edmontdantes

I was surprised to hear that "Komissar" was filmed in 1967, a year when the USSR was already firmly past Kruschev's thaw and entering the repressive Brezhnev era, because there is something very "thawish" about this film. The general criticism of war, the dignity of ordinary people during a time of calamities, and the juxtaposition of battles with moments of civilian life, all hearken back to the ideas expressed in "The Cranes are Flying" (1956). As in all Soviet cinema, many of the central ideas are expressed through symbolism. This makes the film somewhat difficult for viewers who are not used to this style, but most people tend to find it refreshing and psychologically stimulating. It certainly prompts more post-film discussions than current American cinema that simply shoves the director's point of view down the audience's throat.

Some of the themes that I found particularly interesting were: the use of the innocence of children to depict the horror of war, the image of saddled horses without riders galloping into battle, and, of course, the father dancing in the midst of a bomb raid. Most of all, I thought that the change in Vavilova - going from a rough, battle hardened Red Army officer to a nurturing mother, is the most poignant aspect of this film. The scene where Vavilova is hunted my soldiers for having a child mimics her own persecution of a man who leaves the army to be with his beloved. The soldiers turn out to be figments of her imagination, but the point is obvious. However, Vavilova's decision in the end of the film (which I will not reveal for fear of getting blacklisted by the IMDb NKVD) is puzzling in light of the changes in her character. I suppose that Askoldov's opinion that a person's nature cannot be changed by one experience is contrary to my own optimism. Still, I find the end to be somewhat unrealistic.

I've always been a fan of Kevin Smith's work and it's not only because I'm from Jersey. Well OK, that was certainly a big part of why I started watching his films, but it's his ability to entertain the audience with bathroom humor while, almost clandestinely, exploring some sort of metaphysical concept that has kept me a fan all these years. Now, sometimes this combination works (Clerks - exploration of post adolescent apathy, Chasing Amy - exploration of modern sexual identity, Dogma - exploration of what religion means and what it should mean) and other times it fails because the scale is tipped too much to one side of the scale (Jay and Silent Bob strike back - too much silliness, Jersey Girl - Not enough silliness). I'll reserve judgment for Mallrats because 1) it parallels Clerks II in many ways (the concept is the relationship between two best friends as one of them is about to leave to Florida with his fiancé) 2) If one watches the deleted scenes than it becomes obvious that there are two entirely different films - one that Smith wanted to make and another that the studio made him make.

In Clerks II Smith lives up to the standards of his better movies and improves on them with a more mature script. Smith's best quality is his ability to write and that's what really shines here. The unique ideas and views on pop culture are certainly present in Clerks II, but they flow within the plot of the movie rather than outside of it as in previous films where Smith would resort to monologues in set environments in order to make his point (see Chasing Amy). Still, despite his writing and directorial abilities, Smith is still dependent on the actors to deliver their lines properly and in Clerks II it's more of a hit than a miss. The real stars of this movie are Jeff Anderson and Rosario Dawson both of whom manage to come off perfectly natural in their respective roles. Anderson is the true protagonist of the film and really carries the movie with excellent facial expressions and a great way to deliver Smith's tongue-in-cheek humor. However, both Dawson's and Anderson's abilities are sabotaged by Brian O'Halloren. O'Halloren's Dante is the central character (but not the protagonist) as it is his decision to move to Florida with his girlfriend that sets off the events discussed in the movie. Dante's character is supposed to be that of an underachiever but an optimistic one who still sees some sort of light in the end of the tunnel - there is supposed to be something lovable, charming, and down to earth about him which is why he is always getting the girl. But O'Halloren is simply unable to deliver and his performance comes off as trite and listless. His on screen chemistry with Anderson is good enough but he is simply unable to compete with Dawson.

The side characters in the movie also deliver. The ubiquitous duo of Jay and Silent Bob, the wimpy Christian co-worker of Dante and Randal, Jennifer Schwalbach Smith as Dante's domineering fiancé, even Ethan Suplee (Varsity Blues, American History X, Butterfly Effect), Ben Afflek, and Jason Lee all make cameos.

The Comedy in the movie is dead on and there were quite a few laugh out loud moments. The "climax" of the movie is reached in one particularly witty scene involving "interspecies erotica" and the dénouement of the love triangle between Dante (O'Halloren), Becky (Dawson), and Emma (Schwalbach). The scene really fuses the aforementioned bathroom humor with melodrama and is classic Smith at its raunchy best.

Upon the end of this films the audience actually gave a standing ovation and that's really the best way to judge a film (then again, I saw it on opening night in Jersey). 9/10