There has been a welcome trickle of cinematic chillers issuing from Russia of late. We had the great Diggeri (Diggers) screening in 2016. Also the 35 year old Svyatoslav Podgaevsky has carved a niche for himself as a horror flick practitioner with Pikova Dama (Queen of Spades) from 2015, and, from last year Nevesta (The Bride) plus Ruslka: Ozero Mortvykh (Mermaid: Lake of the Dead) from this year At more of a pinch there is also the Gogol franchise starting with, Gogol: Nachalno (Gogol: The Beginning) which hit the Russian cinemas last year.
The up and coming 37 year old Vladmir Markov held the clapper-board, the yarn was spun by Ilya Kulikov (who wrote the `Chernobyl Zone of Exclusion` TV series) and it introduces a 30 year old newcomer to the screen: the lean and dark Igor Lizengevitch.
At 78 minutes long `Konvert` is a compact tale with a handful of people for the cast and with all the action taking place in central Moscow over 24 hours. There are very few jump scares and almost no gory bits, (hence it being a 16 Certificate film). Indeed, this is a spooky and poetic drama with a European feel about it. Good use is made of sumptuous cruising shots of day and night Moscow from the wheel of a car and from above. The moody ambient score by Sergiei Stern then enhances this.
Igor is a young chauffeur for an architectural bureau. A letter arrives which seems to be sent to the wrong address. The secretary – an alluring young woman – gives him the task of ensuring that it ends up in the right hands. (You get the impression that Igor only agrees to this assignment to get in her favour and expect a love interest to develop, but it typifies the economy of this film that we never see her again).
In his efforts to deliver the mysterious envelope to the right apartment – through shadowy doorways and dusty alleyways –Igor enters the `twilight zone` where urban reality and phantoms commingle. Realising that the envelope is cursed he attempts to off load it onto other people but it keeps on ending up in his hands. Then a policewoman becomes his ally and joins him on his quest as they pursue a spectral girl, the victim of a car crash, and are lead to a cemetery….
Like Nevesta, and many a ghost story, this concerns the laying to rest of old injustices. The comparison between old Russia and the steel and glass modernity of Moscow is brought out well.
Less derivative than Pikova Dama, less melodramatic than Nevesti but not as much fun as Diggeri, Konvert is ideal fare for an icy mid-winter. Like Igor, you will have to do some searching to find it however!
Dear Ed,
Great blog! I have an interest in Russian cinema, both new and Soviet era, and Russian language. We don’t seem to make films like ‘Жить – Сигарев’ in the ‘west’; although ‘Les Ardennes – Pront’ carries similarly dark representations (a revival of Belgian film-noir!). ‘Левиафан – Звягинцев’ is another great film; poetic, vast and, it seems, painfully well observed. That’s exactly how it is when dealing with Liverpool council, so it’s highly likely to be the same in Russia!! It’s difficult to find much in the way of Russian language conversation here, so film-watching is a great and enjoyable resource. The links you posted are also great. Many thanks.
Hey! I much appreciate your most kind comments Stephen! (And apologies for lateness in getting back to you – busy finding new material)
I don’t think I’ve seen `Zhits-Sigarev` so that’s one to look out for. I have seen `Leviathan` – which was gloomy to a fault (Russia isn’t always like that) and the director has recently produced a new film about a young boy who goes missing – the translated title of which (from the top of my head) was something like `Unloved`.
Soviet Movies Online is probably one of the best resource for subtitled Russian films. They don’t just do Soviet stuff but some more recent material too. Check out `Prityazheniye` (`Attraction`) for exanple – a really nice, goodhearted Science fiction parable.
However, if you have learnt a bit of Russian there’s no big problem with watching a film in the Russian original. Sure, it’s challenging and you miss loads, but it’s still quite rewarding and helps with language acquisition.
Anyway, thanks again – and please do keep visiting!