The festival broke the bank in Express – Newspaper Kommersant No. 146 (7347) of 08/12/2022

The XXX festival of Russian cinema “Window to Europe” ended in Vyborg. The feature film competition jury headed by director Alexei Fedorchenko chose Ruslan Bratov’s “Express” as the best film. The results of the festival sum up Yulia Shagelman.

Sports betting – usually a ruinous and pointless activity – brought real luck to the team of a sassy comedy about the adventures of a lucky kid from Cherkessk. “Express” received not only the main festival award, but also special jury prizes for the best ensemble cast (all the performers in the film are really very organic, both together and separately) and the best camera work – it went to Alexander Khudokon, for whom, as and for director Bratov, this is the first full-length work. “Express” really stood out among the paintings with its vitality and the ability of the authors to clearly tell a coherent story, so its success is completely deserved.

Special Jury Prize for Best Actress received Daria Ekamasovawho played in the film Alisa Erokhina “The Eve” a lonely dog ​​breeder who, because of her affair with a married man, becomes the object of dangerous interest from his teenage son. The award for the best male role was not presented this year, although in the films presented at the festival there were quite bright male characters, these interesting female characters were a rarity. It was a kind of compensation Special Jury Mention “for the duet of antagonists”, which marked the film by Alfiya Khabibullina “Emperor”. The same picture won the vote of film critics.

The heroes of The Emperor, like many other films of this year, are teenagers trying to understand themselves and the world. The 15-year-old intellectual Arseniy (Vladimir Sarapultsev), together with his psychotherapist mother, moves from Moscow to the provinces (the film was shot in Vyborg, which, of course, provided him with additional sympathy for the audience at the festival, although the name of the city does not sound from the screen). Here he, who previously studied at home, decides to go to school in order to communicate more with people, and of course, he is immediately bullied by the main local hooligan Nezhinsky (Danil Tyabin). It seems that from the first frames it is clear how this story will develop, but the authors again and again deceive the expectations of the audience, unfolding it from different angles, shifting emphasis and forcing either to sympathize with both heroes, then to resent them, or even fear them and for them. Thanks to the ambiguity and layering, as well as the really excellent work of young actors, The Emperor has become one of the strongest films of the festival.

One more Special Jury Mentionfor the best musical solution, was awarded to Anton Silaev, composer of the film by Anastasia Nechaeva “Velga”. The action of this romantic parable based on Bunin’s story of the same name takes place on the shores of the White Sea. Young Velga (Olga Bodrova) has been in love since childhood with the fisherman Kirill (Anton Fedoseev), with whom they grew up together. He seems to reciprocate her feelings, but then the elder sister of the girl Snega (Alexandra Tulinova) returns to their village from the city, and the attention of the windy handsome man switches to her. Velga perceives this as a betrayal, and in the end everyone is unhappy. The camera, now and then hovering in rapid motion, admires the northern landscapes, the sea, the sky, seagulls, the eyes, hair and eyelashes of the actors, it turns out very beautifully and absolutely lifeless. Something alive in the frame appears only when Sergei Shakurov enters it, playing an elderly judge – one of his expressive profile in backlight overshadows all the efforts of young colleagues.

Festival President’s Prize Armen Medvedev received a film by Mikhail Brashinsky “Waves”, which closed the competitive screenings. This is a philosophical thriller about a man (Vladislav Abashin), who, after the suicide of his wife, runs from the city to the forest, and there he stumbles upon a settlement of sectarians who believe in the all-encompassing power of sound waves, supposedly connecting a person with higher powers, and at the same time in the future immortality that will provide them a certain Guide (Alexander Sheps), they blindly obey him. First, the hero decides to stay – he is attracted by the peace and orderliness of life here, as well as one of the sectarians (Victoria Tolstoganova). Then, having learned about the terrible secret of the Explorer, he tries to escape, but, of course, it turns out to be too late. Unfortunately, after an intriguing opening, the film gradually fizzles out, and by the end it gets bogged down in unnecessary explanations of what it was all about.

According to a tradition that was briefly interrupted only by the pandemic, the festival also hosted competition “Vyborg account”, the winner of which is determined by audience voting. This year it was a road movie by Ivan Sosnin “Far Close” about a geography teacher from Khabarovsk who, together with his adult son, sets off on a journey across the country to meet a friend on social networks for the first time. The film will be released at the end of September, so that other Russian viewers will have the opportunity to evaluate the Vyborg choice.