Factor".
Reviews of film critics
Speaking about the film "Cramped", in the reviews, many critics noted that the director very successfully chose the Jewish family as the main characters. People who, in fact, are strangers in this society, also live in a strange Caucasian environment. The film has a lot of tragedy, but at the same time there is practically nothing really black. Instead, the director uses other tricks. Shows not bodies and corpses, but the inner experiences of the characters.
Any viewer understands that at first glance the heroes have a life that’s bearable, but absolutely impossible, unbearable. To an inattentive viewer, it may seem that there is a lot of improvisation in the picture, as well as languid sloppiness. But in fact, this is a thing worked out in detail to every little thing, which is built just so that it becomes understandable to any viewer.
The relevance of the film "Cramped"
In disputes about the film "Cramped" (reviews of it are in this article), critics often note with surprise that the director is attracted to the theme of 20 years ago. However, most of them believe that the tape has not lost relevance in our days.
Indeed, in reality it is about eternal things that are always interesting to any person. The date, year in which the heroes of this work live, have absolutely no meaning.
Prospects for author's cinema in the North Caucasus
Many film experts are surprised to note that author's cinema of such high quality is unique and atypical for this region. At the same time, Balagov himself is skeptical about his prospects in the North Caucasus.
The director is confident that in the near future there will not be any significant shifts towards high-quality author's cinema in Kabardino-Balkaria and neighboring republics. In his opinion, the main reason for the high costs is that no one is willing to invest in this effort or money.
Therefore, at the moment, Balagov himself lives and works in St. Petersburg. For the 26-year-old director, achieving the first picture is an undoubted success. In the future, he plans to continue making films about the North Caucasus so that people can better understand and feel the specifics of this region.