What young kids taking guitars in their hands don't want to become new The Beatles or Queen? The main characters of Leonid Andronov's "29th Kilometer" are no exception. Yarik, Kir, Iga and Tolya were the members of unnamed rock band somewhere in Russia. They eagerly played their simple songs and dreamt to become stars one day. However not everybody can strike gold out of it.
This band though got this lucky chance - they were invited to play at a big festival. They should have pulled it off but they failed. And the band has split soon after.
Ten years have passed; the four friends live their lives differently but they still celebrate every year the break-up of the band and this party resembles more funeral than celebration. Tenth anniversary is doomed from the beginning and ends dramatically.
After two times watching the film I can tell that I really like the performance of all the actors. They all natural and sincere, they don't act but live in their characters. The casting is perfect; you can recognize in the characters on the screen your friends, classmates or neighbors.
I attended The Old New Rock Festival - the venue where some scenes of the film were shot - and I could feel its atmosphere and the mood in the film. Soundtrack also works perfectly.
What I didn't really like is what I was able to predict how the film ends. In the moment I saw the cutting meat for barbeque I could easily see how it's going to end. I was hoping the entire film that the story will surprise me but it didn't happen.
Also I wasn't happy with some scenes. They seem dragged; I even wanted to fast-forward some of them. The film overall felt to be longer than its 89 minutes. Another thing, I noticed that several times I thought it's a low-budget movie. Should the viewer think about it during the film? I don't think so.
It's a very dark and dramatic story so I don't think rom-com fans appreciate it. At the same time people that like contemporary films about life, viewers who tend to analyze and contemplate, and of course musicians and artists of all types may like it.
As far as I know it's a first time director so I tried not to focus on it and be objective. Maybe it's not a brilliant debut but I can feel the director has potential. Looking forward to see something else from him.
