Durak (The Fool)

A classical Russian mind set. The panel block of houses is falling apart and no one cares. And the ones who ignore it the most are the ones who actually live in it. But in the middle of Siberia one of the Russians comes to his senses. He probably has a feeling that his life, which he has so far spent drinking Vodka, doesn’t have any meaning so he decides to do at least something about it. He stood up to the Russian way of thinking and thought that it would be fine. It wasn’t. The premise totally hooked me. The location not so much. Indifference is exactly the attribute that is typical for Russia. Maybe a little too much. (07.10.2020)

A heavily exaggerated moral/parable of corrupt Russia. The more serious and tragic the film tries to be, the more transparent and shallow it becomes. It’s the kind of depressing populism that tempts one to rather superficial wisdom about decent people not having a chance. It’s like Leviathan for the less demanding. (27.01.2017)

An excellent chilling drama from Russia with a cramped atmosphere. The story revolves around a heating repairman who, while inspecting an apartment, discovers that the apartment block is on the verge of collapse. There is not much time left and he decides to take action and confront local political corruption. An uncomfortable, almost Chernobyl-like atmosphere about an honest man who wants to save 800 lives, but since the prefab is full of social scum, the government is full of communists, and money is king, it won't be easy. A thunderous finale. 8/10. (07.01.2020)

A creepy romp through a haunted castle Russia, where I was quite surprised to see that government money was involved. The promising concept, where a burst pipe begins to expose the administration of a city of 30,000 in all its nakedness, is portrayed perhaps a little too far over the line (frequent theses, literal expository dialogue, violent conclusion), but it hits the spot. The Sisyphus labor of a poor little committed man is only slightly touching, but otherwise deliberately nauseating, especially when you consider how much someone would like to make something like this in the Czech Republic and how much it can't be done. (14.09.2015)

This was certainly a strong experience. I definitely wouldn’t recommend the film to people who prefer feel-good films and expect to be relaxed while watching. I don’t see that happening with this film. Anyway, I savored the depressing atmosphere full of hopelessness. If Cervantes could see this, he would burn his Don Quixote manuscript in shame, because he would have to admit that Dmitrij Nikitin was trapped in a much more desperate situation. (06.05.2019)