Zhara

I saw this as part of the Russian Film Festival back-to-back with "Day Watch", and i'd have to say that all those people that didn't come to "Zhara (Heat)" as well missed out.

I found this to be great on a number of levels, first and foremost the old routine of having old friends relate to each other once again, but also to be able to see a modern Moscow as perhaps not shown elsewhere. It's the old habit of the more successful foreign films being too stereotyped to be good that gets kicked in this movie, with the only thing that will remind you of Russia being the beautiful women and the shots of vodka.

The central character Llyosha was played exceptionally well, and this is quite simply a warm comedy of sorts, but still plays nicely once you get past the initial "trying so hard" that we can expect for a film out of Eastern Europe with Western undertones.

Watch it if you can, and before it gets adapted by Hollywood (you know it will).

V Yanyarya budet zhara... In January comes the heat...

I just watched this film this morning and I like it. From the trailer, I thought it would be more romantic, but turned out to be an above-average of Russian comedy. 4 good folks from schools got reunion in a summer café on the bank of River Moskva, and they had an unthinkable trouble to deal with check, though one of them is so rich. One by one, a friend left the table to find solution and everyone of them met with different stories. The rich one got caught, ended up in jail for a night with the help from other folks. Friendship never ends...

The film's idea is unique, given a try to bring out everything that happens in Russian cities right now, from possible street crooks and young "Novyi Russkij", to more serious ones, like problems with immigrants and skin-heads or racists. But the plot is somewhat too predictable and relies too much on coincidence. As you should know the slogan of contemporary Russia, "Russia - a country of possibilities"; so everything can happen and taking that into consideration, that makes this film not senseless at all.

However, I like it as another Russian guilty pleasure. As a foreigner studying in Russia, this film is good enough to entertain me and easily shows Russian young people's lifestyle (most of them are a part of "ribyata"(guys) from 9 rota). The soundtrack is quite impressed, given a combination of slow Russian "popsa" to Russian soft night-club-style hip hop, although. The ensemble, comprising of young Russian rising stars, did a great job. The director also did a fine job using every fantastic view of Megapolis Moscow that you can possibly think of.

It is hard to imagine if people outside Russia today would get the film, anyway (even babushkas who live in this territory for the whole life will have a hard time watching this one).