Arkady Nepitaluk’s short comedy “Krovyanka” was recognized as the best in the national competition at last year’s Molodist film festival. And in the fall of this year, the director’s feature-length debut, “Priputny,” will be released.
As you can see from the films listed below, Nepitaluk’s work ranges between swashbuckling comedies and stylish festival films.
Once Upon a Time in America (1983) Sergio Leone
I watched it in the late 80s, when I arrived in Kyiv and entered the Film Institute. Karpenko-Kary. For me, a rural home guy at the time, this film showed how brave and intense life can be. The actions of the characters in this picture took my breath away. It was scary and interesting. It also showed me how big and epic cinema can be. An entire generation is concentrated in it.
“Happiness” (1998) Todd Solondz
I was struck by the truthfulness and honesty with which the director here, like a scalpel, reveals American society. And no matter how critical this tape may seem, it does not stigmatize or blame Americans. People show up with love. Despite the fact that some of the characters here are dramatic, and even tragic, the film portrays them in a funny way. This style of film storytelling is close to me: when something serious and very important is talked about in a light style.
“Dreams of California” (2007) Christy an Nemescu
This tape belongs to the New Romanian Wave. To me, this is an example of how cinema can be both hyper-realistic and comedic. Moreover, the comedy there is not born from the genre (not artificially), but stems from life itself.
“The Man Without a Past” (2002) by Aki Kaurismäki
The director here is not trying to surprise the viewer with anything. The film is filled with attention to the ordinary person and simple life situations. Usually, in movies they try to surprise the viewer with some intense scenes, unusual characters and twisted plots. But here everything is done the other way around. This appeals to me because, as a person from an ordinary village, I love ordinary people.
The film tells about a man who goes on a business trip. In another city, he is attacked by hooligans, and after a strong blow to the head, he loses his memory. Subsequently, he begins a new life. That is, in terms of plot, it resembles a cheap TV series. However, in the film itself, this story is shown in a very stylish, aesthetically pleasing way and with love for the characters.
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) Jim Jarmusch
This film struck me with its play on characters, play on style, play on plot presentation. Despite this, there is a very powerful life theme behind this plot. That in the modern world there is no place left for the good old ways of life. Self-sacrifice for someone, for example.
“The Squid and the Whale” (2005) Noah Baumach
The disintegration of a family of intellectuals is very cleverly shown here. The nuances of this process are depicted simply filigree. In many ways, this film became autobiographical for the director. Here he tells a lot of truths about himself. And such delving into the human psyche is quite rare on screen. In general, the plot of this film may seem like an anal TV movie. After all, neither the characters, nor the plot, nor the atmosphere of the film are filled with any expressive features.
“Bitterly!” (2013) Zhora Kryzhovnikov
Many of my friends love this movie. However, I personally like it because it has a healthy outlook on life in Russia. In many ways, this is similar to our reality. The director managed to capture the characters’ characters very accurately and realistically. The specificity of their behavior. The shooting style itself is also well chosen here. After all, everything is recorded as if on an amateur wedding camera. The realities of life are portrayed here very truthfully and cheerfully. This style of presentation is close to me personally.
“Tokyo Story” (1953) Yasujiro Ozu
This is an example of a movie in which there is absolutely no director. He doesn’t push himself at all in anything: neither in the way of filming, nor in the presentation of characters, nor in editing. But everything here is focused on the story itself. People and their experiences are shown very calmly and deliberately. It’s like standing on the sidelines and watching it all. Without unnecessary looking into the soul, sentiments, emotions, screams and tears. Also interesting is the technique when the viewer empathizes with the characters of the film not while watching, but after the film ends and the full picture is outlined.
Yasujiro Ozu bequeathed that only one hieroglyph should be written on his grave, which means the word “nothing”.
“The Trial of Joan of Arc” (1962) Robert Bresson
In the 90s I interned at a media school in the Netherlands. There, in the video library, I took a cassette with this tape. However, I didn’t have a VCR at hand, so I simply loaded the VHS into the camera and watched the entire film through the viewfinder.
This is crystal clear cinema, without theater on the screen. Without emotions, suffering and tears. Perfect transitions and joints between frames. Each scene was filmed in almost 50 takes. Thanks to this, the flow of screen time is not interrupted here. This is cinema in its purest nature. Some kind of concentrate.
“One Week” (1920) Buster Keaton
I like Keaton’s work more than Charlie Chaplin’s films. “One Week” is one of the few films that I can watch over and over again. This is such a pure, chaste, young movie. It is not yet contaminated by any stylistic, intellectual and authorial layers that came later. This is a naive simple story about naive simple people. However, it is embodied extremely skillfully in acting, directing and stunt terms. Lyricism and attraction are harmoniously combined here. Nowadays, such a movie is almost impossible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB6BVyYyl5g