L'insensible

Stumbled across this on Netflix. Had never heard of it but it looked interesting. The film has an interesting set up that propels the lead character into an extraordinary and unexpected world. Terrific performance from Denis Vlasenko who has something of Timothee Chalamet about him. Anna Styx as Oksana is also very good. It's definitely worth watching.

16-year-old Denis (Denis Vlasenko) has a kind of superhero-ability. He has congenital analgesia, a rare condition in which he feels no pain. As an infant, he was put in a baby hatch at an orphanage, by mother Oksana, which now 16 years later comes back to steal him out to exploit his abilities.

Just like his las year's movie "Loveless," Tverdovsky's cynical contemporary Russian story gives a portrait with parenting sneaking in a portion of pervasive corruption and lack of moral abilities.

We learn about his ability among his boarding-school comrades who often wrap him hard in a rubber hose and squeeze him to see how long he can take the pressure before fainting, as the director implies that such numbness is practically universal for those raised in a system like this. Either it is an orphanage like this or it's Putin-Russia as a whole.

At first, Denis is delighted to escape the orphanage and thrilled to get his own room, gorging on 16 years' worth of belated birthday cake when they get to Oksana's flat, although he soon learns the cost of staying there are high and possibly fatal.

The film is beautyfully shot by Denis Alarcon-Ramirez in beautifully lit long-take sequences. Direction is flawless, and main character Denis is a find in his role. Except when Denis plays the hose game, the kids on either side are clearly only pretending to pull, while Denis Vlasenko merely looks like this is a strain at all.

I very much liked the film, though I don't think it'll meet the director's intentions. Director Tverdovsky probably wants this to be a wake-up call, although the final part of the movie is heartfelt, it's hard to deliver - since Denis is an expendable kid in a system obviously too rotten to reform.

So the film is good, but no masterpiece.

While Russian Police/Law Court corruption is a good topic to take aim at - this movie's attempts may not render a great deal of difference. It comes across as lacking convincing continuity or situations. If this movie is yet unseen, this overview may contain spoilers but little more than already mentioned in various promos. A Child's mother dumps her baby at an orphanage then comes back 16years later and attempts to reclaim him but, is refused, on grounds of being proven completely unfit to care for him. Still, somehow, she manages to simply walk out with him in toe. The lacklustre script takes such story liberties without being all that believable or genuinely involving. Seems she wants her son to be a road accident pawn to fraudulently set-up big 'accident' claims. Our so-called mother, then proceeds to walk around the house wearing only scanty underwear day and night (muttering something about it helps to keep the house clean!) Cheap sensationalistic writing more like it - bringing on suggestions of an incestuous set-up. At one stage, while coming home from a drunken party, she asks her son to hold her up while she urinates in the street, this comes complete with close-ups of pee falling between her legs onto the pathway (what did we do to deserve so many 'vital-story-element' details!!).

The resultant court cases, even though they demonstrate unforgivable corruption seem somewhat unconvincingly set-up, so it's difficult to feel much outrage - without feeling manipulated as a viewer. Director and cameraman have chosen to work with dimly lit, cheap wobble-cam handheld camera shots, often having the look of a film school student's work. This was made with funding from the Ministry of Culture of Russia but looks rather poor in its 'cultural' output. With all the elements of terrible corruption being examined, this topic might have been better served if treated as a documentary, as is, what could have been worthy comment comes across as shallow movie making.

It's not a long movie but feels rather endless. Some may last the distance without reaching for the remotes double speed device but, could be doubtful if all that many.

Like many films, a precise - realistic portrait f Russian society. Cold, constructed as clash between need of affection and cynismus, presenting a sort of vulnerability behind gestures. A sort of warning, a pure cry. Not spectacular but authentic, in spirit and nuances, Russian.