The Gun (From 6 to 7:30 p.m.)

Great! I am 100% agree with the President of Montreal World Film Festival Serge Losique who told: "The Gun" will be a great cult movie". What a movie!

I saw the movie twice in one day and I saw that the cinema language is definitely changing - technically and aesthetically. Good job, guys! Jimmy Dalt - professional

The Gun takes Vladimir Alenikov's vision into the shadowy world of obsession, and no one underscores the price of obsession better than the talented Jack Forbes, as Victor. Fraught with good intentions and overwhelmed by the relentless pace of urban living, Victor clamors for a solution, only to find that his problems are just beginning. Jack Forbes' performance is so subtle, compelling and real, combined with the steady-cam no-cuts filming technique, we really feel like we're living out the 90 minutes with him. This should be a break-away film for Jack. Tim Colceri plays AJ, an energetic strip bar owner, and the chemistry between AJ and Victor is both entertaining and heart wrenching. Vladimir's direction of this foray into the minds of everyday people is seamless, inspired and innovative. Cinematographer Kirill Davidoff, through the steadicam of Chris George, is remarkable as it winds through the story in continuous no-cut shots of unprecedented lenght and complexity, all the while in perfect focus and lighting. Jeremiah Hasseman is interesting in the role of Gene, the unruly and unemployed transient, and as a newcomer holds his own in this production. Tamara Tara, as Anna, Victor's hapless wife, shows her range from disdain to distraught to desperate, finally landing in the sypathetic laps of the audience. Val Dillman is delightful as Christie, the alluring and endearing stripper who seduces Victor and tosses Gene out on his ear. And Robert Harrell III is convincing as Lamar, the street-person thief. The Gun is a ground-breaking film for all involved, and should be a winner.

i was impressed by the movie, very well done and shot. very important subject too, makes the watchers think and analyze their life style and problems around them. highly recommended, actors are very good too,their very natural manner of acting makes one feel like being inside the movie and around the heroes in it. how do we live, do we make our life and other people's lives around us easier or do we use them and lose them? do we know how to love? are we able to love and make commitments? are we responsible for our decisions? who is? are we nice to people? are people nice to us? are we scared of people? are we in danger? do we feel like being in ganger? and therefore should ONE own a gun, and if "yes" how do we use it and when? now days it's a hard question, there is no exact answer to it, don't you think? at least the movie is an offer to a movie watcher to start thinking about this issue, if he or she never have before.

Vladimir Alenikov's The Gun is a brilliant fiction take on the necessary evils and possibly deadly consequences of gun "ownership". Shot in 15 simple real-time takes, it quietly follows the gun through various people's hands over the course of 1 1/2 hours, from 6 pm to 7:30 pm. It's like a "road movie" for a pistol which is found by a biker and pawned to the next slime bucket and misplaced by yet another directionless loser. Critics at the Montreal film festival disliked the "losers" element and found it difficult to connect to the cold, often listless characters such as the typical musician who can be summed up by the old joke: what do you call a musician without a girlfriend? Homeless. Characters both related and unrelated to each other are as intentionally disparate at the disengaged family members in Pasolini's Teorama. This brilliant fiction tale borders on the anti-gun sentiments in the Oscar-winning doc, Bowling for Columbine, yet its one female character (the protagonist's wife, Anna) has a stalker which makes one realize that guns are often a necessary evil in America, despite Michael Moore's convincing diatribe. The story unspools as slowly as Teorama which would be a detractor for action-seekers and a plus for those inclined to a deeper understanding of guns in America. And there is an incredibly erotic banana-eating scene that is worth the wait even you're an action buff. Terrific U.S. outing for Russian exile, writer, editor and director, Vladimir Alenikov. -- suze (former Variety film critic and current communications consultant)

I thought this film was absolutely amazing. I haven't seen such a brilliantly made film in a very long time. It represents what filmmaking is really all about. I'm sure this film will become very successful and known all over the world winning numerous awards. I can't wait for Vladimir Alenikov's new works of brilliance.