On Thursday, January 25, the fantasy series “The Others,” based on the script by Elena Voitovich (“Trigger. The Film”) and directed by Vladimir Raksha (“Kristina”), starts in the online cinema “Kinopoisk”.
The action takes place in Leningrad in the 1940s, before the start of the Great Patriotic War.
The main character Anya has unique abilities, but does not know how to control them.
Her gift, which is a shock wave of sound, only manifests itself during times of strong emotions, such as fear or anger.
One day, afraid that she will lose her brother Petya, the girl involuntarily uses force to prevent a collision between a tram and a car, but at the same time causes considerable damage to many citizens.
This does not go unnoticed - the young investigator Likholetov is sure that what happened is the result of some extraordinary abilities.
The fact is that several years earlier in Madrid, he saw with his own eyes a man with superpowers.
No one believed him then, and now he is obsessed with proving he was right.
At the same time, local intelligence agencies, having learned about what happened, catch Anya and trick her into agreeing to some experiments.
Later, foreigner Maximilian Neumann, a scientist and also the owner of superpowers, learns about what happened in Leningrad.
Together with his assistant Katarina, he collects gifted children throughout Europe, and, having learned about Anya, flies to the Soviet Union to kidnap the girl.
Their meeting could be the beginning of the most dangerous war in the history of mankind and the start of a love union.
The roles in the series were played by Irina Martynenko (“About Love. For Adults Only”), Wolfgang Czerny (“The Last Hero”), Linda Lapins (“Game of Survival”), Kirill Nagiev (“Slave”) and many others.
It is known that to create the style and aesthetics of the pre-war USSR, the authors of the project studied old photographs and also used many objects from those years on the site.
The filmmakers’ work paid off, since the atmosphere of the first episode shown to journalists completely immerses you in the past.
It is obvious that the creators of the series paid great attention to the details in the interiors of the premises, the outfits of the characters and the exteriors of buildings in Leningrad.
The plot of the series is a kind of fantasy about the existence of superhumans in the 1940s.
This is the case when both the idea itself and its implementation are interesting (at least at the start).
Already at the beginning of the story, the viewer will be intrigued, by the middle he will be drawn into the atmosphere, and by the end of the first episode he will probably experience delight or surprise from what he saw and a desire to immediately turn on the next episode.
Since the main idea of the story is the extraordinary character of the characters, the way the use of power is shown on screen is important.
And here, too, no questions arise for the authors, since the picture looks high quality and convincing.
Even moments with the use of graphics do not spoil the impression, but, on the contrary, add that very fantasy atmosphere to the project.
Still from the series “The Others” (2023)
© press service of the online cinema "Kinopoisk"
The abilities of the heroes are shown interestingly and very beautifully.
When Anya uses her gift, the viewer sees a blue wave, similar to the sea, emanating from the girl’s chest, like a cry from the soul.
At the same time, Anya herself is silent at this moment.
At the same time, Neumann, played by Wolfgang Czerny, is able to use the gift of persuasion to make a person think, do or feel what he wants.
His power is similar to hypnosis: on the screen it looks as if the hero is stupefying a person with suggestive words.
The project would not have been so captivating if it were not for the predominantly well-coordinated work of the cast.
In the first episode, Irina Martynenko did not fully reveal her heroine Anya, but the authors probably left the most striking parts for the next one.
At first glance, the girl seems homely, timid and overly naive, agreeing to any test in order for her brother to survive.
We can only hope that circumstances and knowledge of her strength will strengthen the girl’s character, and she will become more discerning, more attentive and careful.
In general, all the artists involved in the film perfectly got used to their characters.
Professor Ilyinsky, played by Alexei Serebryakov, evokes both anger and trust.
For the sake of science, he is ready to do anything, even test a young girl and lie to her face, and certain life moments force him to no longer regret anything, to exclude unnecessary compassion from his life.
And yet it seems that inside Serebryakov’s character is inclined towards kindness more than towards evil.
Wolfgang Czerny, who played the role of Neumann, deserves special mention.
His hero, confident in himself and his abilities, evokes admiration and slight fear.
The actor was ideal for this role: his elegant appearance—thanks to the costume designers—emphasizes the man’s status, and from his eyes and manners it becomes clear that the man will achieve his goal at all costs.
Czerny's thoughtful portrayal draws attention to the artist in every scene.
But Ilya Malanin in the image of a young investigator is unconvincing in places, especially at the very beginning of the story.
There is a sense of naivety in his emotions, and instead of an organic character one can see the artist himself.
However, the series has a promising start, as well as a fascinating and intriguing plot, which, if developed correctly, will capture the attention and love of many viewers.