7. 7. 2006
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Britské listy

http://www.blisty.cz/
ISSN 1213-1792

Šéfredaktor:

Jan Čulík

Redaktor:

Karel Dolejší

Správa:

Michal Panoch, Jan Panoch

Grafický návrh:

Štěpán Kotrba

ISSN 1213-1792
deník o všem, o čem se v České republice příliš nemluví
7. 7. 2006

Peregon - definitely a Russian film

As part of Karlovy Vary's main competition, on Thursday was shown Aleksandr Rogozkin's new film Peregon (Tranzit, Rusko 2006). He presented it as a 'kino-roman', an onscreen novel intended to ally itself with the tradition of classical literature, that is, with its interest in individuality and singularity. Indeed, this film is more of a study of humanity than a historical-political treatment of a particular period of time.

As the filmmakers introduced the film, they stressed the importance of character in the work. Editor Julija Rumjanceva reassured us with the comment that, yes, the film is long at 146min, but when it was shown in Russia, the audience was so involved with the characters that they felt it in fact to be much shorter. And I have to admit, I did quite agree with this. As Rogozkin told us, there are 36 characters in the film ("and I do not want to differentiate between main and supporting roles"), and we do feel involved with almost all of these. Peregon relates the lives and relations of people living on an isolated military base in Chukotka, Siberia. It is set in the winter of 1942-43, and shows the coming and goings of Russian and American pilots who are flying lend-lease planes from Alaska to Chukotka and then on to the Russian front. The main focus, though, is on the characters against this context. Much to everyone's surprise, the pilots who bring the planes from Alaska are in fact all women - which is much to the delight of the young pilots.

This situation provides for the first side of Rogozkin's portrayal of individual affairs. As would be expected, this herd of young men jumps at the sight of twelve young accomplished ladies marching into their base. They are ordered to entertain them somehow, and so put on a foxtrot, and dance with them, trying to woo them by talking at them in Russian (and then attempting to learn English). And inevitably, some of them form quite an attachment to their chosen amerikanka. The superiors of course take a dislike to this and either make fun of the boys, or create rules which are meant to prevent the two groups from meeting. Emotional attachments have no place in a military base. But actually they are extremely prevalent here - "oh how complicated it is here", says the investigator when he comes to inspect the base following the death of base commander Foma Ilijic. Be it romantic entanglements - we find out that Irina, the interpreter, is the estranged wife of Foma, and is now involved with Sergei Mikhailovic, and Foma in turn has been involved with cook Valja who is now carrying his child - or simply the expression of personal delights - the new cook Roman asks the pilots to bring him a hog from Alaska so that he can feed them fresh meat, and instead is brought a piglet, to whom several of the people on the base get quite attached, before he is sent away with the Americans because obstreperous Foma does not like it. Similarly, the young Chukotian helper Vasilij's jokes and nonsense are charming and certainly not helpful towards any war efforts. While all the work goes on, only unsympathetic characters such as the investigator or the raving Foma Ilijic talk about the main front. Of course, all of them are working conscientiously as they should, but most of them have other things at the forefront of their minds. Rogozkin is successful in his effort to make us relate with the characters of his 'kino-roman' as indeed we do care about what is going on in this base. He uses humour and a light touch, gradually revealing details about the characters, which presents them to us in a natural way, and allows us to become involved in their lives. Consequently, he does indeed create a work which gestures back to the traditions of 19th century literature with its realist and detailed treatment of character. We see in this film as we do in that literature the following theme - the individual vs. greater powers. Most of the characters' individual desires are squashed by some or other larger force: the pilot's attempts at wooing are stopped either by their superiors or by plane crashes, the beloved piglet is sent away by the officers, Roman's attempts to introduce higher culinary creations are met with bemusement or the declaration that they are 'fascist' (he bakes Berlinský Strudel..) and when Vasilij's dream of becoming a pilot is fulfilled, he is killed in battle.

Now, the film is also a meeting of cultures - the cooperation of Russian and American forces in the war effort. However, the Americans in this film come off quite flatly. All the Russians in the film have great dreams and emotions, but never do we see any of the Americans show any feeling. In military dealings they show an appropriate level of respect, but the amerikanki hardly show any warmth towards the Russians that so genuinely court them; they make fun of Russian traditions, "we've toasted everyone but the dog!"; and the American officer supervising the checking of the planes is depicted as less than thorough. The Russian officers also say, "America is a rich country - they can afford to feed the pig, give it to them." As often is the case in Russia (though not always), Americans are seen as gleaming ambassadors of a rich state, rather than individuals.

Rogozkin's film is strong, the isolation of the setting makes us concentrate on the dealings of its characters, and the director is successful in his aim of portraying the nature of human endeavour, and its conflict with more powerful figures (after all, it is set in the Stalinist USSR) or greater forces. And this is all done very much in the Russian style.

                 
Obsah vydání       7. 7. 2006
7. 7. 2006 Karlovy Vary 2006: Příběhy o lidské ubohosti Jan  Čulík
7. 7. 2006 Karlovy Vary: Ztraceno v překladu Ema  Čulík
7. 7. 2006 KVIFF - Lost In Translation Ema  Čulík
8. 7. 2006 Karlovy Vary: Dobré filmy i koncem týdne Jan  Čulík
8. 7. 2006 Ztratili jste pas? Policii ČR to nezajímá Jan  Čulík
7. 7. 2006 Kasal v prvním kole nezvolen, Topolánkova "koalice" má opět méně hlasů, než čekala Štěpán  Kotrba
7. 7. 2006 Neviditelný člen opozice v koalici - že by Patera? Štěpán  Kotrba
8. 7. 2006 "Commuters defy Bombers -- Special Report" Thomas  Franke
8. 7. 2006 Nenávidí muslimové Západ?
7. 7. 2006 Hyenismus novinářů a presumpce viny Zdeněk  Jemelík
7. 7. 2006 "Ti praví" policajti si dali navzájem zelenou Štěpán  Kotrba
7. 7. 2006 Cesta na Guantánamo Jan  Čulík
7. 7. 2006 Republikán Peter King: Obviňte New York Times ze zrady ! Štěpán  Kotrba
7. 7. 2006 Pěregon - opravdu ruský film Ema  Čulík
7. 7. 2006 Peregon - definitely a Russian film Ema  Čulík
7. 7. 2006 Zrušte zákon - bude se porušovat Věra  Říhová
7. 7. 2006 Michael  Marčák
7. 7. 2006 Proč importujeme exoty Wenzel  Lischka
7. 7. 2006 ■ ■ ■ Michal  Čapek
7. 7. 2006 Noční můry horkého června Pavel  Pečínka
7. 7. 2006 Nová vláda: Ficova lekcia z pragmatizmu Jakub  Topol
7. 7. 2006 Od historického víťazstva k historickej hanbe Eduard  Chmelár
7. 7. 2006 Topolánkova rodina se propůjčila k reklamnímu článku Štěpán  Kotrba
7. 7. 2006 Dorothee Sölle - Gott denken Stanislav  Heczko
7. 7. 2006 Rozdel' a panuj Karim  Chaibi
7. 7. 2006 Energetický dialóg EÚ-Rusko je možný ... (za niekoľkých podmienok...) Richard  Menczer
7. 7. 2006 Telefon mezi fotoaparátem, kamerou, rádiem i televizí Štěpán  Kotrba
7. 7. 2006 Google nevinen
7. 7. 2006 Berlusconiho monopol se hroutí
7. 7. 2006 Reklama jako článek
7. 7. 2006 Rothschild vyměnil šéfredaktora
7. 7. 2006 Proč ne vládu odborníků? Jiří  Kalous
7. 7. 2006 Nález z neúspěšné účasti na mistrovství světa v kopané Bohumír  Tichánek
7. 7. 2006 S Kotrbom na večné časy a nikdy inak! Gustáv  Murín
7. 7. 2006 Britské listy nejsou diskusní fórum, ale deník Štěpán  Kotrba
7. 7. 2006 Vzhůru na Hrad! A zas zpátky! Thomas  Franke
5. 7. 2006 Ochránci přírody si budou stěžovat v Bruselu na CzechTek Štěpán  Kotrba
7. 7. 2006 Všechno nejlepší Jan  Čulík
5. 7. 2006 Bublina a Zimní cesta - dva další vynikající filmy Jan  Čulík
5. 7. 2006 Hrubeš a Mareš a Tideland mají hodně společného Jan  Čulík
5. 7. 2006 Trierova Repríza: Pozoruhodně citlivý a zajímavý film Ema  Čulík
5. 7. 2006 Trier's Reprise: A Remarkably Sensitive Film Ema  Čulík
3. 7. 2006 Ztracené město: příliš mnoho Hollywoodu Ema  Čulík
3. 7. 2006 Andy Garcia's The Lost City: Too much glitz Ema  Čulík
3. 7. 2006 Hřebejkova schematická Kráska v nesnázích Jan  Čulík
1. 7. 2006 Užvaněnost a podivná čeština Jan  Čulík
4. 7. 2006 Rafťáci: Zábavný, příjemný film Jan  Čulík
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3. 7. 2006 Amputace zdravé končetiny Bohumil  Kartous
4. 7. 2006 Dopravní značky na ulicích pověšené... Jakub  Tayari
3. 7. 2006 Odpovědnost člena Rady a odpovědnost partajního sekretariátu Štěpán  Kotrba
4. 7. 2006 Mohlo to být horší Egon T. Lánský
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22. 11. 2003 Adresy redakce
12. 6. 2006 Hospodaření OSBL za květen 2006

Filmový festival Karlovy Vary 2006 RSS 2.0      Historie >
8. 7. 2006 Ztratili jste pas? Policii ČR to nezajímá Jan  Čulík
8. 7. 2006 Karlovy Vary: Dobré filmy i koncem týdne Jan  Čulík
7. 7. 2006 Karlovy Vary 2006: Příběhy o lidské ubohosti Jan  Čulík
7. 7. 2006 Všechno nejlepší Jan  Čulík
7. 7. 2006 Cesta na Guantánamo Jan  Čulík
7. 7. 2006 Pěregon - opravdu ruský film Ema  Čulík
7. 7. 2006 Peregon - definitely a Russian film Ema  Čulík
7. 7. 2006 Karlovy Vary: Ztraceno v překladu Ema  Čulík
7. 7. 2006 KVIFF - Lost In Translation Ema  Čulík
5. 7. 2006 Hrubeš a Mareš a Tideland mají hodně společného Jan  Čulík
5. 7. 2006 Trierova Repríza: Pozoruhodně citlivý a zajímavý film Ema  Čulík
5. 7. 2006 Trier's Reprise: A Remarkably Sensitive Film Ema  Čulík
4. 7. 2006 Rafťáci: Zábavný, příjemný film Jan  Čulík
3. 7. 2006 Andy Garcia's The Lost City: Too much glitz Ema  Čulík
3. 7. 2006 Hřebejkova schematická Kráska v nesnázích Jan  Čulík