Khrustalyov, My Car!

Absolutely astonishing visuals that draw one in and totally captivate for the considerable length of this film, despite the narrative being very difficult to grasp and follow properly. We are in the grip of Alexsei German's vision and find ourselves staring in disbelief at the wondrous and surreal visuals. Astonishingly crowded interiors are contrasted with snowy streets with slow moving cars and trams. Set in late 1953 as Stalin dies this impressionistic vision is totally original, amusing and horrible by turns. There is much face slapping and crazy antics reminiscent of a Marx Brothers film but also dark horrors and hinted at atrocities. A dark and involving piece that is convincing if not always particularly comprehensible. Unique.

Today marks twenty-three years since Aleksei German's head scratcher premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, where it was met with an overwhelmingly negative reception and provoked a mass walkout from the critics. This was German's penultimate film and i returned to the film today after 3 years. Personally, I still consider this as his finest, even many years after its creation. Some scenes just keep repeating in my memory, especially the last shot of the film.

I know the majority will lean towards his early films and the other half will go with his swan song Hard to be a God (2013). Much has been said about the latter, and it deserves all the praises.

This film an odyssey through Stalin's regime which isn't a surprise as it's a well-known fact. In 'Khrustalyov, My Car', Alexei German partly combines historical facts, draws memories, or more aptly labelled nightmares of growing up and imbues them in the screenplay. Briefly to the plot, it is set in Moscow during the final days of Stalin's regime. A series of arrest occurs targeting Jewish doctors who were accused of conspiracy to assassinate the Soviet elite. A military surgeon, General Yuri Georgievich Klensky (Yuri Tsurilo), finds himself a target of the conspiracy and escapes to avoid Gulag sentence or execution. The essential escape story is made into a complex and ambitious mosaic, interweaving surrealism, dark humour, perverse behaviour. The complexity of the drama deepens and, together with the Klensky, as he is immersed in the cold hell of uncertainty, an increasingly absurd and dangerous situations. My favourite is where all the doctors are attempting to make the dying Stalin's stomach to fart. There even more, lots of absurd sequences that is showcased during the entirety of this fever dream which some might feel as a totally confused mess.

There's no point in telling the plot and it would be an an exercise in futility if I attempt it. It must be seen as German takes us through the dehumanization of life under Stalin's regime. Its black and white tone depict a world of monstrous inhumanity and devastating cruelty blended with surrealisms and metaphors. A true visionary German knew what his universe was, this film is an example. His ability to stage great settings and he effortlessly manages to set the right accents between apocalypse and drama. This is certainly one of the craziest works ever and the production for filming are no less insane than the film itself. It took Aleksei German almost ten years to create this surreal trip.

In the past, I have seen few comments comparing screenshots from this movie and Béla Tarr's masterpiece Werckmeister Harmonies (2000). Yes, maybe few shots looks like it is lifted straight out of Tarr's universe. But I would like to mention that German's work predates Tarr and it is not an offense or a crime to appreciate the comparison.

I want to mention about the acting, it is at the center of the film and every character are phenomenal in their respective roles, i personally loved plays Klensky (Yuri Tsurilo), the shiny bald-headed neurosurgeon. I always draw comparison to Iron Sheikh class, one of my favourite wrestlers of all time. Yuri Tsurilo is impressive in this role; he is in a grey zone. He oscillates between different emotions, sometimes boisterous, and larger than life. Also, the ending is one of the most striking I have ever seen, the shot is so fresh and will remain etched in my memory as Yuri balances a glass of wine on his head and smokes a cigarette. I've seen cinephiles going gaga over Mads Milkeslene dance in the ending of Another Round (2020), they have already labelled it as the best closing ever. I would suggest the same crowd to witness the last shot in this one, an ending that commemorates the bridge between the humiliation, loss and victory. I recommend this film to the cinephiles who love the works of David Lynch, Piotr Szulkin, Yuri Ilyenko, Grzegorz Królikiewicz, Tengiz Abuladze, FJ Ossang, Herbert Achternbusch, Konstantin Lopushansky and Rogério Sganzerla.

clearly, this is a film for which either one votes 10 or votes 3. Those artsy folks will hail it a great feat, and those folks that wish to be entertained will walk out of the theather. A black and white film, the titles appear only after about 10 minutes of pivoting plots, kind of reminded me how the titles suddenly appeared in Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time the West". The random appearence of people's faces from left and right, some emerging from sauna tubs, others from foggy and steamy rooms, reminds Fellini's Otto e Mezzo. And much of the interiors, people's musings on everyday life, and the "life goes on" quality of city life, reminds the graphic novel by Ben Katchor, "Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer". On the absurbist twists and plots, "The Nose" by Gogol comes to mind, and the slight fantastic world (look out for those umbrellas suddenly popping open) brings Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita". Rich (but senseless) plot, lots of takes, lots of baroquely enriched interiors, outdoor scenes of streets in snowy winter and the muffled sound of cars rolling on snow. Even the title is random: a sentence one hears being yelled by one of the many many characters. Now, if Francesco Rosi's "La Tregua" had a bit of this randomness and absurbist quality to give more of the feel of directionless of war's end, it would have been great.

Aleksey German invites you on a journey through the madness of Stalinist Moscow. Not only is the story a journey with unexpected turns, also the cinematography evokes this sense of adventure; long shots, the camera following the footsteps of the protagonist, people wandering through the line of sight. With its incredible detailedness, a true living world emerges. A delight to watch with its rich visual languge, albeit intensive to stay focussed for 2h27m.

German chose a similar style for his equally masterful Hard to be a God (2013), which enters the realm of sci-fi and historical pictures, or Gaspar Noe's virtuoso Enter the Void (2009).

With its critical approach to the Stalinist period, German realised this film exactly at the right moment (1998): in the Soviet age, the film would have been censored, and in the Putin age Stalin was placed back on his pedestal, banning the hilarious British comedy Death of Stalin (2017), a film which through a different strategy aims to similarly show the remarkable climate of the last days of Stalin. What these two films have in common is the wish to reconstruct the absurdity and arbitrariness which governed human lives at that point, served with a dose of irony and black humour.

i saw this two years ago at cinema festival. i still remember it now. having watched a lot of russian cinema, i can admit it`s one of the most powerful, imaginative and thought provoking movies ever made.

the acting is superb and guided with pettiness. please, believe me,

you have never seen so many different characters in one movie. every extra has a role.

a cinematic experience of rare breed.

if you like to be surprised - see it.

10/10