ian-ference

This was the most awesomely meta - and mindblowing - experience I've had in ages while not enhanced by psychedelic substances. The creators... certainly *were* enhanced. Did I mention that this is meta?

Imagine, if you would, spending a weekend with Philip K. Dick, David K. Lewis, Hunter S. Thompson and Robert Anton Wilson doing loads and loads of lysergic acid, psilocybe mushrooms, and associated substances, and splitting your time between playing Colossal Cave, Zork, and other text adventures, reading Choose Your Own Adventure Books, and musing on the metaphysics of modality and the counterfactual conditional. Then make an interactive "movie" about it (if 'movie' is an adequate descriptor). Then go even more meta, and reference the streaming platform and make it a part of participating - because with Bandersnatch, you ARE a part of the action - no getting around that.

Never heard of any of these people, spent a weekend in otherspace on psychedelics, or contemplated where you'll get more fuel for you lantern and/or the conditions which permit possibility under various contingencies? Doesn't matter. YOU WILL ENJOY THIS.

I don't want to spoil anything. Experience this, because this is an experience - and not a 'film' in the strictest sense. But it is bloody brilliant, and I think that Dick, in particular, would have been proud to come up with it.

But as you probably know by now, this is an experience that gives you choices. Make them. Are they right or wrong? I suppose that's subjective. When the credits roll, is the 'film' really over? That too is subjective. And that's what I love about this. Charlie Brooker & Co. have really delivered a masterpiece here, and make no mistake - you ARE a character in a world, making decisions. Good or bad decisions? Subjective. Right or wrong ending? Subjective. Can the past be changed? Did you already change someone's past? What are the secret meanings of XYZZY and PLUGH? And did you ensure that your lamp doesn't burn out?

And while we're at it, why are you still reading this bloody review? Try it. Do it now. Before you get hit with spoilers. Thank me tomorrow. Or yesterday.

I was fortunate enough to see a DCP of this film tonight at a local theatre, and was duly impressed by emerging auteur Yuriy Bykov's second feature. Bykov, who wrote, directed, co- starred in, scored, and edited the film, has turned in a sophomore effort that duly justifies his rapid rise to esteem in modern Russian cinema. Ostensibly an action film, "The Major" is really a bleak and uncompromising morality play, focusing on moments in time when characters have to make choices - and the slippery slope towards an event horizon where choices are then made for the characters on the basis of their previous decisions, regardless of their current feelings. Major Sergey Sobolev (Denis Shvedov) in particular stands out as a modern-day Raskolnikov, who in one split second sets off a chain of events that seemingly becomes irreversible.

The film opens with a moment of elation followed by a scene of unintended, but avoidable, violence which sets the tone for the rest of the picture. After receiving the news that his wife is in labor, Sergey speeds through a bleak, snowbound Russian landscape, carelessly passing other motorists. At a bus stop, a child begins walking away from his mother into the road. Moving too quickly to stop, Sergey honks his horn too late and swerves left - but the horn, and the mother's screaming, scare the boy, and he runs into the path of the car, being killed almost immediately. Sergey - seemingly in shock - looks around and appraises the situation. Then he begins to make choices. After a quick look, he makes no effort to save the boy; he locks the mother in the car, panicking, and takes her mobile phone when she tries to call out. He calls the station, and gets his friend Pasha (Bykov), at which point he is faced with another choice: does he take the consequences for his reckless driving, or with a wink and a nod, does he get the corrupt policemen he works with to cover for him? Of course, it is the latter choice, and with the arrival of Pasha and Merkulov (Ilya Isayev), an inevitable fate begins to set it - and the story begins to unfold.

Far from being the standard sort of mindless action drivel being pumped out of Hollywood studios by the likes of Michael Bay, "The Major" intelligently - and non-judgmentally - asks viewers at what point grey morality becomes black morality; at what point the results of a bad decision become irreversible and inevitable; at what point would the viewer themselves make the same (possibly immoral) choice. Without spoiling anything, this last question is devilishly well handled towards the end of the film. The film also asks what part loyalty plays, as it becomes clear that we're dealing with a group of coppers who cover for each other on a regular basis, on issues both mundane and serious. But the escalation of the situation, as the choices go from "good to not so good" right down to "bad or downright abysmal", is what truly drives this film; the action is merely a storytelling device that exists to impart gravitas to the thematic underpinnings.

The acting is superb throughout; Shvedov and Bykov in particular turn in wonderfully nuanced performances. Isayev is great as well, in an understated performance that conveys his lack of agency throughout. The dead child's parents (Irina Nizina and Dmitriy Kulichkov) are believable in their various stages of grief, rage, anguish, and finally acceptance. The rest of the cast is fine as well. The film is beautifully shot in such a way as to provide a constant, grinding sense of despair and grit - from the yellow-green tinged police station to the snow-swept landscapes. The cinematography might not rival Sven Nykvist's work, but it is well above competent. Bykov's score, while occasionally over the top, complements the moods well most of the time. The pacing is excellent, and the resolution of the film works very well.

It is worthy of note that, while this film gives the viewer plenty to contemplate, it does not emulate the metaphor-laden idiom that is characteristic of Russian cinema since at least Tarkovsky. The themes are fairly clear, and while the narrative is structured around an overwhelming web of decisions and consequences, the interpretations tend to be fairly clear. It is clearly of a different era and a different language than, say, Alexei Gherman's "Hard To Be a God", another 2013 Eastern Bloc gem. Highly recommended; I'd give it a 9/10.

This review is based on the first episode of the American remake of "Les revenants", probably the only episode I'll ever watch, given its almost overwhelming inferiority. Once again, someone - in this case, Carlton Cuse (who I have nothing against; I enjoy Bates Motel) - has gotten it in their head that a standout European offering needs to be remade in America. Remember "Gracepoint", the American remake of "Broadchurch"? Yeah, neither do I.

They follow the French script almost exactly, but the execution is terrible. Many of the older characters are made younger; most of the plain or even ugly characters are made at least somewhat attractive, if not hot. The pacing is terrible. Whereas the original featured shots that lingered over scenes to create atmosphere and lingered over characters' faces to allow them to subtly emote, the remake features fast cuts and dutch angles. Thus, the show loses any sense of subtlety. The original was a carefully crafted character drama with the feeling of an elegiac dirge; the remake is a plot-driven mess with none of the atmosphere. The characters simply are not believable in the way the characters in the original were; their motivations and emotions are completely opaque. The language is sanitized, presumably for some ratings board, but due to this does not feel real at all. The music is a far cry from the utterly atmospheric soundtrack composed by Mogwai for the French version. At best, this is an incompetent blunder; at best, it is a travesty against good taste, especially with "Les revenants" so widely available, including in America.

American studios need to start coming up with their own concepts and executing them well instead of badly ripping off European television. And they're certainly capable - from "Six Feet Under" to "Carnivale" to "Breaking Bad" to "True Detective", there have been plenty of good-to-great American programs. But they just fail every time they try to remake an exceptional European show. What's next, "Spiral", the American remake of "Engrenages", starring Angelina Jolie as Berthaud, Justin Bieber as Roban, and shot with a fisheye lens?