56 reviews
Very bleak and somewhat compelling - a film I admired more than I liked
Written by Kantemir Balagov and Aleksandr Terekhov and directed by Balagov, Dylda is inspired by (although not based on) The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich, an oral history of the experiences of Russian women who fought during World War II. We've seen countless stories (many of them superb) about men who have fought in war, only to find themselves unable to reintegrate into society upon the cessation of combat, but Dylda is the story of two such women. And whilst one has to admire the emotional and ideological sincerity of the filmmakers, and the craft on display (it looks amazing, with the production design some of the best you'll ever see), for me, Dylda was a somewhat disappointing experience, adding up to something quite a bit less than the sum of its (often exceptional) individual parts.
Leningrad, 1945. In the days immediately after the defeat of Nazi Germany, the city is attempting to recover from the longest and most destructive siege in human history. As the film begins, we're introduced to Iya (an astonishing debut by Viktoria Miroshnichenko), a former soldier invalided out of active duty several years prior. Shy, socially awkward, with pale features, white hair, and standing well over six-foot-tall, Iya suffers from a severe case of concussion-induced PTSD that manifests itself as random episodes of total paralysis. A nurse in a hospital for wounded soldiers, Iya lives in a small one-room apartment with her son, Pashka (Timofey Glazkov), until a horrific accident changes everything for her. Meanwhile, Masha (Vasilisa Perelygina, in the film's second exceptional debut performance), who served with Iya, returns to Leningrad unexpectedly. Suffering from her own PTSD, which causes her to be cruel and selfish, Masha is horrified to learn of the accident and begins to push Iya along a path of rectification that could destroy both of them.
Aesthetically, you'd be hard pushed to find fault with Dylda, with Sergey Ivanov's production design especially laudable. The film is mainly confined to the hospital where Iya works, her apartment, and the nearby streets, with each location telling its own story - the hospital is grim and underfinanced, the apartment is modest but homely, and the streets are cold and alienating, the aftereffects of the Siege still very much apparent. Despite everything looking completely authentic, the exteriors weren't shot on location, but were sets built for the film, making it all the more impressive. If you were enamoured with Dante Ferretti's work for Gangs of New York (2002), you'll definitely appreciate Ivanov's work here. Olga Smirnova's costume design is also exceptional, working in tandem with the production design to create an over-all tone of sombreness.
This tone is helped immeasurably by the use of colour - or rather the avoidance of colour. The film's palette is extremely drab, dominated by grey, dirty yellows, some white, and, especially, a sickly green. There are virtually no blues, purples, or reds for much of the film. Indeed, the most colourful moment is literally the very last image, with Balagov bringing together the oft-seen green and the recently introduced red in a thematically fascinating manner.
Balagov and cinematographer Ksenia Sereda often shoot in long takes, affording the audience nowhere to hide from the suffering on screen. One notable example of this is a scene depicting one of the most harrowing and disturbing deaths I've ever seen - a scene which goes on and on and on without a single edit, driving home the abject horror of what we're witnessing. Another example, although not quite as disturbing, is a sex scene (if you can call it that) shot from above, and again in a very long take. Balagov's intention with shots like this is obvious enough - horror and pain shouldn't be sugar-coated but presented in all their unpleasantness.
Thematically, the film is about broken people trying to put themselves back together, much as the city around them is trying to do the same. The fact that the siege was lifted and the Germans defeated means relatively little in the day-to-day lives of those for whom the experience of combat has eaten away a part of their soul. The Leningrad of the film is a place where many of the norms of society have eroded, where any sense of Utilitarianism has become secondary to the mechanics of survival. A good illustration of the condition of the city is found when Iya brings Pasha to the hospital to amuse the soldiers by making animal sounds. However, when one soldier asks him to bark like a dog, he doesn't seem to understand, and another soldier points out, "where would he have seen a dog? They've all been eaten." Very rare is it that we see such an unrelentingly bleak depiction of the utter ruination of war, and the filmmakers must be commended for having the courage of their convictions.
For all its laudable aesthetic elements and thematic complexity, however, I was disappointed with Dylda. I have no problem with bleak stories; in fact, generally speaking, I'm drawn more to bleakness and pessimism regarding the human condition, not just in cinema, but so too in fiction, theatre, poetry, and painting. However, I found the film too long, with it feeling padded in places, especially in the sense that Balagov tends to let scenes run a few beats longer than they need to. The aforementioned death scene is very long, but it works because of the length, affording the audience no respite. Other scenes, however, simply run long without much in the way of thematic justification. On occasion, Balagov can also be far too didactic, overstating emotions and literalising internal conflicts. At the same time, some of the most important plot points come across as contrived. Additional, the film is both front and end-loaded, with the best scenes and most interesting themes coming in the first and last acts. Unfortunately, much of what's in between is unfocused and flabby.
Dylda won Best Director and Best Film in the Un certain regard section at Cannes and it was Russia's entry for Best International Film for the 2020 Academy Awards, and is expected to make the final five nominees. So, I freely admit I'm swimming against the tide in saying I didn't really like it. I can certainly celebrate its craft, its thematic sophistication (that Balagov is only 28 seems almost impossible given the thematic maturity), its acting, and the way it isn't even remotely interested in conforming to prescriptions adopted by more mainstream films. And ultimately, although I didn't especially like Dylda, and was somewhat disappointed by it, I certainly admired the hell out of.
Leningrad, 1945. In the days immediately after the defeat of Nazi Germany, the city is attempting to recover from the longest and most destructive siege in human history. As the film begins, we're introduced to Iya (an astonishing debut by Viktoria Miroshnichenko), a former soldier invalided out of active duty several years prior. Shy, socially awkward, with pale features, white hair, and standing well over six-foot-tall, Iya suffers from a severe case of concussion-induced PTSD that manifests itself as random episodes of total paralysis. A nurse in a hospital for wounded soldiers, Iya lives in a small one-room apartment with her son, Pashka (Timofey Glazkov), until a horrific accident changes everything for her. Meanwhile, Masha (Vasilisa Perelygina, in the film's second exceptional debut performance), who served with Iya, returns to Leningrad unexpectedly. Suffering from her own PTSD, which causes her to be cruel and selfish, Masha is horrified to learn of the accident and begins to push Iya along a path of rectification that could destroy both of them.
Aesthetically, you'd be hard pushed to find fault with Dylda, with Sergey Ivanov's production design especially laudable. The film is mainly confined to the hospital where Iya works, her apartment, and the nearby streets, with each location telling its own story - the hospital is grim and underfinanced, the apartment is modest but homely, and the streets are cold and alienating, the aftereffects of the Siege still very much apparent. Despite everything looking completely authentic, the exteriors weren't shot on location, but were sets built for the film, making it all the more impressive. If you were enamoured with Dante Ferretti's work for Gangs of New York (2002), you'll definitely appreciate Ivanov's work here. Olga Smirnova's costume design is also exceptional, working in tandem with the production design to create an over-all tone of sombreness.
This tone is helped immeasurably by the use of colour - or rather the avoidance of colour. The film's palette is extremely drab, dominated by grey, dirty yellows, some white, and, especially, a sickly green. There are virtually no blues, purples, or reds for much of the film. Indeed, the most colourful moment is literally the very last image, with Balagov bringing together the oft-seen green and the recently introduced red in a thematically fascinating manner.
Balagov and cinematographer Ksenia Sereda often shoot in long takes, affording the audience nowhere to hide from the suffering on screen. One notable example of this is a scene depicting one of the most harrowing and disturbing deaths I've ever seen - a scene which goes on and on and on without a single edit, driving home the abject horror of what we're witnessing. Another example, although not quite as disturbing, is a sex scene (if you can call it that) shot from above, and again in a very long take. Balagov's intention with shots like this is obvious enough - horror and pain shouldn't be sugar-coated but presented in all their unpleasantness.
Thematically, the film is about broken people trying to put themselves back together, much as the city around them is trying to do the same. The fact that the siege was lifted and the Germans defeated means relatively little in the day-to-day lives of those for whom the experience of combat has eaten away a part of their soul. The Leningrad of the film is a place where many of the norms of society have eroded, where any sense of Utilitarianism has become secondary to the mechanics of survival. A good illustration of the condition of the city is found when Iya brings Pasha to the hospital to amuse the soldiers by making animal sounds. However, when one soldier asks him to bark like a dog, he doesn't seem to understand, and another soldier points out, "where would he have seen a dog? They've all been eaten." Very rare is it that we see such an unrelentingly bleak depiction of the utter ruination of war, and the filmmakers must be commended for having the courage of their convictions.
For all its laudable aesthetic elements and thematic complexity, however, I was disappointed with Dylda. I have no problem with bleak stories; in fact, generally speaking, I'm drawn more to bleakness and pessimism regarding the human condition, not just in cinema, but so too in fiction, theatre, poetry, and painting. However, I found the film too long, with it feeling padded in places, especially in the sense that Balagov tends to let scenes run a few beats longer than they need to. The aforementioned death scene is very long, but it works because of the length, affording the audience no respite. Other scenes, however, simply run long without much in the way of thematic justification. On occasion, Balagov can also be far too didactic, overstating emotions and literalising internal conflicts. At the same time, some of the most important plot points come across as contrived. Additional, the film is both front and end-loaded, with the best scenes and most interesting themes coming in the first and last acts. Unfortunately, much of what's in between is unfocused and flabby.
Dylda won Best Director and Best Film in the Un certain regard section at Cannes and it was Russia's entry for Best International Film for the 2020 Academy Awards, and is expected to make the final five nominees. So, I freely admit I'm swimming against the tide in saying I didn't really like it. I can certainly celebrate its craft, its thematic sophistication (that Balagov is only 28 seems almost impossible given the thematic maturity), its acting, and the way it isn't even remotely interested in conforming to prescriptions adopted by more mainstream films. And ultimately, although I didn't especially like Dylda, and was somewhat disappointed by it, I certainly admired the hell out of.
Fascinating Slow Burn of a Movie
A fascinating slow burn that is as exhilarating as it is difficult at times to watch.
"Beanpole" is actually a good movie to be watching during the 2020 COVID pandemic, as it's a reminder to a whole population of people who've never experienced any significant hardship how much worse things could be. Watch a movie about post WWII Russia and then ask yourself how big a deal it is that Trader Joe's was out of your favorite brand of crackers again.
The towering actress Viktoria Miroshnichenko, as the film's title character, and Vasilisa Perelygina, as her friend who's recently returned from the front, give amazing performances navigating exceptionally difficult material. This is one of those movies that would be off putting if the direction and acting didn't strike just the right tone. It's one of those movies about which people say "I didn't like any of the characters" as a way to dismiss the whole thing. But, like the best character studies, "Beanpole" doesn't care whether or not you like anyone in it. It instead asks you to live with the characters for awhile and see if you can empathize with them, and understand their choices based on the circumstances in which they find themselves.
And, directing and acting aside, the film looks beautiful. For a film set in such a drab time and setting, it uses saturated colors, especially green and red, to tie images visually to the mental states of the characters.
The movie year still has a way to go, but I imagine this one will make my own personal shortlist of favorites.
Grade: A
"Beanpole" is actually a good movie to be watching during the 2020 COVID pandemic, as it's a reminder to a whole population of people who've never experienced any significant hardship how much worse things could be. Watch a movie about post WWII Russia and then ask yourself how big a deal it is that Trader Joe's was out of your favorite brand of crackers again.
The towering actress Viktoria Miroshnichenko, as the film's title character, and Vasilisa Perelygina, as her friend who's recently returned from the front, give amazing performances navigating exceptionally difficult material. This is one of those movies that would be off putting if the direction and acting didn't strike just the right tone. It's one of those movies about which people say "I didn't like any of the characters" as a way to dismiss the whole thing. But, like the best character studies, "Beanpole" doesn't care whether or not you like anyone in it. It instead asks you to live with the characters for awhile and see if you can empathize with them, and understand their choices based on the circumstances in which they find themselves.
And, directing and acting aside, the film looks beautiful. For a film set in such a drab time and setting, it uses saturated colors, especially green and red, to tie images visually to the mental states of the characters.
The movie year still has a way to go, but I imagine this one will make my own personal shortlist of favorites.
Grade: A
- evanston_dad
- Sep 1, 2020
- Permalink
Painful to watch!
It's a very difficult movie to watch to the end.
The director managed to show the pain, distress, loss that the war causes and continues to cause even after its end.
Not only through the faces, eyes and attitudes of each character, but also by the environment surround them, the film makes us dive into the depth of pain, sorrow and madness of a human being in desperation.
It's a powerful movie, sometimes painful to watch some scenes.
Deeply felt drama about love and reclamation.
You could expect a 1945 Leningrad setting to be joyful after the Russian victory over Nazis, but writer/director Kantemir has caught the downside in Beanpole. It's a deeply moving, complicated story about two former soldiers who tackle the melancholy and desperation of victors with no spoils---just ruined buildings and crushed hopes.
This melancholy drama centers on two women: Iva (Viktoria Miroshnicenk) and Masha (Vasilisa Perelygina), who attempt to bring meaning to their lives after the devastation. Mostly it's about Masha's attempt to have a life within her, mainly a baby. Her first baby died at the hands of Iva, who now owes Masha a baby.
Through a series of lengthy scenes and shots (sometimes they are too long), the audience is drawn into the emotional needs of the protagonists set against the needs of the other Leningrad citizens to gain happiness and hope after a ravaging war. The scenes between Iva and Masha are lovingly and deeply felt as Masha navigates getting a replacement baby and Iva resists the machinations to do so.
Given the wide scope of WWII, Beanpole is a small-scale drama, whose intensity comes from the characters rather than the setting. Love is the operative word, married to hope to make a satisfying character study in a drawn-out drama of human longing, regardless of the time period.
This melancholy drama centers on two women: Iva (Viktoria Miroshnicenk) and Masha (Vasilisa Perelygina), who attempt to bring meaning to their lives after the devastation. Mostly it's about Masha's attempt to have a life within her, mainly a baby. Her first baby died at the hands of Iva, who now owes Masha a baby.
Through a series of lengthy scenes and shots (sometimes they are too long), the audience is drawn into the emotional needs of the protagonists set against the needs of the other Leningrad citizens to gain happiness and hope after a ravaging war. The scenes between Iva and Masha are lovingly and deeply felt as Masha navigates getting a replacement baby and Iva resists the machinations to do so.
Given the wide scope of WWII, Beanpole is a small-scale drama, whose intensity comes from the characters rather than the setting. Love is the operative word, married to hope to make a satisfying character study in a drawn-out drama of human longing, regardless of the time period.
- JohnDeSando
- Mar 14, 2020
- Permalink
A strange drama set in a fever dream of post-war Russia
- rumour-mill
- Dec 29, 2021
- Permalink
The war in Russia wasn't over after the Germans surrendered
The Russian film Dylda was shown in the U.S. with the translated title Bean Pole (2019). It was co-written and directed by Kantemir Balagov
The movie is set in Leningrad right after World War II. Viktoria Miroshnichenko plays Iya, who has suffered brain damage in combat during the war. She has been discharged, and now works as a nurse or attendant at a hospital for wounded soldiers. (She is, indeed, a head taller than the other women, and very slender, so that's why she's called Bean Pole.)
She is joined at the hospital by her wartime friend, Masha, portrayed by Vasilisa Perelygina. Masha, who was also wounded, stayed in combat until the war ended. When we first see her, she's still wearing her army uniform.
The film was very grim, as it focused on the wounded men in the hospital, and the physical and emotional problems of the two women. I was surprised that there was very little anti-Stalinist material. In the movie, the government recognizes the sacrifices that the people have made, and appears to be doing its best to help. I don't know whether this reflects the reality of the time or not.
This is a complex film, because it portrays two very different women, each of whom has suffered terribly, and both of whom are trying to bring some normalcy into their lives.
As far as I can remember, there were only a few moments where anyone smiled in the movie. Those were hard times, and people were glum and depressed.
However, the film is so well constructed, and so well acted, that it's worth seeking out and watching. We saw Dylda at Rochester's excellent Little Theatre. However, it should work well enough on the small screen. The film has a solid IMDb rating of 7.2. I think it's even better than that.
The movie is set in Leningrad right after World War II. Viktoria Miroshnichenko plays Iya, who has suffered brain damage in combat during the war. She has been discharged, and now works as a nurse or attendant at a hospital for wounded soldiers. (She is, indeed, a head taller than the other women, and very slender, so that's why she's called Bean Pole.)
She is joined at the hospital by her wartime friend, Masha, portrayed by Vasilisa Perelygina. Masha, who was also wounded, stayed in combat until the war ended. When we first see her, she's still wearing her army uniform.
The film was very grim, as it focused on the wounded men in the hospital, and the physical and emotional problems of the two women. I was surprised that there was very little anti-Stalinist material. In the movie, the government recognizes the sacrifices that the people have made, and appears to be doing its best to help. I don't know whether this reflects the reality of the time or not.
This is a complex film, because it portrays two very different women, each of whom has suffered terribly, and both of whom are trying to bring some normalcy into their lives.
As far as I can remember, there were only a few moments where anyone smiled in the movie. Those were hard times, and people were glum and depressed.
However, the film is so well constructed, and so well acted, that it's worth seeking out and watching. We saw Dylda at Rochester's excellent Little Theatre. However, it should work well enough on the small screen. The film has a solid IMDb rating of 7.2. I think it's even better than that.
Film Review - Beanpole (2019) 7.4/10
"Masha effects a more philosophical guise toward her bereavement, but in time, acknowledging that she is now infertile, she will oblige Iya to get pregnant and bear a child (a son) for her, claiming that only a newborn baby can fill that profound void (child becomes a fungible item to quench a woman's maternal distress). But Iya harbors her own suppressed feelings for Masha, things get even trickier when Masha has a new suitor in the person of Sasha (Shirokov), who actually hails from an apparatchik family."
read my full review on my blog: cinema omnivore, thanks
read my full review on my blog: cinema omnivore, thanks
- lasttimeisaw
- Oct 16, 2020
- Permalink
Riven by Poverty & Despair...
... and seared by the cold - this magnificently performed and beautifully filmed piece of cinema reveals the challenges faced by two young women in post war Leningrad. Damaged and psychologically disturbed by their experiences, shell shocked from the battles, real and imagined, battles they would never have aspired to fight some years earlier, while surrounded and enveloped by uncertainty, indignity, poverty and despair.
St Petersburg is saved people are not
Long I was suspecting that from the two cities who suffered in WWII (Stalingrad and Leningrad) the latter has a far more tragic story to tell....allthough cinema in both east and west glorifies the war against Nazi Germany especially because Stalingrad is the bloodiest battle till now....the effects were more time enduring in Leningrad -St Petersburg now and we must consider ourselves lucky that the great museum of Hermitage was saved for the upcomming generations....nowhere ekse in post Soviet Union was the results of WWII more visible than here...Russia bore the bulk of Germany's war machine and that's why they are just 146 mil.instead of 300 + they should have been by now every single home had casualties mainly people of reproductive age....it took decades for Russia to return in a normal way of life ..even more than their foes..women especially not only lost their mental health which could drive them to the goal of creating families but also drove them to leave the places of suffering and immigrate to all corners of Europe (for the delight of local men) in order to forget the hell they faced .....allthough I have photographs of Stukas flying over Hermitage by the river I suspect maybe Goering was somewhat planning a future plundering it and it remained intact.... I don't know if the youing director tried to make a statement but the Sasha character resembles a funny wisel phase Putin at a young age .....finally the only other actress I remember to be that tall is Lilly Cole from the movie " The Imaginariun of Dr. Parnassus"
unlike anything else
I just think that people who are not from Russia or not from a former USSR republic don't understand how deep and important this film is. we are (russians and ex-soviets) are so used to the glorification of WW2, but this film doesn't do it. no, it shows how bleak and joyless the life after war is and it may not seem so groundbreaking for the western viewer but it is for me. also Kantemir Balagov isn't even 30 years old and he is a master of the craft alreasy. it means something.
- foxantoine
- Jan 29, 2021
- Permalink
An intense examination of damaged people
- howard.schumann
- Dec 7, 2019
- Permalink
Amateur Effort
I think the filmmaker confuses emotional manipulation with artistic merit. This film should have been 40 minutes shorter and spends so long lingering on people's faces without meaningful dialogue or interesting image composition that you could be forgiven you aren't watching some melodramatic soap opera stuck playing at half speed. Just because a film is provocative doesn't mean it's good. I'm fine with slow cinema, heavy subject matter and minimal dialogue, but so often these days these things are used as mask for confused and shallow directors hedging their bets and hoping that their film will be perceived as something deep and meaningful without doing any of the heavy lifting themselves. Usually films like this at least look good, but the cinematography to me was quite average and the saturated grade is tacky and cheap. I'm giving this three stars because I think so many people who give this a one star review could be perceived and dismissed as people who were shocked and horrified and "just weren't cut out for this type of film". The filmmaker was 28 when he directed this film. If you're under 30, you don't get to direct multiple feature films in Russia without being born into privilege and this film to me comes across as a little rich kid trying desperately to be gritty and bleak.
- discocassettefreakout
- Jun 16, 2020
- Permalink
Mesmerising
- bladepowell
- Oct 5, 2019
- Permalink
Complete book of Cinema
This movie is a perfect example of what a movie should like be. From its direction, camera movement, lighting, production design, script, sound design everything was excellent. You could spot a minor distraction I whole movie. The first minute of the movie was enough to grab the interest till the last scene.
Direction, the storyline and storytelling both is so subtle that you will flow in this whole movie. It's would be a smooth drive that will stick you to the story like a glue. The character transformation and development both are mesmerising.
Production Design, what can be said about it. It is done in extraordinary way. It's not an easy job to take a periodic movie to this level. Each corner each frame and each location everything is done with brilliance. The use of different materials, colours, elements, object everything adds upto its beauty.
Cinematography, the use of camera and production design of this movie both are in perfect harmony. It's is a pleasure to watch one scene transforms into another with same brilliant composition. The use of hand held camera movement to show feelings on a character, the proper use of pan and tilt. This is masterpiece in term of good cinematography. It's a visual dictionary and Bible for filmmakers.
Music, the best part of the movie is the music you don't hear it you just feel it. The idea behind sound design of this movie is one hell of concepts. The use of signatory music sequence is remarkable in this movie.
It's is the next masterpiece of cinema, one should watch this movie to learn how a excellent movie is crafted.
Direction, the storyline and storytelling both is so subtle that you will flow in this whole movie. It's would be a smooth drive that will stick you to the story like a glue. The character transformation and development both are mesmerising.
Production Design, what can be said about it. It is done in extraordinary way. It's not an easy job to take a periodic movie to this level. Each corner each frame and each location everything is done with brilliance. The use of different materials, colours, elements, object everything adds upto its beauty.
Cinematography, the use of camera and production design of this movie both are in perfect harmony. It's is a pleasure to watch one scene transforms into another with same brilliant composition. The use of hand held camera movement to show feelings on a character, the proper use of pan and tilt. This is masterpiece in term of good cinematography. It's a visual dictionary and Bible for filmmakers.
Music, the best part of the movie is the music you don't hear it you just feel it. The idea behind sound design of this movie is one hell of concepts. The use of signatory music sequence is remarkable in this movie.
It's is the next masterpiece of cinema, one should watch this movie to learn how a excellent movie is crafted.
- vivek-22703
- Oct 31, 2019
- Permalink
A Work of Art
This film set in post-war USSR is beautifully shot and superbly acted. Every scene is a work of art that reglects the melancholic mood of that generation. Not a light watch, but extremely rewarding.
- Silazevedophoto
- Feb 16, 2021
- Permalink
Exceptional drama, intelligent and original script...
A heavy film, the title does not reflect all the hardship of the war, the incessant search of the two women for survival and personal fulfillment in a sexist and cruel era, deranged by the post-war hunger, and allied to all this drama, the Tall Woman suffers from freezing post concussion and hysterectomy Masha, which makes it incomplete after the loss of the child (which I could swear it was no accident), warm colors, contrasting with the coldness of the war, exceptional drama, intelligent and original script...
- RosanaBotafogo
- Jul 31, 2021
- Permalink
A beautiful mess
Leningrad, 1945. In the aftermath of World War II, within the remaining ruins, two young women, Iya and Masha, try to give a purpose to their meaningless lives. They met at the front during this endless war but they stayed in touch, probably because they felt alone and were desperately disillusioned. They now live in the present, without any perspective for their future that they do not even try to consider. The complete disarray!
Beanpole (2019) is darkly sad, with an extremely but deliberately slow pace. If you are depressed before you even consider this movie, you should probably envisage another viewing. Otherwise, this film is breathtakingly beautiful and is excellently filmed. Moreover, the gorgeous actresses Viktoria Miroshnichenko (Iya) and Kseniya Kutepova (Lyubov Petrovna) shine despite a voluntarily sober play.
As a synthesis: 7/8 of 10
Beanpole (2019) is darkly sad, with an extremely but deliberately slow pace. If you are depressed before you even consider this movie, you should probably envisage another viewing. Otherwise, this film is breathtakingly beautiful and is excellently filmed. Moreover, the gorgeous actresses Viktoria Miroshnichenko (Iya) and Kseniya Kutepova (Lyubov Petrovna) shine despite a voluntarily sober play.
As a synthesis: 7/8 of 10
- FrenchEddieFelson
- Aug 7, 2019
- Permalink
There's not much to say
I'm a history buff, WWII in particular, I love St Petersburg and I'm used to foreign language films, so I was really looking forward to this one. Unfortunately the film lacks direction. The characters are dull and over acted. It doesn't feel genuine but it's not fun either. The plot is slow and doesn't make sense. The director is relying too much on the camera, hoping to bring meaning to a weak script by simply showing the character's emotions. But without a good script, it becomes difficult to understand them.
- Erictoolander
- Jul 8, 2020
- Permalink
The Soul Seeks to Survive
This movie is an intense and thoughtful exploration of relationships between survivors of war. The desire to find meaning and love and connection drive people to do beautiful and desperate things, and in the end to find either peace or conflict within depending on what they can accept and create within their minds. Beautifully acted.
- barnesboffey-72217
- Sep 24, 2019
- Permalink
Beanpole is both very beautiful and very uncomfortable, a rare combination
"Beanpole", the second feature length film of the talented Russian director Kantemir Balagov, is a film you either love or hate. I love it.
The film is both very beautiful and very uncomfortable. Very beautiful because of the prominent use of the colors red (despair) and green (hope). Very uncomfortable because of the many uneasy scenes it contains. I counted at least 5 or 6, which is very much for one film. In this review I cannot treat them in detail, because each uneasy scene would be a spoiler in itself.
"Beanpole" is loosely based on the novel "War's unwomanly face" from 1985 by Nobel prize winner Svetlana Alexievich. The film is situated just after the Second World War has ended and has nothing to do with the heroic war films from the Poetin era. It rather falls back on films such as "The cranes are flying" (1957, Mikhail Kalatozov), that display the more unpleasant sides of war and show that not al Russians were heroes.
The film is situated in the aftermath of the war, and in this respect resembles "The best years of our lives" (1946, William Wyler). In stead of showing the physical and econmic damage the war has done, "Beanpole" focuses on psychological damage. In stead of following a group of male veterans ("The best years of our lives"), "Beanpole" follows two female veterans. The message of "War's unwomanly face" is that society looks with suspicion upon women with a history on the front of the war. Did they really do any fighting or were they just the call girls of the male soldiers? In "Beanpole" there is a (very uneasy) scene that reflects this ambiguity. By the way "The best years of out lives" shows that male veterans are also nog always welcomed back in civil society and treated with the respect fitting with the atrocities they have experienced.
As I said "Beanpole" focuses on the psychological damage done by the war, and neither of the main characters has survived the war wholy intact in this respect. Their relationship can be characterized as a strange mixture of mutual support and power struggle. Sexual attraction is used as one of the weapons in this power struggle. In this respect the film made me think of "Lady Macbeth" (2016, William Oldroyd), although I can not really explain why.
The film is both very beautiful and very uncomfortable. Very beautiful because of the prominent use of the colors red (despair) and green (hope). Very uncomfortable because of the many uneasy scenes it contains. I counted at least 5 or 6, which is very much for one film. In this review I cannot treat them in detail, because each uneasy scene would be a spoiler in itself.
"Beanpole" is loosely based on the novel "War's unwomanly face" from 1985 by Nobel prize winner Svetlana Alexievich. The film is situated just after the Second World War has ended and has nothing to do with the heroic war films from the Poetin era. It rather falls back on films such as "The cranes are flying" (1957, Mikhail Kalatozov), that display the more unpleasant sides of war and show that not al Russians were heroes.
The film is situated in the aftermath of the war, and in this respect resembles "The best years of our lives" (1946, William Wyler). In stead of showing the physical and econmic damage the war has done, "Beanpole" focuses on psychological damage. In stead of following a group of male veterans ("The best years of our lives"), "Beanpole" follows two female veterans. The message of "War's unwomanly face" is that society looks with suspicion upon women with a history on the front of the war. Did they really do any fighting or were they just the call girls of the male soldiers? In "Beanpole" there is a (very uneasy) scene that reflects this ambiguity. By the way "The best years of out lives" shows that male veterans are also nog always welcomed back in civil society and treated with the respect fitting with the atrocities they have experienced.
As I said "Beanpole" focuses on the psychological damage done by the war, and neither of the main characters has survived the war wholy intact in this respect. Their relationship can be characterized as a strange mixture of mutual support and power struggle. Sexual attraction is used as one of the weapons in this power struggle. In this respect the film made me think of "Lady Macbeth" (2016, William Oldroyd), although I can not really explain why.
- frankde-jong
- Feb 21, 2020
- Permalink
Far from easy viewing but great cinema nevertheless
Russia in the days immeadiately following the end of World War II. Two young women, scarred from the horrors they have encountered, do what they can to survive in what, fundamentally, is a living hell. "Beanpole" is every bit as depressing as that short synopsis might suggest. It's also only the second feature from the young Russian director Kantemir Balagov, (he's not yet thirty), who might yet turn out to be the greatest Russian filmmaker since Tarkovsky and like Tarkovsky he certainly doesn't believe in compromising.
This is a grim but deeply humanist picture, deeply engaged with its devastated characters. Shot in rigorous close-up with an astonishing use of colour and magnificently played by Vikoria Miroshnichenko and Vasilisa Perelyygina as the two women in question this is great cinema and a welcome relief from so much of the highly commercial crap that Hollywood turns out these days though being Russian and 'art-house' this will never get the audience it deserves. Nevertthelss, Russia thought enough of it to put it forward as their entry for this years Foreign (now 'International') Film Oscar. It would certainly be a very worthy winner.
This is a grim but deeply humanist picture, deeply engaged with its devastated characters. Shot in rigorous close-up with an astonishing use of colour and magnificently played by Vikoria Miroshnichenko and Vasilisa Perelyygina as the two women in question this is great cinema and a welcome relief from so much of the highly commercial crap that Hollywood turns out these days though being Russian and 'art-house' this will never get the audience it deserves. Nevertthelss, Russia thought enough of it to put it forward as their entry for this years Foreign (now 'International') Film Oscar. It would certainly be a very worthy winner.
- MOscarbradley
- Nov 4, 2019
- Permalink
Love in a Fallen City
Wounds are still raw in Leningrad in the aftermath of World War II. Two young friends, Iya and Masha, are rebuilding their lives in the shattered and barely functioning city. While each woman is fiercely independent, they approach life differently. Iya, a veteran's hospital nurse with post-concussion syndrome, suffers paralyzing seizures made worse by stress and anxiety. Through kindness to others she finds some solace and manages to persevere. Having spent time on the front lines of the war, Masha is an active manipulator who takes what she wants from life and others. She is brutally honest, direct and practical. Both women are barely hanging on. To heal they have each other to look to, but that is not their style.
Women speak up and men take a backseat in this authentic, heart-rending, colorful and resonant account of the tragic consequences of war. There are many deep, emotionally charged and enlightening discussions between the characters. There are amazing scenes I will long remember including one with Masha twirling in a borrowed emerald dress like Cinderalla lost in her unlikely dream of escape. The chemistry between Masha and Iya is palpable as an electric current. Beanpole is based on the writing of Svetlana Alexievich, a Nobel Prize winner and author of The Unwomanly Face of War. Seen at the Mayan theater in Denver.
Women speak up and men take a backseat in this authentic, heart-rending, colorful and resonant account of the tragic consequences of war. There are many deep, emotionally charged and enlightening discussions between the characters. There are amazing scenes I will long remember including one with Masha twirling in a borrowed emerald dress like Cinderalla lost in her unlikely dream of escape. The chemistry between Masha and Iya is palpable as an electric current. Beanpole is based on the writing of Svetlana Alexievich, a Nobel Prize winner and author of The Unwomanly Face of War. Seen at the Mayan theater in Denver.
- Blue-Grotto
- Mar 3, 2020
- Permalink
This film is NOT for most viewers and you should think twice about it before you watch.
- planktonrules
- Nov 2, 2019
- Permalink
Misses the mark
- gbill-74877
- Sep 6, 2020
- Permalink
Outstanding movie
That's a Russian film about post Great Patriotic War which takes place in Leningrad, in a war veteran hospital. Two female nurses, two friends, who both fought during the war, try desperately to find a meaning to their life. To emerge from their pain, grief, disillusionment, by having a child of their own. A daily struggle to survive. That's a gripping, powerful feature, but sso gloomy and certainly not for main audiences. Unfortunately.
- searchanddestroy-1
- Aug 6, 2019
- Permalink