J'ai vingt ans

I've always thought that a lot of films that were made in the Soviet Union got overshadowed by Eisenstein and Tarkovsky, not to mention by European films from France, Italy, by Bergman, by Kurosawa and many others from Japan. I feel sad when I think about that, because there are so many great films that were made there that the general film loving public did not and does not get to see. The only two films that may have broken out of this "embargo", so to speak were The Cranes are Flying and Ballad of a Soldier. Criterion has been doing some good deed and releasing a few of such great films I speak of in the Eclipse Series and I only hope they keep releasing them because there are just too many to list that others must see.

I Am Twenty is one of those films. It was made during the de-Stalinization period, otherwise known as the Krushchev thaw where people had a short period of freedom of speech, which Hutsiev, the film's director utilized in making of this film, where the story centers on three friends in their 20's going through a sort of a quarter-life crisis in the Soviet Union, worrying about such things as where to live, means of getting money, and exactly what to do with their lives - which at the time was unheard of - one of the reasons for which Krushchev condemned this film during the end of the thaw (when it was being released) and most certainly which contributed to this film's censorship.

This undoubtedly is the kind of film that speaks the universal language, which I hope would be an intriguing watch for people who can track this film down and watch it (there are English subtitles for it, I checked)

Shot beautifully, flows poetically, and definitely leaves a mark.

I loved it [07-22-2011, 08:23 PM]

I can't comment too much on the full movie. I am not a movie expert and it it has been several years since I saw it. Overall I found it to be an interesting and surprising view on Moscow in the early sixties. The way Moscow is presented it is not much different than any Western European town in the same period. On the other side, young people are young people with their own, but similar, problems everywhere in the world. This comment is about one particular scene. The chase sequence with Anya through Moscow is fantastic. I had seen parts of it on Dutch TV in a movie programme and made sure I saw the full movie when it showed in an art cinema. It builds up expectations until the crucial scene in the stairway where the male protagonist gets close to Anya, but in the end lets her slip away. Beautifully shot in black and white, melancholy and promise captured together.

Khutsiev's I Am Twenty is a sort of coming of age film—the generation it deals with is those coming of age in the 1960's, the young adults of Khrushchev's thaw. I Am Twenty follows just returned from the army Sergei, his two best friends—Nikolai(Kolia) and Slava, and his eventual love interest, Anya. They all struggle finding their place in the adult world of Moscow 1962 . . . Sergei has just returned from his time in the army and finds it difficult to return home and have the same relations as he did before his time in the army—he's not really sure what he should be doing; Slava has a wife and child, but still tries to hang around with Kolia and Sergei like nothing has changed; Kolia is a hard worker and also quite a flirt; Anya is in the midst of a divorce and is quite an unstable, flighty character for most of the film—her words and actions don't always add up. One theme in the film is the lack of knowledge from one's elders—it also translates into a sort of teenaged/young adult angst feel. Sergei's father, for example, died in WWII at a very young age so he has never been around to give Sergei advice or help him in this transitioning phase. He gives Sergei one word of advice in a dream —'live'. This is very hopeful, but still doesn't give Sergei much direction (he wouldn't however, know how to help Sergei in this transition phase since he himself never got to live through it). One of the technical highlights of I Am Twenty is the way Moscow is shot. It is a truly beautiful city, and this film does a great job of showing that: the shots of the parks of Moscow and the Kremlin for example are beautiful and can show even one who has never been to the city just how magnificent it is.

Very beautifully shot 1960s Moscow, in both its most quiet and lively moments, with at times very fun to watch camera work by Margarita Pilikhina.

Unfortunately, I think some of the film's essence was lost in translation for me though - meaning actual translation that sometimes was hard to follow semantically, a lack of societal context to fully comprehend political allusions and not having been exposed to soviet films and storytelling all that much before. Might have to rewatch at some point.

Certain diegetic accents were a little surprising or confusing to me, (especially the end felt foreign and didn't really tie in smoothly with the rest of the movie) which also made it difficult to connect to the main characters at times - the chasing scene (omg) and the way women and marriage are being discussed, didn't necessarily make that easier.

*watched a slightly shorter finnish copy of the original.

Man, those Russkies sure know their way around a camera. I've come to expect great cinematography from Soviet cinema, but this is the finest I've seen in quite a while. I could make a picture book out of screenshots from this movie, but even that wouldn't capture all the magnificent movement, such gracefully choreographed tracking shots. The movie has a visual energy that captures the hustle and bustle of Moscow, particularly from the perspective of youth. But it also beautifully highlights the quiet moments of the wee hours of the morning. It's gorgeous, breathtaking, exciting photography. And the soundtrack has a lot to offer as well, with interior monologues, heightened sound design, and the use of contemporary tunes (including American rock and French pop), folk songs, classical and moody ambient music. I haven't even gotten to the substance of the film yet. The story follows a young man and his two pals, trying to find their place in life. The narrative has a freewheeling new wave vibe to it, accentuating individual moments rather than grand dramatic arcs. These are the lives of youths unsure of how to live or what to live for, a generation with many left fatherless by the war. Although a rather long film, I can't think of anything that felt superfluous, every scene had its own insights or charms. I'm tempted to give this film a 10, but I'd like to have a second viewing before I jump the gun. It definitely made an impression on me.