The film "Alive", the reviews of which you will find in this article, is a domestic picture that was released in 2006. It tells about the difficult adaptation of Russian soldiers who are returning from the Chechen war.
Plot of the film
The film "Alive, its reviews characterize him well, begins with a description of one of the battles of the Chechen war. A group of Russian intelligence officers is forced to retreat. Several soldiers actually sacrifice themselves to cover fellow soldiers who carry a wounded comrade from the battlefield.
It turns out to be a contract soldier Cyrus, played by Andrei Chadov. He is placed in a hospital where his leg is amputated. After that, he becomes disabled. The tragedy is added to the incident by the fact that he went to Chechnya with one goal - to earn money for a wedding with his girlfriend. Arriving in his hometown, he clearly understands that he will no longer be able to live a normal life.
He thinks a lot about the Caucasus, about the military conflict, his fallen comrades. He often wonders why he stayed alive at all.
Return to Peace
Adaptation of the hero to a peaceful life is not easy. The official who must pay him compensation requires a percentage. Cyrus first agrees, but then buys a saber, with which he goes to meet with a corrupt official. When he again demands a bribe, he kills him.
At night, he is hit by a car, reaching home, he sees the ghosts of his dead fellow soldiers. They are trying to help him figure out a new life, only with them Cyrus feels good. However, ghosts condemn his actions, resulting in becoming his conscience.
In his house, he does not find a common language with either his parents or his beloved girl, who becomes a stranger to him.
He is intensely seeking the graves of his fallen comrades. On the way to the cemetery he meets with a young priest who takes him to the graveyard. At the burial place of friends, he finds a grave with his photograph, begins to worry, stopping the priest from reading the prayer for the repose. But he is adamant, even despite heavy rain. On the way back from the cemetery, the scene from the beginning of the picture is repeated when he gets under the car. This time, having come to himself, he meets all his friends. Together they set off in an unknown direction, and Cyrus seemed not to notice that he had already stopped limping.
According to the director's idea, he died under the wheels of a car at the beginning of the picture. Reunited with his comrades in the other world. All subsequent events are nothing more than his dying dreams.
Film director
The film "Alive", reviews of which were mostly positive, was shot by Russian director Alexander Veledinsky in his own script.
This became his fifth movie job. But if the first pictures ("Anfan Terribl", "You and I, Yes, you and I" and "The Law") were little known, then the drama "Russian", shot in 2004, had some success.
This is a film adaptation of the works of Eduard Limonov “Teen Savenko”, “We had a Great Epoch”, “My Negative Hero”, “Young Wretch” and “Russian”, which gave the name to the film.
By the way, Eduard Savenko in the film (that is, Limonov) is also played by Andrei Chadov. The picture was noted at several domestic and international festivals. Chadov even received a prize for Best Actor at the Moscow Premiere Film Festival.
After the painting "Alive", Veledinsky took part in the film project "Experiment 5IVE", aimed at demonstrating the individuality and uniqueness of human perception. Prepared for this project a short film "Portrait".
In 2013, he shot the film adaptation of the same name by Alexey Ivanov ’s novel “The Geographer Drank the Globe,” which received the main prize at the Kinotavr Sochi festival.
Cast
In the film "Alive", the actors, in many respects, ensured the success of the picture. First of all, the lead actor Andrei Chadov.
This is a domestic actor who made his debut on the screen in the little-known film "Avalanche" in 2001, and three years later he already played a major role in Veledinsky's drama "Russian".
For his role in the film Alive, the reviews of his work were positive for both critics and spectators, he was nominated for the Nika Prize, losing to Peter Mamonov, who played Anatoly's father in Pavel Lungin’s drama Ostrov. Chadov received the Best Award at the MTV Russia Movie Awards.
Younger brother
In reviews of the film "Live" in 2006, many also noted the successful acting work of his younger brother Alexei Chadov. He played the priest in the cemetery, who reads a prayer for the repose of the protagonist over the grave with his photo at the moment when he himself thinks that he is still alive.
The difference between the brothers is a little over a year, but they are very similar to each other, which gave the picture a certain mystery and mystery.
On the big screen, Alexei Chadov made an even more successful career than his older brother. He was also remembered for his roles in the military drama Fyodor Bondarchuk's “9th Company”, the melodramatic comedy Rezo Gigineishvili “Heat”, the fantasy comedy by Marius Weisberg “Love in the Big City”, the biographical drama about sports by Yuri Korolev “Valery Kharlamov. Extra time,” the adventure film the horror of Oleg Stepchenko "Wii".
Reviews on the picture
Reviews and reviews for the movie "Living" turned out to be very diverse. Many critics were divided into those who believed, the creators of the picture, and those who did not.
Those who did not like the film noted the presence of lies and falsehood in the picture. And this in films about the war, especially about the one that ended recently, is perceived especially sharply.
Those who liked the film admit that they were bribed by honesty, bordering on naivety. Mat, tears and screams are really perceived truthfully. In addition, the scenario turned out to be as tragic as possible. Therefore, many times returned to the film "Living". Reviews written by professional film critics, for the most part, favored this directorial work.
Viewers reviews
But among the reviews left by ordinary viewers, there were much more positive ones. Most of them were shocked by the brilliant play of the actors. Reviews of the film "Live" in 2006 are often based on the fact that for some the death of the protagonist at the very beginning of the picture was not obvious. The debate about whether he really died under the wheels of a car or remained alive until the very end, continued for a long time.
For many young viewers, the film was a real revelation of the war in Chechnya. Some of the young viewers did not even know the details of this military conflict. Thanks to the film, they found out the details of this tragic war.
Spectators and critics have provided drama nominations and several victories at prestigious film festivals. So, the film was nominated for the main prize at Kinotavr, losing only to Alexei Popogrebsky’s drama Simple Things. But he received a prize from the guild of film critics and film critics of Russia and a prize named after Grigory Gorin for the best script.