Cold on the street and emptiness in the soul: what was the film of the main competition of the MIFF "Molodist"

On Wednesday, August 31, the drama Molodist was screened by director, screenwriter and producer from Yakutia Dmitry Davydov.

The film was presented as part of the main competition program of the Moscow International Film Festival.

The roles in the tape were performed by Albert Alekseev, Anatoly Struchkov, Elena Markova and Pavel Chenyanov. 

In the center of the plot is 40-year-old Vasily Nikolaev, who, 20 years later, decides to return to his native village in the hope of finding happiness there.

But a lot of time has passed since Vasya left to conquer the city: his parents have already died, and all the school friends with whom he was once very close have families and households.

All that Vasily has left is the old father's house.

The life of the protagonist cannot be called even a little happy.

He is divorced, two children stayed with his mother, and he got alimony.

Upon arrival, he is beaten by local hooligans, after which he ends up in the police, where he meets an acquaintance of the policeman Ruslan.

It is he who helps Vasya to get the keys to his parents' house from the neighbors and find a job.

And it seems that life begins to improve, but you can’t run away from the feeling of loneliness, and you can’t return your youth, although the hero is trying his best.

He comes to a school friend Vera.

They have fun and dance like at a graduation, but the next time Vera's husband does not let Vasily in, referring to the fact that they have their own life.

The same thing happens with Pavlik's best childhood friend - the men drink, laugh, after which Pavlik goes to sleep at home with his wife and children, and Vasily remains alone outside the door.

He knocks on it, but Pavel's wife refuses to open it for him.

What can I say: even his own uncle does not want to let him into his house.

Vasya constantly fills his sadness with alcohol, and drowns out the silence in the house with the noise from the TV, which, due to the lack of a good antenna, sometimes broadcasts only interference.

That is why the hero does not kill or drive out the fly that has wintered in his refrigerator.

The insect is the only living thing left with him.

When Vasily discovers that someone set fire to his father's house, he rushes into the fire to save his little winged friend.

Hiding it in his bosom, he goes to the police station to Ruslan, where he releases the fly into the wild.

Loneliness, depression and the desire to return to the past Dmitry Davydov in the tape showed in full and quite truthfully.

This is especially true towards the end.

A person experiencing sadness and sadness cries, sometimes experiences outbursts of anger, but still tries to somehow improve his life, build a life in an old house.

And the one who is depressed and in complete despair no longer cries, because he no longer hopes for anything.

That is why Vasily, when he loses his home, his only native place, laughs hysterically, and then starts dancing at all, drinking alcohol.

He has nothing to lose.

He lies on the snow, mingling tears with laughter, and then sees the children who are calling him to join the game.

These guys are echoes of the past, when he himself was young and had fun with friends.

It is probably assumed that the viewer will feel sympathy and empathy for the main character, and indeed, in places these emotions can be noted.

However, pity still prevails over them, and sometimes disgust.

Despite the fact that a person cannot completely control his life, most of it still depends on the actions and decisions made earlier.

So, in the case of Vasily, his life is the consequences of his own decisions.

For 20 years, he never visited his native land, did not come to visit his parents and relatives, did not go to meetings of classmates and was not interested in the life of school friends.

And it is not surprising that, upon returning, the hero feels like a stranger and useless to anyone.

And he himself seems to be not particularly eager to improve his life, always choosing easy ways to solve problems.

Although we must pay tribute to the director - the attitude towards the hero of the audience may vary depending on the experience, psychological state and many other factors.

But in any case, it is impossible to consider him a victim of the situation.

The oppressive atmosphere in the tape is supported by the surroundings and locations.

The filming took place in the village of Yakutia, so the action takes place against the backdrop of a snowy landscape and old wooden houses, which can often be found in the towns and villages of Russia.

Inside they still evoke sadness - shabby furniture, carpets on the walls, a rusty refrigerator and an old square TV.

By the way, at the beginning of the film, the audience was informed that it was filmed at a temperature of minus 56 degrees Celsius, and it is not difficult to imagine how hard it was for the film crew and cast to work in such conditions.

The plot is not limited to one drama - the film contains several humorous scenes that caused laughter in the audience.

For example, Vasily and Vera watch the Yakut version of the film Dracula and laugh at its performance.

Also ironically shown are commercials that are broadcast on a local TV channel.

First, the characters see "Dmitry's Wig Store" - in the video, a man tries on strange hairstyles and encourages the viewer to buy goods in order to be stylish.

After some time, the characters see an advertisement for a snowdrop tincture from the same Dmitry, which can cure any disease.

At the end, an address appears with a note: "Dmitry's former wig shop."

The cameraman's work deserves special mention - many shots in the film were shot through a reflection in a mirror, as well as using their shadows instead of people.

In addition, filmmakers deliberately ignored the images of some characters, showing only their body parts - arms, legs - so as not to distract attention from the main character.

For example, throughout the entire film, the viewer never saw the full look of police officer Ruslan - during dialogues with Vasily, only his hands and part of the uniform are visible on the screen, and in another frame - only his legs.

However, there are also strange visual solutions in the tape, for example, a frame when the camera spins around its axis very quickly.

Dizziness for especially sensitive viewers is guaranteed at this moment. 

The director preferred to leave the finale of the tape open: the main character gets into the car and leaves, and where everyone decides for himself.

In this case, this is probably the most correct decision, given the meaning of the tape and the importance of the location in which the events take place.

In general, the plot and the idea justified themselves: the film turned out to be at least catchy and leaves a considerable number of topics for thought.

To relax - this is not the best picture, but viewers who like to strain their brains and think about life, the film is likely to enjoy.