Notes from the New World

I happened to see Notes From The New World some time ago when I visited Athens, Greece and was invited by a friend (a long time Dostoevsky fan) to make a short journey to a film festival in Corinth … I do recall that I was pleasantly surprised by liking the film so much. It was a clever, modern American adaptation of a European classic book with an intriguing plot where nothing is what it seems like at first. Back home I thought about this movie from time to time… There was some good acting and production design – especially the use of colors (particularly red – in different combinations) but more importantly I felt an enigma in it that I couldn't explain. So I've decided to read Notes From The Underground by Dostoevsky but couldn't manage to finish the book… I stopped in the middle then and returned to it just recently when I got a virus (probably in the gym) and fell sick and spent about a week in bed. Somehow I returned to the reading of "Notes"" and this time was fascinated by the book. Evidently, it was easier to watch this film than to read (for the first time!..) the source (Dostoevsky's book) but after reading the book I thought that I understood the film better – it had the same depth of feelings representing a rich and complex picture of the absurdity and pleasure of our existence and therefore the movie was faithful to the book in this sense. That's how I recalled the nice time I spent in Greece with a friend and I recalled the movie that we both liked… I was curious to know what happened with it so I googled it on my laptop and found this page and decided to leave a note about my feelings. Unfortunately – while using Google again I couldn't locate a DVD of this film. Apparently the movie wasn't released yet. Will wait.

My former girlfriend bluevelvet599 sent me a link to this page with her fresh review about Notes From The New World. She didn't tell the whole truth, or rather she avoided certain facts that I think could be of value for the film buffs. The truth is that right after the screening in the Corinthian-Peloponnesian film festival I was very angry with this film and hated it very much. Being myself an artist of partially Russian heritage and a Dostoevsky admirer I felt that Notes From The New World is a profanation of his writings and his philosophy… There's even a scene where the heroine, a former Russian actress who became a high class call girl in Los Angeles while being drunk, nicknames the great writer "an angry old testament prophet" and demonstratively destroys his portrait in a theater lobby…

True she was nervous and afraid of the Russian mafia killers who were after her… But why express her feelings (or rather the feelings of the writer/director of the movie) and in a so nasty way?!...On the contrary, bluevelvet599 had an entirely different opinion than mine. She claimed that I'm a conservative, a typical "old European classicist" (or something of this nature – which actually in a certain way is correct and was one of the reasons for us coming to Athens) who prefers the "old world" to the "new world" and don't see, or rather feel the whole picture, the deepest meaning of the film's values (she calls them now in her review "the absurdity and pleasure of our existence")… I told her that she has no right to defend the film without even reading Notes From The Underground (the book that the movie claimed is its source for the adaptation). Honestly, I doubt that at the time we visited Athens, being a typical representative of the computers/I-Pod based generation, she read any of Dostoevsky's books…

In short, we had a fight. I angrily left the room in the hotel and had a long walk in the sleepy Corinth. I do recall that there were a great number of wandering homeless dogs in the nighty streets of the city. Some of them apparently wanted to befriend me, followed me and strangely enough managed to calm me… I then bought a couple of hamburgers in a fast food joint for the new friends and returned to my hotel.

Using the computer in the lobby I found the site of Notes From The New World and watched the trailers and some related videos displayed there. Well,although I don't think that the trailers faithfully represent the film, rather they represent a similar sensitivity… But then something happened to me… I suddenly UNDERSTOOD that I…LOVE the film… I do recall that something similar happened to me after the screening of Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind… First I hated the film very much and then after about a year happened to watch the film on TV again and – using the biblical terms "saw the heavenly light and was converted from Saul to Paul"… or if you wish (using the expression of bluevelvet599) I underwent a transformation from Mr. Hyde to Dr. Jekyll… All in all, as far as the depth of feeling is concerned, Notes From The NewWorld is one of the most truthful adaptation/transformation/conversions of the inner values of the greatest book of the world cultural heritage I've ever seen. Really it's great to be alive! I would suggest to whoever isn't afraid of the Truth in regard to "the absurdity and pleasure of our existence" – go and watch this film whenever available. Back in the hotel in Corinth - I cut a couple of flowers in the inner garden of the hotel (nobody've seen this) and went back to our room. After I'll place this review I intend to give bluevelvet599 a call. Let's see

I saw the rough cut of the film some time ago. It was a private screening for the industry guys in the sound mixing studio, in LA. Recently I've watched the completed film at the Marbella Film Festival, Costa Del Sol, in Spain. The movie considerably improved - honestly, I didn't expect the final version of the film to capture the essence of Dostoevsky this good.

I'm glad to have seen the general idea of "Notes From The New World" being manifested successfully in the modern times and in a place like Los Angeles. The acting was surprisingly good and the build up of the suspense left me wondering what would happen after every scene. The scenery and cinematography were pleasing to my eyes.

We don't get to see these kinds of films very often and I hope the director Vitaly Sumin has more projects on his plate. Overall, it was a delightful experience for me!

This movie is what the art of film is all about. It doesn't just present a famous literary tale--it refracts it through the prism of the camera lens. There have been several other attempts to present modern renditions of Dostoevsky's famous "Notes from the Underground," but this movie takes it far beyond that. It's a story within a story within a story. After a stunning opening shot of Los Angeles seen from underground (the metro station), we're exposed to the amazing sight of none other than Dostoevsky himself, beard and all, tromping through the streets of Los Angeles. But as it turns out, it's not really Dostoevsky; it's an intense young guy portraying him. And what's driving this dude? Ah, there the plot thickens. Let's just say it's a world of competing agendas, of boxes hidden inside other boxes. This is one of those films that would take far too much time to describe; it just has to be experienced.

I've had an opportunity to attend the private screening for this film. "She is like a firework or a bomb!" - This is my first impression of Sonia, one of the lead characters of the story (she's characterized as "angel" on the movie home page – www.notesthemovie.com) because she is not only beautiful but also unpredictable like terrorism. She causes the deaths of many people in Notes from the New World's story.

For Steven, Sonia indeed may be a girl who combines in herself the qualities of mother and "femme fatale" or should I also say "love and terrorism". Is this is why she is a sort of a special "angel" for him? I must say that I do worry a little bit about Steven when he starts again his life with Sonia. So, the ending theme is very meaningful.

As of this writing, I think we don't need to live underground to isolate ourselves. All we have to do is have cell phones. And indeed – now we could find many tweets from different Steven-alike guys on the internet.

This genre-straddling film is about both the past and the modern things.