Filmmakers re-implemented Balabanov’s idea about the alien Alyoshenka

At the Festival of Contemporary Russian Cinema “Mayak” in Gelendzhik, premiere screenings of the science fiction films “My Invisible” by Anton Bilzho and “Contacts” by Dmitry Moiseev took place. Both refer to the paintings of Pavel Klushantsev, whom George Lucas called the godfather of Star Wars. Soviet-style science fiction stories about extraterrestrial contacts still amaze the imagination.

Touted as a sequel to Mikhail Romm’s Nine Days of One Year, My Invisible is about a Soviet physicist who disappears during a scientific experiment but sends signals from another dimension to his family. Anton Bilzho’s previous films – “Dream Fish”, “Ambivalence”, “Swan Lake” – were also exceptional.

“This is, in a sense, a sequel to Nine Days of One Year,” says Anton. – The story of a scientist who finds himself in a singularity while working on an accelerator. We consulted with physicists and relied on modern scientific theory. Reputable Russian scientists starred in the film.”

In addition to real scientists, representatives of the scientific world were played by Alexander Adabashyan and Oleg Garkusha, whose gloomy hero will voluntarily leave the joyless world. The distorted image gives the effect of a lens through which we view strange characters, much like in the early films of Alexander Sokurov. The film was shot by cameraman Daniil Fomichev, who achieved the illusion of the Soviet film “Svema”.

The wife of Boris Arnoldovich, who died six years ago (her hopelessness was beautifully played by Daria Ekamasova), believes that her husband is alive, receives signals from him and records in detail everything that happens. Their children Ilya and Lisa have their own view of things. The son acutely feels the lack of male upbringing and goes to a military-patriotic club, where stern mentors will partly replace his father. Since Maria constantly feels the presence of her husband, she cannot accept the advances of a truck driver who is ready to take her away and start a new life. Sometimes it seems that what is happening on the screen is a parody, but it is not.

Anton Bilzho knew about the parallel filming of the similar film “Contacts” and even played a priest in it – he helped out his colleagues when the artist assigned to the role failed. Together with Dmitry Moiseev, in the process of working on their paintings, they discussed their incredibleness.

“Contacts” is the debut of Dmitry Moiseev, talented and not always free from borrowing, close to Balabanov’s idea about an alien found by an old woman. Most likely, the young director did not know about this. He was guided by the history of the Kyshtym dwarf – an alien named Alyoshenka, whose mummified remains were once discovered in the Chelyabinsk region. The appearance of strange creatures in those places was associated with emissions from the Mayak chemical plant. Dmitry Moiseev told the story of how biopags or Vitaliks, as they were popularly called, came to Earth – creatures of extraterrestrial civilizations that produce healing medicine.

Nurse Nina, played by Irina Salikova (could well have qualified for the award for best actress), lives in a small town and comes into contact with a higher mind, helping Vitalik not to disappear in the merciless human world. In Vitalik – in reality a rubber doll weighing 60 kg, specially made for filming – elderly pensioner Praskovya Zhulkova recognized her son, who performed international duty in Afghanistan and did not return home. Like Bilzho’s physicist’s wife, the inconsolable mother believes that he is alive. In a real Kyshtym story, the humanoid Alyoshenka dreamed of a mentally ill woman, whose son was serving time for stealing from a dumpling shop.

In general, the aliens who periodically appeared to Soviet people were resurrected. And it’s such a funny idea. Actors Irina Salikova, Valentin Samokhin, Sergey Gilev definitely played into the genre. Work on the film will continue after the festival premiere, in particular, to improve the image of the alien.

Guillermo del Toro, who influenced many of our directors, looked towards Soviet cinema, Amphibian Man, creating the famous The Shape of Water. Our directors are looking towards del Toro. His ichthyander’s eyes glow with blue lights in moments of excitement. A school of fish rushes through Vitalik’s squirrels. Del Toro’s mute cleaning lady, cleaning the secret laboratory where the strange creature is kept, shows compassion for him. In “Contacts” the same thing happens, except that it doesn’t come to intimate scenes. But they torment Vitalik no less, they carry out experiments, torture him in the garage, and everyone wants to “look at alien crap.”

“You and I are in Russia, not in the Universe,” Nina will explain the situation to Vitalik. Dmitry Moiseev tried to tell a story about “little people” and their place in the Universe, that “caring attitude towards others and their lives is almost the only quality of humanity that has a ghostly chance of finding a response in other worlds.”