On March 4, the PREMIER online cinema and TNT began showing the comedy series “Camera Motor” directed by Sasha Abdullaev (“Knee-deep”).
The script was written by Renat Aktuganov and Ilya Yaroshevsky, who previously worked together on the film “Friend for Sale.”
The main character of the series is Nikolai Videnin, who once dreamed of becoming a director.
However, instead of a successful career, he is forced to work in a video salon on the school grounds and play VHS films for money.
One day, instead of the cartoon “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” he shows the children an “adult movie.”
Kolya is not to blame for this - he did not know that he was hiding under the name of a popular animated film, but the court finds the man guilty and he is sent to a penal colony in the Krasnoyarsk Territory for a year.
Now Videnin’s name is Vidik and he has to work at the sawmill along with other convicts.
But everything changes when the head of the colony, Nazarov, asks Nikolai to fix the Korean video player, and then gives him the task of making a film and allows him to release from work those who Kolya needs for filming.
Armed with a Japanese camera given by his boss, Vidic re-shoots the action with Sylvester Stallone, and the result stuns everyone.
From this moment on, Nazarov officially introduces film production on the territory of the settlement, and gives Videnin almost complete freedom of action.
The main character, together with those who wish to participate, remakes such famous Hollywood films as “Back to the Future”, “Ghostbusters” and “Terminator”.
Deputy Chief Basov does not like the innovations - he adheres to the traditional views of re-educating convicts, so he is trying in every possible way to interfere with filming and stop this entertainment.
The roles in the project were played by Pavel Rassomakhin (“Kitchen”), Dmitry Kolchin (“Patient Zero”), Maxim Kiselyov (“Ivan Vasilyevich Changes Everything”), Askar Nigamedzyanov (“Food Block”), Alexander Oblasov (“Major”) and other artists .
The plot of the series captivates you from the very first episode: it is light, funny and, most importantly, original: it’s not easy to remember a film project with even a remotely similar story.
This makes the tape feel like a breath of fresh air.
After watching the first two episodes, viewers will already have an idea of what will be discussed next, but at the same time there are many options for the ending, so the intrigue remains.
The action in the episodes takes place in the early 1990s, and the series is imbued with the spirit of that time: from the interior of the apartment of the head of the colony to the clothes and manner of speech of the characters.
The atmosphere of the Soviet era is also supported by the soundtrack, consisting mainly of famous hits such as “Yellow Tulips” by Natasha Koroleva, “Winter and Spring” by the group “Ariel” and “Island” by the group “Forum”.
An important element in the plot is cinema, and there are a lot of details related to cinema: the same VHS tapes, for example, or Japanese equipment that was difficult to obtain in those years, such as a camera and a video player.
The filming scenes of the heroes are also impressive and captivating - on the territory of the colony, in the absence of any conditions, they stage funny remakes of Hollywood films beloved by millions.
The production process is partially visible to the viewer, and it is a very funny sight.
The characters fantasize, create costumes, decorations and the necessary paraphernalia from available materials, and also manage to add action with the help of special effects, for example, making small explosions.
The authors of the film also paid tribute to the wonderful voice acting of Leonid Volodarsky, who died in August 2023.
In the series, due to the fact that some prisoners could not remember their lines, it was decided to dub the entire film with one character with a voice, just like the VHS era legend.
Meanwhile, there is plenty of humor in the series.
Particularly amusing are some phrases taken from prison slang, for example, “Evening in the hut,” and how set expressions are replaced with this slang.
Still from the series “Camera Motor”
The actors involved in the project played their characters perfectly.
The role of Nikolai was played by Pavel Rassomakhin.
His character turned out to be a slightly naive movie buff, a creative person not accustomed to physical labor.
The scene in which Vidik retells the plot of a Hollywood film to the head of the colony is very impressive: he doesn’t just tell, but shows in detail everything that happened in the action movie, using his emotions, things at hand (pencils, chairs) and memory.
This is one of the revealing moments at the beginning of the series, as it helps to understand that the hero is not only passionate about cinema with all his soul, but he has a wealth of knowledge about films, he has watched many films and remembers their plots by heart.
Also impressive is the “casting” scene for the role of Sarah Connor from “The Terminator.”
Videnin chooses an actress from among the female prisoners who came specially to the settlement.
Having learned that in the men's colony there is no escort and strict regime, like women, one of the convicts - Katya played by Sofia Sokur - uses all her acting talent and knowledge of literature, reads a short monologue, which amazes not only Nazarov and Kolya, but also the audience.
“Camera Motor” will appeal to the public thanks to its fascinating plot and light humor.
After watching the series, many will probably feel nostalgic for the 1990s, want to rewatch cult Hollywood films, and maybe even be inspired by the idea of becoming part of the world of cinema themselves.