Nochnoi dozor film release in U.S.

[Elena Gapova]

Nochnoi Dozor has hardly been praised as art (=Tarkovsky), rather as popular
culture. The pride is about it being "the first Russian blockbuster": "we
can also produce the trash that sells". Inovertly, that means that "we
belong to the civilized world" (which is not necessarily cultured, of
course, being built around a different kind of capital: the material one).

Socially, I think, this means that Soviet-type moviegoers (people of
different ages, often in their 40-s, 50-ies and 60-ies and going to the
movies "for thoughts and emotions" to se Lawrence Olivier or Smoktunovsky)
have been finally substituted for a new kind of audience: much younger and
"globally" oriented. If this is the case, then being able to produce
zhvachku for this audience "at home" is important: why give the money to
Hollywood?

e.g.

-----Original Message-----
From: Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list
[mailto:SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU]On Behalf Of harlo at mindspring.com
Sent: Thursday, June 09, 2005 9:15 PM
To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Nochnoi dozor film release in U.S.


I saw "Nochnoi dozor" at the Khudozhestvennyi theater in Moscow last summer
not long after its Russian release and found it imitative of Hollywood
action/thriller/sci fi models in the extreme. It also has virtually no
thematic or character development and the story makes very little sense.
What was stressed repeatedly in the Russian media was how it was the first
Russian feature to return a big profit (with a TV tie-in), little was said
about the actual quality of the product.  So Russians can have bad taste
too, and be manipulated by relentless and heavily funded PR advertising
campaigns.  Join the klub.  I think American audiences will find it rather
passe.  Tarkovsky it's not.

Harlow Robinson
Northeastern University

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