victoriavolynsky

Disclaimer: Never heard of this band before until I saw this documentary. But this is not a review of the band's music, but of the documentary.

Emotionally raw and honest retrospective on the band from it's roots, to success, to hiatus, to reunification.

I've seen my share of music documentaries, this is the most human emotion one. I actually teared up a little. This documentary was better than most movies.

It's about struggle, success, stress, regret, mental health, growth, love and forgiveness of both oneself and others.

The format of the one on one interviews, representational anime, interspersed with flash backs of the band and guest interviews felt more like a confessional/therapy session, a cathartic release, not just for the band members, but for anyone watching.

You will not turn it off, or even want to pause it. At least I didn't. That's good filmmaking.

It's without frills. It's black and white. It's on TV. Set mostly on a stage. You know the story by heart. You know what each character must say and do. And yet... I could not tear myself away. The extra time allows for so much more dialog, so much more verbal sparring. So much more innuendo. The acting is superb. I'm sure there are faults. But the series was so skillfully written and acted, that I could not focus on the faults, nor remember any, if there were.

Having watched every single adaptation of the Three Musketeers (and their sequels), I am highly recommending this Mini-Series. Had a grin on my face from ear to ear at the pure joy and exuberance projected in this adaptation. My criterion for a perfect movie/series is: Would I watch this again myself, not just recommend it to others? And the answer is: Yes! Knowing it must come to an end, I paced myself watching the series after the first episode, trying to prolong the experience as long as I could. I did not mind the minor diversions from the novel at all, treating them as a welcome new take on a classic story. Having watched 50+ adaptations (and this being the last one on my list) I fell in love with the Three Musketeers once again, after almost becoming numb to it all. I did watch it in the original Russian, so am not sure if anything has been lost in translation or voice over. Watch it, you will not regret it, nor will you forget it.

Please watch the 10 episode mini-series version of this movie. The theatrical version cannot fully convey, nor do justice to min-iseries' joyous take on this classic story. I did watch this in the original Russian, so I'm not sure if there is anything lost in translation or voice overs to have the unnecessary low ratings. How do you go from 520 minute cut to a 90 minute movie. Lots of subplots lost, which is a great loss. See the mini-series!