Tag: #Soviet

  • Tales from the Video Store: Guardians (2017 Russian Film)

    If you are not aware, I do love bad movies. And Amazon Prime has become a goldmine for me when it comes to finding new awful films to watch. With their feature “Customers Also Watched” for movies which can lead me down a rabbit hole of amazing horrible bad movies.

    That’s how I got to “Guardians,” a 2017 Russian superhero movie that no one should ever confuse for anything associated with Marvel, or DC for that matter. I had actually thought it was one of The Asylum’s mockbusters, such as a rip off of “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Nope, I got something even more culturally rewarding.

    This “Guardians” is not only a bad superhero movie, but it is a bad Russian superhero movie that bombed in Russia. It’s like an added bonus that it’s disliked in two countries.

    It’s not really an awful idea for a movie. The superheroes are created but the Soviets during the cold war, with the lead scientist going crazy. The scientist blows something up, and everyone goes into hiding. (That’s the not so awful part; the Soviet thing, but I have a feeling the “Black Widow” movie this year will tell a better story… I digress…) Then years pass, the evil scientist returns, and so the superhero band has to be put back together. Stuff blows up, and the end. We got a guy who controls rocks… sure, why not. The super assassin guy, a dude who turns into a bear (Russian after all) and a women who disappears when she gets wet, or touches water.

    Oddly, no one flies, which means they were always dependent on a ride if you think about it.

    Not a very original film, and the worst part, besides some really awful special effects, is the montage of the band getting back together. The Rock guy is the one who goes out to collect everyone. So, each character gets a moment of showing how they have been using their abilities since breaking up. And after they get done demonstrating their abilities, usually meaning something blew up in slow motion, the Rock guy is there, right off camera to have some witty comment, which surprises that other hero.  It’s like no one sees the Rock Guy coming, ever.

    Either way, it’s a terrible/wonderful awful hour and a half of pretty much cliched superhero stuff from the other half of the world. I was left thinking that since this movie is generally hated in its home country, then maybe Americans and Russians are not that different after all.

  • Trotsky on Netflix: Update

    I am now four episodes in on “Trotsky,” and I am having some thoughts.

    When last I wrote about the show, I was asking if the miniseries was indicative of how Russians view Trotsky now, after Stalin had him purged from the history of the revolution, and moreover, how the Russia people view themselves?

    First of all, dramatically, then series is set up so that Trotsky comes across as an anti-hero. The Don Draper or Walter White of the Russian Revolution. He gets laid a lot while trying to change Russia and the world. I find it fascinating that “anti-hero” is the new way of presenting complicated male characters. Trotsky makes the tough decisions, but is all broken up inside though he can’t admit it, and women can’t say no to him. Yes, I am making a joke, but is this now the way male characters will be presented? For that reason, the show has given me pause as I move forward.

    The next thought is that I am unsure how the series feels about the anti-Semitism in Russia at the time of the revolution. I know the awful history of how difficult and freighting it was to be a Jew in Russia at that time and before, and that Trotsky was able to rise to power in the face of so much hate is impressive. Where I feel the show is lacking is that Trotsky doesn’t seem to fight the anti-Semitism he and others face, but rather just puts up with it. I do know that one of the reasons the Soviets wanted an atheistic society was to combat religious hatred and bigotry that they saw as endemic and destructive to society. Trotsky is being presented as an atheist, but for personal reasons, and not also as a requirement for the new Russia he is envisioning. This does leave me feeling uncomfortable with how the series is dealing with this serious issue, but I know I need to finish all episodes to find out what their conclusion is.

    I am still moving forward with the show. Like I said, I finished episode four, and I have four more to go. This is the crux of the show, if it follows the classic dramatic structure, so everything might change.

    I am still fascinated by watching how Russians view their history. It does make the 1917 Revolution look like a chaotic event that was scary to live through. I am curious what the payoff will be when it comes to the founding of the USSR, and how they treat Trotsky’s exiles.

  • Trotsky on Netflix

    I stumbled onto a new show that Netflix seems to be very desperate for me to watch. It’s called, “Trotsky,” and it’s about Leon Trotsky. Not the most original title for a show about Trotsky. Complete disclosure; I’m only two episodes in, so I can’t give a review of the show. Maybe at a later point. What I want to discuss is why Netflix thinks I need to see this show, and being that this show was produced in Russia, what does it say about how Russians view their own history.

    First, Netflix. So, if I watch “Civilizations” and “Empire Games,” they must think that I will love a miniseries on a Soviet revolutionary. I guess this is how it works. I mean, they aren’t wrong, I just would like to know if that was all it took. Is this the action of a Russian troll who is trying to get me to be more sympathetic to Russia?

    Second, is this how Russians view themselves, and what the Soviet Revolutions was? I don’t know that much about Trotsky. I know he was one of the big Soviet three, Lenin, Stalin, and Trotsky. I know he ran the military in the Revolution. I know he killed lots of people, and after Lenin died, lost the fight to take over leadership to Stalin. And then Stalin had him killed while he lived in exile in Mexico City. I also know that Stalin tried to have Trotsky completely removed from the history of the revolution and the foundation of the USSR. I even hear that Stalin is still regarded as a hero in Russia to this day.

    So… Does this mean that Trotsky is now considered a hero in Russia? Is this a romanization of that period in Russian history? Is this miniseries indicative of anything culturally over there?

    I’ll finish the show, and then see if there are any insights.