Recently viewed movies.

Spiritual Film Festival. We went as a large group and watched two films. The first, "She," which won the main prize, was about nothing. It depicted the lives of migrant workers in Moscow. Life is boring for migrant workers in the capital, so they start second families. The scene where a crowd of Russian wives sees off a bus with Tajik men was supposed to be impressive, but it wasn't. Yes, it's a tolerant film, politically correct, but nothing more. It's suitable for showing on the "Domashniy" TV channel. 5 out of 10. The second film was much better. "Dar." It seemed like it was about nothing, a mix of Twin Peaks and Harry Potter. There's either a bear cub or a girl named Umka, there's a modern businesswoman named Amalia who desperately needs to kill Umka, and there's an old grandmother with a stuttering grandson, whom they want to save. In reality, they would have dissected this Umka in half an hour for her organs, but in the fairy tale, the grandmother is a kind, powerful witch who passes on her gift to her grandson. Some scenes are simply beautiful, especially the grandmother's death. She, young and beautiful, leaves in a winter haze on a sleigh. There were different interpretations of the ending. As a lawyer, a distrustful person, I doubted the happy ending when the boy wakes up healthy, cured of his stutter, his mother returns, his beloved girl, and he even learns to sing – I decided that he was still killed. But everyone else attacked me, saying that he remained alive: the mother realized that she was wrong and returned, the father got his act together and started working, the girl realized what a hero the boy was, and so on. My friend, an Orthodox Christian, was silent for a long time, and then suddenly said that the grandmother doomed her grandson by passing on her gift to him – she turned him away from God. In general, when six adults are walking in the middle of the night and arguing about a fairy tale, it means the film is engaging. I'll say a few words about the film's modest budget. In the film, Umka is found on a barge and brought to a zoo, but it's clear that it's not a zoo at all, but some kind of dirty corner for filming, and there are no other animals besides Umka. The "lopotuny" (some kind of creatures) are simply disgusting. According to the film, they are the keepers of traditions, so they could have told a fairy tale, sung a song, or danced. But they just eat, they are dirty, unkempt creatures. I have to admit to myself that if they were exterminated, I wouldn't be upset about it. I feel sorry for Umka, but not for them. And the provincial town in reality looks a little different than in the minds of the film's St. Petersburg-based creators. But these are minor details. In my opinion, I came across an amazing film that had much more reason to win the main prize. 8 out of 10.