Garpastum

Perfect movie! Unfortunately it doesn't worth watching for those who don't know Russian history, culture and literature at all. It depicts the whole epoch of the State's history just through the story of those young boys, who even don't realize that they live in one of the most important periods of Russian history, because they have their small problems which are more significant for them at the moment. The atmosphere and the spirit of that period are reconstructed with a desirable accuracy in every detail and a kind of a circular character of the movie (it begins and ends with the same scene) adds a feeling of completeness and makes you think on philosophic and historic topics.

This is a must see for every one, who enjoys beautiful cinematography in combination with winning actor performances, and masterful plot with unexpected turns and twists. It makes you cry, it makes you laugh, it makes you envy what is on the screen - it makes you feel. "Garpastum" is a film Hollywood would never have the guts nor brains to make, ever. It is not even European cinema. It is a film that has a vast niche of its own that stayed abandoned for a long time - a niche that was first created by Russian geniuses of cinematography such as Fromm and Tarkovskiy. It's Russian cinema and it comes just in time to save Russia's fall from grace with its 'Nochnoy Dozor' and the likes that follow in the steps of Hollywood. Turn back, turn back from that path before it's too late! "Garpastum" makes that turn.

Russian cinematography's triumphant return! 10/10

The very first moment I saw Garpastum I couldn't avoid thinking of other big directors: Michalkov and Tarkovskij. A story of a nation, a state at the moment of its(re)birth told through a simple story of boys and their compassion for soccer. (Garpastum comes from a Latin word "harpastum": a ball-game from which soccer origins.) The story is strangely both historical and ahistorical - it seems it could take place no matter when and where. In fact, it is not so. A small hints given in conversation (Gavrilo going to Sarajevo, a lion that escaped from the ZOO, socialist revolution..) create an exact time frame that is necessarily connected with the location of St. Petersburg. Taking place in some other time it would most probably lose its charm. The extraordinary capacity of Alexey German for capturing this era and its mood pleases the eye. Every picture, every scene is filmed very thoughtfully, keeping its poetry without losing rhythm and becoming only a slide of photographs with nothing to say.