манеж в «октябре» / manege in «octyabr» - Московский ...

8BURIED LANDPERSPECTIVES COMPETITIONDir. Geoffrey Alan Rhodes, Steven EastwoodSeventy years before the appearance of thismovie Ilia Ilf, who used to collect funny phrasesand mad ideas, scribbled in his notebook: “Theyerected mountains to attract tourists”. YoungAnglo-American directors Geoffrey Alan Rhodesand Steven Eastwood are hardly familiar withthe heritage of the Soviet classic, but throughoutthe entire film it is difficult to get rid of thefeeling that they did not merely take the joke asa starting point, but adopted the style itself, theidea of bringing the concept to the total absurdity.A visiting American scientist claimed thatthree hills in the vicinity of the small Bosniantown of Visoco were actually ancient pyramidscovered in earth and forming a perfect triangle.The discovery turns the life of the town upsidedown. Until recently in the neighborhood onecould see only the signs “Beware, mines!” Highbrowscientific conferences converge. Busses withforeign tourists have difficulty passing each otheron the road. Inexpertly drawn pyramids (half thetown with shovels is working on the sites) adorncups, carpets, hotel logos. People are sick andtired of hearing overly long speeches on TV: theyare receivers of cosmic energy, it is the endlessnumber of triangles, Bosnia is under the influenceof triangles… Finally the locals become so “bent”that they are prepared to see even a real tragedy(which is only implied in this story, like pyramidsunder layers of soil) in this light: “Serbs stood onthe Pyramid of the Sun, we – on the Pyramid ofthe Moon, and because our house stood in thevalley between them, we are constantly underfire”.The director’s intention is not to entertain theviewer with these scenes from the life in the Balkans,the pseudo-documentary style – long shotsof interviews with builders; jumpy camera, shootingthe unearthed corridors of the pyramids – isunlikely to set the light mood. One could hardlylaugh at the characters who so hopefully repeatthroughout the film: “The world will finally learnsomething positive about Bosnia”, “Pyramids arethe symbol of Bosnian soul”. There is somethingbitter in how a country mutilated by modernhistory, clutches at every straw trying to invent anew national idea.At first the protagonist Emir seems to lookupon the locals as insane. He is a young Americanfilmmaker who arrived here as part of the filmcrew to shoot a movie about the new wonder ofthe world. Emir is a Bosnian himself, he escapedfrom the war long ago and now tries to look at hishomeland with new eyes. Evidently his tragedy ismore profound and interesting than “receivers ofcosmic energy” which are in the focus of attentionin the movie. He is a man who lost his relativesand friends and did not find new ones in theWest; there is a girl who chose to suffer throughthe war at home. Emir does not say much, but the“shadow of doubt” which suddenly crawls uponhim, is more eloquent than any words.Finally, the pyramids get their due. Generalinsanity is contagious. Prior to his ultimate capitulationand the decision to become a guide at thenew wonder of the world, the loony protagonistruns along the caves and amidst the hills and itseems that he just lacks a piece of sausage andthat tsaritsa Tamara is about to descend uponhim. And we are back to Ilia Ilf.Igor SavelievDAVID WANTS TO FLYATELIER Dir. David SievekingSeemingly the docu, five-years-in-the-makingproject by German writer-director David Sieveking’sDavid Wants to Fly was inspired by David Lynch’sbook “Catching the Big Fish”. The book sums up thedirector’s practice of transcendental meditationconsidered as the foundation of creativity and moregenerally as help for young people to cope withlife. A recent film school graduade David Sievekingbegins with a trip to the United States to hear DavidLynch speak about his passion for TranscendentalMeditation, a movement founded by the MaharishiMahesh Yogi. Lynch’s teach-in boils down into theurgent advice to try meditation and the joys offinding the tranquility – ‘dive within every day’ asa means for personal success. Sieveking sets outto headquarters of the Transcendental Meditation,where in Golden Domes of Pure Knowledge students(separated by gender) practice “yogic flying”.Back in Germany, Sieveking signs up for TrancendentalMeditation course. He was given his personmantra and said, that ‘donations are not allowed,you should sacrifice only your sins – that’s all’. Anyhowhe is required to pay a check for more than twothousand euros. Later on after filming the Maharishi’sfuneral in India and a subsequent convening ofhis successors in the Netherlands, Sieveking surpisinglywitnesses a clash for power within the Empire.By the way, when David Lynch is asked about thisdelicate topic, he gently smiles: ‘The main thing isto get experience. The rest is only frosting on thecake!’ He himself even established a foundation forthe study of Meditation in all public schools, eagerlysupported by many celebrities, Paul Mcсartneyamong them.In the course of exploration the helmer’s doubtsgrow and many questions arise. For example, if TranscendentalMeditation has really helped so manypeople, and claims to establish world peace, why aretheir encampments surrounded by barbed wire andmany adherents hide their faces when telling theirstories of mental breakdowns and financial ruin asa result of this practice? Gamely walking barefootin the Himalayan mountains Sieveking wins theviewers since he never takes himself too seriously.Accompanied by ironical music score the Sieveking’sinvestigation turns into an absurd and enjoyableblack comedy.Nina TsyrkunLEAP YEAR(AÑO BISIESTO)8 ½ FILMS Dir. Michael Rowe«Leap Year» is a common story of a fairly commongirl called Laura. She makes a living working fromhome for some magazine. In her two-room flat thereis nothing but a chair, a computer, a bed. Nothingspecial, everything like in every other flat, with afew extra books. She reads Fromm for pleasure. Forthe pleasure of the body she makes regular nighttrips to bars and welcomes chance encounters withsuitors, who shyly sneak away from her bedroom atsunrise. Sometimes her younger brother drops by,mainly to shift his problems onto his sister.Together they remember their deceased father,with whom they had a good time. It is only later thatthe steady boyfriend, a queer guy called Arthuro, appearsin her life. He is a bit of a sadist, but still takesthe edge off the girl’s loneliness. It is hard to find anormal husband. This one resorts to manhandlingbut still, as the saying goes, if he beats you it meanshe loves you. Laura tries to be happy. She makespresents for her sadistic lover and curls on the sofawith her head in his lap, almost like in Paul Simon’ssong «I continue to continue to pretend». To dojustice to Arthuro, he does not always beat her, butonly when he is excited.It seems the European Union called a meetingto discuss domestic violence after the screening of“When Darkness Falls” by Anders Nilsson. But that wasin Europe. Most girls who read Fromm in their lonelybedrooms, especially in the countries of the non-firstworld, remain virtually unknown. Laura’s life is someaningless that the question arises: why shoot themovie? But then another question arises: what is thepoint of all this life? This is what Laura thinks, whenshe crosses off the days remaining before the coveteddate when she can meet her dead father. It seemsimpossible to approach the character so closely as didthe director in this very run-of-the-mill routine story.«I remember all the cracks» the viewer will sayafter the screening. But the director’s hyper-realisticstare, which never even for a moment leaves Laura,even in the most risky sex scenes, creates «closeencounter of the third kind» between the unsuspectingheroine and the viewer. But the author’ssecret plans for her destiny do not become clear