Films of a large-scale project by Ilya Khrzhanovsky with the general title “Dau” intrigued the audience long before the start of the 70th Berlin Film Festival: conflicting rumors circulated around the filming, and the presentation of paintings in Paris turned into an advertised immersive performance.
It was not possible to repeat the Parisian history in Russia: in November 2019, the Ministry of Culture refused to issue a rental certificate to four of the thirteen parts of the project (that is, four of ten for which Khrzhanovsky submitted applications): “Dow. Natasha "," Dow. The new man "," Dow. Nora son ”and“ Dow. Sasha Valera "- after they found pornography propaganda in the tape.
At the same time, the tape “Dow. Natasha "its creators were taken to the Berlinale as a participant in the main competition, and the picture" Dow. Degeneration "entered the program" Special ".
A year ago, “Dau” was presented in Paris as an art project, so viewers (and even more experts) got the opportunity to form an opinion on all the work of Khrzhanovsky, expressed, however, in a fundamentally different form. Now, "Natasha" as a separate film caused a stormy reaction of critics.
First of all, experts agreed that the project has a very indirect relation to the era that the director allegedly tried to recreate. So, Andreas Boucher from Der Tagesspiegel noted that viewers who want to evaluate the tape with an open mind, it is better to escape from the dramatic aestheticization of totalitarianism - the critic generally doubts that the film provides for a socio-political load:
“So what is the attitude of“ Dow. Natasha "has to the loudly promised image of a totalitarian regime? From the general concept in the form of selling sex and violence, only the duel for power between two women who use male structures of violence in their hopelessness has survived, ”emphasizes Boucher.
Berliner Morgenpost employee Felix Muller also expressed bewilderment at the idea of the film as a whole.
“To look at all this is absolutely terrible, but even more depressed is the confusion that this film causes after half an hour of viewing. Why all this? Why these chatter, drunkenness and cries, why this cruelty? To show that man to man is a wolf? What does he torment himself of his kind and even tear to pieces, if circumstances so require? Didn’t we know this for a long time? ”He writes.
The RBB24 author Fabian Vallmeier offers his version of the answer to this question. By the way, the critic even refused to review the tape - he emphasized that the published material was a subjective assessment of the film.
“What this cinematic torment has to say, in addition to the fact that Khrzhanovsky knows how to torment well, remains unclear,” says Wallmeier.
He reinforces this point of view with his own audience experience.
“I really have more than average resistance to the images of violence and torture in the film, including on the long days of the festival. But with “Dow. Natasha "I left with trembling knees," the author remarked.
Muller emphasizes that the main conclusion that he made after watching the tape is that the rest of the films in the series should not be watched.
- Director Ilya Khrzhanovsky, actresses Olga Shkabarnya and Natalia Berezhnaya
- RIA News
- © Ekaterina Chesnokova
In addition, critics did not ignore the production of the project. Questions were raised by the atmosphere on the set. Taz reports that in the process of working on the film, Khrzhanovsky allegedly performed actions that are worthy of the new wave of #metoo. However, both the director and the actors deny this.
Non-professional actors were involved in the project. They improvised, trying to remain in the image, and the director and the rest of the crew interfered in the process minimally - despite the fact that their intervention might have been necessary.
“For Khrzhanovsky, sometimes reality was less important than provocation ... Young people come, kill scientists, slaughter a pig and destroy the institute. Pigging was real. Young people are played by real neo-Nazis, ”says Taz employee Victoria Morash.
In this case, we are talking about an episode from the part “Dow. Degeneration ”, when Maxim Martsinkevich (later sentenced to 10 years in prison) killed a pig in the frame. Khrzhanovsky explained that this episode was also not planned: initially, young scientists (also unprofessional actors) who were crowding out the older generation should have participated in the scene. But the director did not like their game, so the idea has changed.
Nevertheless, some visitors to the Berlinale hastened to share not just positive, but enthusiastic reviews.
Thus, the author of the British publication Independent, Joffrey McNab, considers the fundamental merit of the film “Dow. Natasha "hyperrealism, which was achieved due to the documentary nature of the filming and editing, as well as the lack of music and special effects.
In addition, he is not confused by the shortcomings of the film mentioned by some journalists - prolonged timing and a weak storyline:
“The rejection of the audience can also cause scenes in which the characters abuse alcohol and then feel sick. Long and stingy episodes of events can tire. Nevertheless, thanks to the inner strength and courage of the performance, this picture is a cut above the majority of other competitive films presented at the Berlin Film Festival, ”the critic said.
His colleague from Screen Daily, Jonathan Romney, suggests that an “movie about a movie,” revealing how the filming went, could be an even more spectacular sight.
“Dow. Natasha "can shock the audience, it can be confusing and unbalancing, but on the whole does not offer any clear evidence that the dramatic material shot by Khrzhanovsky is able to compete with the film about the creation of" Dau ", which - if we ever see it - is undoubtedly it’s going to be a stunning, tearing show, ”says Romney.
Peter Bradshaw, an employee of The Guardian, unlike his German colleagues, saw in the tape an image of totalitarianism (albeit a very contradictory one). "Which clearly demonstrates" Dow. Natasha ”is how bizarrely in totalitarian societies there exist side by side the normal and the abnormal, the banal and the grotesque, the human and the inhuman ... This is a strange, highly functional form of despair. A creepy, deeply disturbing film, ”he concluded.