Un nouveau Russe

"Tycoon: A New Russian" is a powerful saga that doesn't spare anybody. Oligarchs, Russian politicians, mafia - it is hard to tell them apart sometimes. The end of communism unfortunately didn't bring the peace and prosperity that people expected. The new economic rules were not followed with appropriate laws, hence the disaster happened. Some people with the brains , but without scruples, breaking all the rules of decency, became unbelievably wealthy. Platon Makovsky, the protagonist of this movie, loosely based on the life of Boris Berezovsky,was worth 5 billion dollars. It is mind boggling that in the disarray and tragedy after the fall of the Soviet Union, somebody can make that much money. This movie explains how it all happened, and it is clear to the viewer why the next leader of Russia became someone like Vladimir Putin. Like it or not it was inevitable.

"Tycoon" may not succeed as a political film or piece of social criticism, but I don't think it was meant be those things. "Tycoon" was obviously meant to be first and foremost an interesting, entertaining crime drama, and on this count I think it succeeds marvelously. It has timeless themes: loyalty, betrayal, greed, envy, power, love, lust. To me the fact that it is based on the 1990's Russian oligarchs is almost secondary. It's more like a good war movie - the time and place is really just a setting, a backdrop used to tell a good story.

The script is beautifully structured, the actors all give terrific performances, the direction is understated and confident. Unexpected things happen, scenes jump back and forth through time, and the pacing is excellent. Even though it's got the "a gangster's life" story arc (similar to The Godfather, Casino and the hugely overrated Scarface) in which the risks are taken, trusts made and broken, beautiful women seduced, liquor poured, bullets sprayed, etc., from scene to scene you aren't quite sure exactly who will do what. It holds your interest from beginning to end.

No doubt there is a great documentary to be made about the rise and fall of the actual oligarchs or "New Russians", one which could tie together with great detail the entire true story. But "Tycoon" isn't that film, and I think it's arguable that it's better because if it.

Oligarkh, is an average movie about a group of friends taking advantage of the opportunities "new Russia" offered after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The movie has certain value in giving a rough sketch of how the vacuum left by the collapsed communist system was filled by various criminal elements. However, it fails to do that comprehensively, possibly because, as it targets the Russian audience, it assumes too much information. The transformation of the 'naive, jolly group of friends" into a vicious, ruthless, hierarchical criminal organization is not well demonstrated, phases of changes in characters' world views and emotions largely left to the imagination of the audience. Since the story is told going back and forth in time, some of the criticism can be overlooked, but one cannot help but notice some plot holes. Moreover, it ends in a quite cheesy way, reminding a cheap Hollywood B-movie, something I do not hope to see in a supposedly-sophisticated Russian movie.

The acting is generally good, but not outstanding. I thought supporting characters were more impressive than the hero, and I especially liked the commissar and his style. Direction is not bad, and actually it made me think that it was directed by a talented, but inexperienced director. It seems Lungin has a longer career than I expected.

Well, the good news is that this is definitely a very fun and entertaining piece of cinema. The bad news is that, like most movies with very few exceptions, it took a cool premise and failed short in delivering it. Storytelling needs a lot of polish, plot resolutions may seem dumb at times, and acting can range from very good to absolutely horrible from scene to scene and from actor to actor. There's very little that this "Russian Godfather" has to say that wasn't already said many times (and much better) in "Godfather", "Scarface", and "Once Upon a Time in America".

None of that matters when it comes to the fun factor - unless of course you're one of those self-professed "critics" who spend more time ogling pretty ladies than following the story twists that are neither confusing nor overly complicated, or people who think that any movie that talks about a serious and controversial topic should be strictly unbiased documentary. Be neither, and don't take the movie too seriously.

Pavel Lungin's "Oligarkh" (alternately called "Tycoon" and "Tycoon: A New Russian" in English) looks at the free-for-all that dominated post-Soviet Russia. The protagonist becomes the richest man in the country through all manner of vile means. It was unfortunate that Boris Yeltsin, initially seen as a champion of democracy, sold his country off to the old functionaries who became oligarchs. Some have fallen from grace and even faced criminal prosecution, depending on which ones the government favors.

I understand that Platon Makovsky is based on Boris Berezovsky. It probably could have just as easily focused on any of the magnates who rose to prominence in the 1990s. The point is, these ruthless people turned the Russian Federation into their playground.

It's not a masterpiece, but worth seeing.