I would like to lay a bet that the director of this film had Godard's ' Breathless ' on his mind when he made it. First I must say that from the first striking images of a fast train I was gripped. Visually this is a very beautiful piece of cinema, and it is set in Vladivostok which is certainly a first to me. The details of the city come to life immediately with its very rich gangsters, and its doss houses for the down and out. Set in the year before its release it is immediately a film of this new decade, and references of borders being closed makes for a claustrophobic atmosphere despite the vast bridge and open spaces of the city. The story is of a young man who says he has accidentally shot someone and he is on the run. Andrey Gryzlov as the young man Viktor acts superbly, and he is desperate to get out of the country and in need of a false passport. Enter Nika played equally well by Anastasia Talyzina ( looking very much like Jean Seberg ) and a frantic romance begins. She is involved with a rich gangster and offers to help Viktor and then another accidental death occurs. End of spoilers. The film is fatalistic and very brutal in several scenes but my attention was held until the enigmatic ending. Basically the question is implied, what do we really know of anybody and their truths or their lies ? Existential to the end it seemed also very aware of its ( perhaps ) French philosophy and this self-consciousness sometimes jarred. A not perfect film but a very good one. To be seen if possible. After all how many people ever go or have visited Vladivostok ?
