Domestic cinema is not as terrible as some continue to think. In Russia, it has long been learned how to shoot beautifully and without serious blunders to give out an interesting story. Unfortunately, circulation comedies and overt garbage continue to spoil the big picture. Anna Melikyan’s new project entitled “Fairy”Can be attributed to the category of unsuccessful cinema.
Here I must warn all readers that some key scenes and plot twists will be described in the text.
“Fairy” loves slow plans, like a protracted opening action, in which conversations of janitors from Central Asia are long and depressing. Men are brutally murdered in a dark alley. It seems that the movement begins, but the operator understands everything literally and shakes the camera as if offering to immediately clear the stomach, because in advance he knows about the level of the scenario.
An artistic technique reminiscent of reportage filming should immerse you in the world of the work, but you need to be able to use it. Instead, strong shaking in the Fairy leads to motion sickness of the screen, which creates confusion and vomiting unpleasant for the eye.
Next, we are transferred to the scene where several girls in bloody bathing suits (viewers love boobs) staged a protest against animal cruelty. They are detained by the police, but the heroine Ekaterina Ageeva named Tanya manages to escape. In this form, she gets into the car to Eugene Volgin (Konstantin Khabensky) and his silent daughter Masha. Surprisingly, the latter for some reason has an eastern appearance, which does not fit with the image of the daughter of the hero of Khabensky.
After a long conversation, Eugene leads Tanya to the office so that she can wash herself. Volgin’s company is developing a game for Playstation VR “Kolovrat”, which is incredibly popular in Russia. Apparently, this is a parallel reality, where “Vseslav the Wizard”Nevertheless came out, but under a different name. Moreover, as it turned out, Playstation has nothing to do with the picture. Apparently, the creators simply decided to insert the most popular virtual reality helmet into the film.
In the office, studio employees watch the news. It turns out that those scumbags who killed the janitors showed a gesture from the game, so everyone around is worried about it. But the hero of Khabensky says that everything is fine and this is a chance to coolly promote the game.
In the future, a group of neo-Nazis, killing Tajiks and gays, will actively associate themselves with the project, and Eugene still believes that everything is fine, even when the threat of a sales ban in the Russian Federation looms over the game, because he, as he himself put it, GENIUS. Moreover, the phrase “Russian Kojima”Appears on the advertising image of the film.
In general, throughout the film, the character repeatedly shows himself as a weirdo and in a negative way exposes the creators of video games. At the same time, the message of the film – video games adversely affect people – is terrible. One gets the impression that the authors of the picture for a very long time lived in the same hostel with Milonov.
In the process of developing a new game for “Kolovrat” we are shown how it all works on PSVR. Heroes always talk about the plot, online and even e-sports, and a poster flickers several times in the office Prime world. Perhaps the studio is preparing several releases at once, but this does not follow from the shown. Obviously, the creators of the picture simply do not understand the issue and use the list of words that fall out in the search engines for “video games”. All this looks very stupid and has nothing to do with reality.
An attempt to show a game studio in a film looks so ridiculous that you want to ask a question to a film group, did they visit at least one of the game teams?
Despite the complication with the game and neo-Nazis, over time, this line fades into the background. At one point, Eugene with his daughter and Tanya go to the city of Vladimir to take photographs of the local church, which was painted by Andrei Rublev. Tanya, the complete opposite of the protagonist, is trying to be positive and kind. For this behavior, Eugene offers her the role of a fairy in a new game. It was precisely this moment that the title of the film was to explain to us, and although the heroes turn to this word from time to time, in fact it does not reflect the essence of the project.
Closer to the finale, after Tanya’s fiery speech, it begins to seem that the film could have been called otherwise, but given the chaotic scenario, it is hardly possible to find at least some suitable title.
Arriving at the temple, the heroes see the face of Christ under the dome. It turns out that Rublev copied the face from his own, and since Eugene is like an image, he is the reincarnation of the famous icon painter! To make sure of this, the hero of Khabensky must read the ancient manuscript, what he does, but only after he has played a little more in Kolovrat with Playstation VR. Now he can easily read ancient texts and begins to believe in a connection with Rublev.
Further, the authors’ crazy fantasy introduces hypnotists and politicians into the picture. Suddenly, Eugene at any cost decides to return the temple to its original appearance, but for this he needs the support of the deputy, who plays Ingeborga Dapkunaite. The problem is that she does not want to meet with game developers. “Hacker” comes to the rescue, which is in the style of the series C.S.I. discovers that the son of a politician is a big fan of the game. Eugene begins to follow the guy and finds out that the member of the neo-Nazi group and the killer. Without thinking twice, Volgin hires this guy in his studio, making him a developer, and then, after drinking, brings him to the deputy’s house, where they have a conversation … (What is happening ??? !!!)
Throughout the film, I had a feeling that the script was written just for fun. And all this idiocy is accompanied by long pauses and stretched scenes as much as possible, where the characters look at each other thoughtfully, trying to drill a hole in parallel space. Well, the viewer suffers.
Enumerate the stupidity and failures of the “Fairies” can be infinite.
Despite the fact that the idea of a plot about Rublev could well be interesting, the implementation itself is simply terrible. Why all these flirting with video games, Nazis and other activists? Why show games on the negative side? Why this cave propaganda? All these lines either move away somewhere far away, then abruptly begin to come to the fore, but at the same time give nothing to the plot.
Why did you need a story with a silent daughter, her unrequited love and hockey player – all this is completely superfluous and, together with lingering plans and empty scenes, was created only for artificially stretching the timing of the picture. As a result, the film lasts two and a half hours!
Camera and directorial work also leaves much to be desired. Even in static scenes, camera angles and small camera movements often seem harsh and unpleasant, which does not add artistic value to the work. Already in the first ten minutes the picture is annoying, and then the camera can fly into space, or episodes with a strange slow-motion “rapid” begin. Zach Snyder would cry soberly when he saw how “professionals” from “Fairies” use his favorite tricks.
Despite all the criticism, the film has its positive aspects. Acting is the only element of this work that does not raise questions. If the skill of Konstantin Khabensky was never a secret for me, then Ekaterina Ageeva was a pleasant surprise in this hopeless hell. It is unfortunate that the talent of these people is spent on such a mediocre project.
If you suddenly forgot how bad Russian cinema can be (and cinema in principle), or it seems to you that the next Russian answer to Hollywood was shot terribly, then you can always watch “Fairy”. But it’s better not to. This is a waste of time, regardless of your attitude to video games, another mediocre set of cliches about bad games from the 90s, sick fantasies and bloated ego of its creators.
3 out of 10
Author: Azamat Tegaev (Azzy),
Editing: Mikhail Shaginyan (ACE), Denis Korolev (Skyerist)
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