On March 18, the tragicomedy "There Will Be No More Snow" by Polish directors Malgorzata Shumovskaya and Michal Englert will be released on the screens of Russian cinemas.
The world premiere of the film took place in September 2020.
Over the past months, the tape has become a festival hit: it was shown at shows in Venice, Seville, Bergen and other European cities.
In addition, the film was nominated by Poland for an Oscar, but was not nominated.
Shumovskaya and Englert also became the authors of the script for the project, Englert worked on the picture, including as a cameraman.
The video sequence of the film deserves special attention.
The tape begins with gloomy gray-green shots in a dark forest, from which the main character emerges.
Then he moves along no less ominous passages, and already at this moment the viewer is enveloped in a tense near-mythical atmosphere that sets the tone for the entire film.
The story here is told not only by the heroes: a well-thought-out entourage helps to fully convey their feelings, and long plans, dim lighting and background instrumental music seem to hypnotize the viewer, making him even more imbued with what is happening on the screen.
The main role in the film was played by the British actor Alec Utgoff, born in Kiev.
He is known to international audiences primarily for his role as the Soviet scientist Alexei in the third season of Stranger Things.
The artist also appeared in such major projects as "Tourist", "Mission Impossible: A Tribe of Outcasts" and "San Andreas Rift".
In the film "There Will Be No More Snow" Utgoff played the masseur Zhenya, who was born in Pripyat exactly seven years before the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
The action begins with the arrival of the hero in Poland, where he is going to live and work.
Already in one of the first scenes, Zhenya talks about his incredible abilities: in his own words, he speaks all languages.
In addition, the hero can plunge any person into a trance and relieve him of pain and worries (which he immediately demonstrates on one official).
© Still from the film "There will be no more snow"
Zhenya's clients are residents of a prestigious area.
They live in luxurious cottages, especially in contrast to the more than modest apartment of the massage therapist.
But it soon turns out that the heroes cannot boast of anything other than material well-being: they are all deeply unhappy.
Zhenya's patients include a woman who is neglected by her own family, a man with cancer, a widow who buried her spouse under a tree in the yard, and others.
One gets the feeling that the heroes themselves ignore their problems: they prefer to live in the future (dream of an ideal future for children or prepare with full dedication for an insignificant school event), and their feelings are carefully hidden behind the doors of luxurious houses and muffled with alcohol and drugs.
The authors of the tape show that everyone, regardless of income, interests and life experience, has the same needs and problems.
And everyone needs help.
In the film, she comes from a mysterious masseur who not only heals bodies, but also easily penetrates people's souls.
He plunges someone into a trance, allowing them to meet their fears - clients return from him as if reborn.
In some cases, an ordinary kind word can work.
However, it soon becomes clear that this almost magical intervention does not solve all problems: some heroes continue to lead their usual way of life and return to their previous state.
It is interesting that the viewer learns little about Zhenya's clients: we are shown only the essence of the problem and its main causes.
Thanks to this technique, it is possible to fully feel the despair of the characters and fully experience the gloomy mood inherent in the picture.
At the same time, the tape looks easy.
Mainly due to the uncluttered plot, as well as a number of comical moments, demonstrating, for example, the attitude of the characters towards their loved ones.
So, one of Zhenya's clients proudly says that her child is very independent - he orders food himself, and the other rejoices in her son's ability to make amphetamine.
© Still from the film "There will be no more snow"
The audience also knows little about the main character (apart from his outstanding talents, to which piano, telekinesis and dance skills are added with the development of the plot).
Even short flashbacks to the past do not reveal the character, but only hint that melancholy has overcome not only Zhenya's clients, but also himself.
The masseur seems to the last whether a superhero, or a secretive, sinister mystical character.
Throughout the action, he amazes with his kindness and exceptional positiveness: always calm and quiet, Zhenya knows exactly what to say to help an unfamiliar person, agrees even to strange requests and is ready to endure random insults in order to calm the client.
In addition, Zhenya (with the exception of one minor episode, for which it is difficult to judge him) does not use his own gift for personal gain: he does not use the emotional impulse of a woman who misses intimacy, and does not take someone else's.
Plunging clients into a state of trance, he only wanders through their homes, contemplating, and sometimes just dancing.
As a result, the answer to the question - who is Zhenya and why does he need all this - becomes almost the main intrigue of the film.
© Still from the film "There will be no more snow"
Towards the end of the tape, its authors nevertheless lift the veil of secrecy and show some of the hero's weaknesses, proving that he is a simple person, who turned out to be, perhaps, even more desperate than his clients.
In the finale, snow falls on the city.
The filmmakers compare it to a blanket that brings people back to childhood fairy tales and gives them a sense of security and comfort.
In addition to the leitmotif of universal misfortune, filmmakers touch on the topic of ecology - they talk about global warming and its negative impact on the planet.
However, this topic is rather weakly disclosed: the heroes only mention a couple of times that such a problem exists, and the consequences can be dire.
However, the real understanding of its scale comes in the end credits, announcing that, according to forecasts, the last snowfall in Europe will take place in 2025.
Even less attention has been paid to other global themes that Shumovskaya and Englert touch upon in their film.
On the one hand, this causes a feeling of understatement, but on the other, it leaves room for new interpretations of the film and encourages to analyze it again and again and once again return to watching.