"Mind Games" (The Professor and the Madman)

One of the first editors and compilers of the Oxford English Dictionary, James Murray (Mel Gibson), is assisted in his work by the talented physician William Minor (Sean Penn). Especially this story is made by the fact that Minor suffers from a mental illness and is engaged in compiling a dictionary, being in a clinic for the mentally ill, where he was placed for killing a person.

The film is based on real events set forth in Simon Winchester’s novel The Surgeon of Crowthorne . For Gibson, it was a dream project: he had worked on the adaptation of the book for over twenty years and was initially going to put the picture himself. However, later he decided to invite to the position of director Farhad Safinius, with whom he wrote the script for the film “Apocalypse”.

More surprising is the fact that now Gibson does not seem to want the viewers to see "Mind Games." In particular, he refused to participate in the advertising campaign, and Safinia removed his name from the credits - his pseudonym PB Sherman stands out in the director's graph.

The reason is allegedly that the Voltage Pictures studio did not comply with the terms of the contract, according to which the company had to coordinate the budget, final assembly, casting and filming locations with Gibson and his Icon studio. However, this did not happen. For example, it was fundamentally important for Gibson to make a film in Oxford itself, but the studio found it too expensive and made a choice in favor of Trinity College in Dublin.

In addition, Gibson blamed the company for showing the non-approved version of the film to potential distributors in Cannes. As a result, the actor sued Voltage Pictures to court. The director Farhad Safinia, who filed a libel suit against the studio, did not stand aside either. The reason was a statement by representatives of the company who accused Gibson and Safinia of violating contractual obligations and non-compliance with their profession.

"The Aftermath"

The plot of the film takes viewers to post-war Germany. British citizen Rachel Morgan (Keira Knightley) in 1946 arrives in bombed Hamburg, where she was sent to send her husband - British Army Colonel Lewis Morgan (Jason Clark). He is entrusted with leading the establishment of a peaceful life in a ruined city.

Morgans are experiencing the death of their son. They avoid each other, communicate little. In Hamburg, spouses settle in a mansion that survived the war, where the German Stefan Lübert (Alexander Skarsgård) continues to live with his daughter. Tenants have a difficult relationship: because of the war and the death of her son, Rachel feels hatred for all Germans.

The picture was created by the director of the film “Memories of the Future” James Kent. He also put a number of episodes in the famous TV series “Poirot” with David Suchet as a detective. On the Rotten Tomatoes portal, critics and viewers were divided in their opinions about this film. The former said a categorical no to the tape: based on 128 reviews, the picture received only 25% of approval. But ordinary film lovers rated the “Consequences” quite positively - their picture gained 73%.

"Barabbas"

The authors of the tape offer to trace what happened to Barabbas (biblical character performed by Pavel Krainov) after the events described in the New Testament. According to the plot, being free, the criminal tries to find out who the person was, who was crucified in his place. Gradually, Barabbas realizes that Jesus was crucified. And this understanding radically changes his life.

The director, screenwriter and producer of the tape became Eugene Emelin, a new face in the film industry. As Emelin said in an interview, he was inspired to make a film on this topic in the book “Barabbas. Tale of the time of Christ "Maria Corelli.

"In the picture, it was very important for me to show the transition from the life of the heroes to the meeting with Christ and after it, to show the awareness of all the characters of the picture of the exclusivity of what is happening: life flowed and flowed, and then there was a meeting with him, and now nothing will be the same - told Emelin.

"Synonyms" (Synonymes)

From April 25, a new full-length picture by Israeli director Nadav Lapid will also appear on Russian movie screens. The film, shot by the joint efforts of Israeli, German and French filmmakers, became the triumphant of the last Berlin International Film Survey.

In the story, the recently demobilized Israeli Yoav decides to move to Paris in order to disown his culture, language and national identity and become French. He settles in an abandoned apartment, but the next morning he remains on the street - someone steals all his belongings. An Israeli is saved by two Parisians, who hand a wad of money and a telephone to an unattached emigrant. He moves into a new apartment, starts attending naturalization courses and learning French, constantly repeating synonyms.

“By the will of God” (Grâce à Dieu)


Another winner of the Berlin Film Festival is the painting By God's Will, by one of the most famous French directors, François Ozon. The tape is based on real events and refers to a loud story about possible harassment against boys by the French priest Bernard Preinat. The trial of Preynat, as well as the cardinals allegedly covering him, is still ongoing. According to media reports, the priest himself tried to prevent the release of paintings in France before the announcement of the verdict on his case.

Alexander is happily married, he has five children and a good job. One day, when he comes to serve in the church, he learns that the priest who had previously harassed him, Bernard Preinat, is still working with children. The hero decides to stop it, but conversations with the priest himself and the higher cardinals turn out to be useless. Then Alexander goes to the police with an anonymous statement, and during the investigation it turns out that dozens of people were injured by Preynat’s actions.

"Piranha of Naples" (La paranza dei bambini)


Nicolas and his friends, like many young people, want a beautiful life for themselves. But a fearless company makes money by criminal means: young men trade in drugs, and disputes are resolved with the help of weapons. For their dream, they are ready to die.

The picture of the Italian director Claudio Dovannezi (known to the audience for the drama "Flower") this year was awarded the prize for the script for all the same Berlin screen fiction. The film is a screen adaptation of the best-selling book “La Paranza dei Bambini” by writer and screenwriter Roberto Saviano, who became famous for his novel about the Neapolitan mafia “Gomorrah”.

By the way, many people know that world popularity is not all that Gomorrah brought Saviano: after the release of the novel, the Italian mafia issued a death sentence for the writer. Now the author of the scandalous book is constantly under police protection.