On Friday, May 12, the KION online cinema airs the drama series "Saving the Only Son" by Nikolai Khomeriki. The script was written by Arif Aliyev, known for his work on such projects as "Catherine", "Prisoner of the Caucasus" and "Mongol".
The plot of the tape revolves around the surgeon Lika (Anna Ardova), who learns that her son Vasily (Valery Stepanov) has disappeared in Turkey. The investigator believes that he was recruited by extremists.
Lika turns to her former companion for help, which at first provokes a conflict with his wife Katya (Nino Ninidze), but later it is the latter who becomes the main ally of the heroine in Russia. The women find Vasily's father Pavel (Alexei Serebryakov), a drinking and repeatedly convicted physician who, in an attempt to escape from problems in Moscow, agrees to join Lika in her search in Turkey.
At the same time, the plot line develops with Vasily's stay in captivity-slavery with Suleiman, associated with the Kurdish underground. To begin with, it turns out that the young man was kidnapped by accident - they needed an engineer for whom they took the hero. Vasya's specialty - a veterinarian - gave him a small chance of survival in captivity, since Suleiman bought a sick falcon, and the young man promised to cure the bird. However, this does not negate the openly inhuman attitude towards the prisoner.
Homeriki's tape is a very capacious and deep work, in which there is much more life than it might seem at first glance. However, the only unconditional and unquestioned thing in the picture is the boundless maternal love, selfless and comprehensive, throwing the heroine of Ardova into a whirlpool of events, for which she is not ready simply because it is impossible to prepare for such trials.
All other elements that the director uses in the narrative provide a layering of meanings and plot branches, resulting in a cocktail of halftones, where anything can happen, but no one can be trusted.
There is an alien, partly even hostile environment, including bribery, police corruption and complete indifference to the grief of a mother who came from another country in search of a child.
- © Shot from the series "Saving the Only Son"
The strong point of the picture is the excellent acting. Both Alexei Serebryakov and his character Pavel deserve special mention. He does not turn into John Rambo and does not begin to crush enemies dozens right and left, moreover, in the first two episodes, the hero does not cause anything at all except persistent hostility - he is a lowered and cowardly medical criminal, a drunkard and a womanizer. In the course of the development of the plot, Pavel begins to "humanize", turning into a man not by age, but by deeds. The character's arc is built so organically and smoothly, and Serebryakov plays the hero so convincingly that it is sometimes difficult to perceive what is happening on the screen as a film.
Anna Ardova is not inferior to her partner on the set: there are no flaws in her game and behavior, her Lika is often illogical, impulsive, does stupid things, but does not give up - the actress convincingly showed the feelings of a mother who is ready to sacrifice everything to save her child.
The rest of the acting ensemble is also very well chosen. Each artist in Homerica, who accentuates their strengths and hides their weaknesses, is exclusively in his place. "Saving the Only Son" is not one of those series where, minus the leading characters, all the others turn into "cardboard".
Each episode of the project lasts almost an hour, but what is happening on the screen catches seriously, and such an impressive timing does not tire at all. The events are distributed very evenly, there are no drawdowns in the narrative and, as a result, there is no desire to view some scenes on fast forward.
"Saving the Only Son" is a strong and dramatic work from a worthy and talented team of professionals, which is interesting to watch, and to disassemble into its constituent elements in search of new meanings is truly exciting.