Why Don't You Just Die!

Having just caught this at a film festival, having read these reviews I feel I should defend the film as more than just a gruesome comedy, the Director himself would be offended at the suggestion that there isn't a lot more going on under the surface. Of course it is laced with a wry, bleak humour, and much of the blood spurting has a balletic, often fun energy. But energy is the key word here, the direction, the cinematography, the unusual movement of the camera that replaces where lazier directors would cut, the infectious soundtrack, the script that unravels it's mysteries precisely, I found the film to have very unique and energetic style. Thrilling, gory yes, but grounded with excellent performances and a biting script that deconstructs corruption in Russian society; how that eats away at institutions, friends and family. I would recommend this film to anyone (with a strong stomach).

Black comedy. I heard a lot of good reviews about this picture, and even more so I was very much interested in the genre of "black comedy", and even domestic production. How could I miss this? Nevertheless, I missed it and did not go to see this picture in the cinema - and now I regret it, well, at least now I was able to watch it - and get just a hurricane of enthusiastic emotions, which I simply cannot keep silent about, and here is my brief opinion - Cool and a hilarious Russian comedy. I don't want to talk about the shortcomings, and I didn't notice them here, so I'll write down the merits of this black comedy, and you just have to listen to this and write comments on this. Now I start. So, here they are: 1. Scenario - the picture begins with the fact that Matvey, a young boy, breaks into the apartment in order to kill Andrei Gennadievich - the father of his girlfriend and an opera at work. The showdown is briefly interrupted by the wife of Andrei Gennadievich, but this truce does not last long - and a bloody fight takes place. Well, then I simply have no right to tell you, because you have to listen and watch it yourself. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and elaboration of the script, for which the young director Kirill Sokolov was responsible, for whom this picture was the first full-length work (before that he had directed four short films). The script keeps in suspense, and in the end it gives out an unexpected one, although there will be similar moments in the course of the story. For the finale, I am ready to shake hands with the director completely shamelessly. For a long time I have not been so pleased with the national cinema (the last time it was "Balkan frontier"). When there is a desire, then everything will work out! 2. Humor - it is black here, even blacker than ever. Here you and satire, and ridicule, and mockery, and cruelty (prohibitive amount). And if at first the humor did not impress me, then from the fifteenth minute I laughed out loud (and not only at humor, but also at the scenario twists). The humor here is of high quality, it is clear who is inspired (more on that below) and works perfectly, plus the actors give their best. Kirill Sokolov was also responsible for humor here. Well done! 3. Tin - blood, liters, no - rivers of blood, mat, severed limbs, the general tin of the ongoing massacre contrasts strongly with the bright and colorful picture. It is not in vain that the painting has an age limit of "18+", because the tin is gushing over the edge here and cannot stop. I'm not a big fan of this, but here it all looked more appropriate than ever and perfectly complements the overall picture of everything that happens. 4. Heroes - at first glance, they seem to be the most ordinary people, but gradually, as the scenario develops, you understand what kind of "bad people" they are and how much black can sit in an ordinary person. All the characters are well written and taken from real life, and we see their images every day, which adds sympathy to the picture. 5. Intimacy - almost all the action of the picture takes place in the apartment of Andrei Gennadievich, and there are a lot of events happening there (as in another cult foreign film). Therefore, the viewer does not have time to get bored, because intimacy does not interfere with the picture at all, because the script is written well. 6. Music - it is inspired by what, you know, but, nevertheless, it fits perfectly into all this mess and creates the right mood and fits perfectly into the atmosphere of bloody madness. 7. Somewhere we have already seen all this! - in such a simple way, I want to say that Kirill Sokolov was very much inspired by the paintings of the Englishman Guy Ritchie and the American Quentin Tarantino, which he does not hide from us, because some moments very much resemble the famous scenes from the works of these outstanding modern directors, like music. It could be a minus, if not for one "but" - Kirill Sokolov reworked these moments and perfectly adapted them to Russian modern realities (which, in fact, did Tarantino in his works, and did not hide this fact). A little about the main characters: 1. Andrey Gennadievich performed by Vitaly Khaev is a stern father and head of the family, who is clearly not happy with the arrival of an unexpected guest. The charismatic Vitaly Khayev plays superbly an opera with great experience and not the most pleasant soul, with his skeletons in the closet, which creep out of all the cracks. More than half of the picture and funny moments are held on it. Bravo! 2. Matvey performed by Alexander Kuznetsov is a young guy of Andrey Gennadievich's daughter, who came to "deal with" him. He still does not suspect what kind of gimmick he was brought into and whether he will be able to get out of it. Alexander played this hero quite well. Of course, it does not pull the highest score, but it is worthy. 3. Natalia performed by Elena Shevchenko - the wife of Andrei Gennadievich and the mother of Olya - Matvey's girlfriend. With his behavior and words, he makes him interrupt the bloody showdown. Behaves accordingly to a loving wife and mother. It was unexpected to see Elena on the big screen many years later, because the last time I saw her was in the excellent New Year's film "Kazanskaya Orphan", where she played the main role. The picture clearly deserves your attention and is perfect for evening viewing (just remove the children from the screen, otherwise you will not end up with a hassle). As a result, we have an excellent Russian black comedy, inspired by foreign films, with an excellent script, music, atmosphere, unreal tin and good acting. My rating is 8 out of 10 and my recommendation for viewing!

... but a lot less subtle than the inspiration - think of a Takashi Miike yakuza massacre on steroids taking place in an abattoir during its closing down sale when fully stocked.

Warning for sensitive people: This movie contains very explicit violence, very hard visualized violence and bloody scenes - liters of blood. The story beginns slowly with a guy who wants to kill a man, who he believes has raped his own daughter. The man is a police man - an investigator - so the situation escalates.

The story is shown from different angles and times. The time jumps are ok, because they are a continous part of story telling. Time by time other characters are added, so the story becomes enhanced until the end, with a few turns in it. Clever story! :D

Most of the story happens in one flat, but there are several side scenarios, especially in the time jumps. The violent scenes are greatly exaggerated visually, to show the audience some blood showers. But on the other hand it is also very comedic and always ballances on a fine line to not get too serious. I think it's the mix of story telling, good camera shots, good cutting, good acting, gory visuals and humor that makes it interesting. There is also some weired folk music, which makes it even more bizarre. I really liked it.

If you'd have to describe this movie, it'd be Tarantino's 'Pulp Fiction' meets Guy Ritchie's 'Lock, Stock...'. It is a no nonsense tragicomedy with plenty of blood and violence. It helps that the protagonist is a very naive but kind-hearted guy who just wants justice, which is pure comedy.

I like how they did the absolute most with a shoestring budget and invested a lot in writing a good, engaging story. I had to look hard for this gem as it's not a big budget US popcorn flick, nor was it advertised anywhere in the West, but it's well worth the effort. Good movies never hide in plain sight.