A good movie

Well, as I expected it turned out to be rather dark and depressing, that’s for sure. Basically, it was a propaganda film about the propaganda in Russia and the impact of the war in Ukraine mostly on the school system in Russia. However, at the end of the day, did we learn anything new after all? Even if Pavel Talankin meant well, eventually, it all felt like some propaganda playing on our feelings on how ‘free’ we are while the poor people in Russia is being brainwashed. Russia is in the state of war and I have some serious doubts about how Russia is depicted in the media in Ukraine or even in the media in the Western countries. There is also the fact that this movie will be never displayed in Russia, even after the war, so it will be only seen by people sharing the ideas and values in this movie. Eventually, it was mostly curious about what was not displayed in the movie. Indeed, it was implied that everything started to get bad in Russia from the moment the war started but, by then, Vladimir Putin had been in power for already 20 years. Furthermore, 10 years ago, the Crimea was annexed and there had been a civil war raging in the West of Ukraine involving pro-Russian separatists up until they started to invade the country. So, how was life before that in Russia? Pavel Talankin’s actual age is unknown but he seems to be in his 20’s so it means that he has never known or experienced a different regime which is something so interesting but actually never tackled in this movie. Another major point was how isolated he was but I wonder if it was really true. Indeed, there were a couple of scenes which he obviously didn’t shoot himself and I wonder who this mysterious cinematographer was. Like his mother, it could well be that she was also against the regime but he might have cut everything negative they could have said just to protect them. At the end, you will never know what the people living in this country are actually feeling and thinking and, as displayed in this movie, it is quite heartbreaking to see all these bright children growing up in such a dark and toxic environment. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t really blow me away, it was still an interesting watch and it is definitely worth a look. 

7/10