Recently, filming of Yaroslav Lodygin’s debut feature film “Voroshilovgrad”, based on the novel of the same name by Sergei Zhadan, was completed. The film will be released next fall. In an exclusive interview with Cut Insight, Lodygin spoke about a dozen films on which his style, taste, and worldview are based.
The Big Lebowski (1998) Joel and Ethan Coen
This film for me is an example of exemplary humor and great ensemble acting. From the first to the last minute there is a conflict in this comedy. Many, many people want the main character, The Dude, to do something, feel something, and strive for something. And he doesn’t give a fuck about anything. And those around him cannot understand his nature.
Leading actor Jeff Bridges said that people in Buddhist circles consider the Dude to be a Zen master who speaks in koans. I’m not sure the Coen brothers originally intended for a character like this to be so funny. This probably happened during the creation of the picture.
No Country for Old Men (2007) Joel and Ethan Coen
This film became for me an amazing example of adaptation of a literary work. Very delicate work. I watched this film many times, then read the script, and then the book by Cormac McCarthy, which was used as the basis. The script was written by the Coen brothers themselves and until about page 140 they did not make any changes to what was in the book. It was only towards the end that they started to narrow the focus a bit. I also really love the films of these directors “Fargo” and “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”
The Simple Story (1999) David Lynch
The original title of this picture sounds like “Straight Story”. And this very accurately conveys what we see in the frame, where a person is purposefully and straightforwardly moving towards his goal. He travels a long distance on a lawn mower. At the same time, he himself cannot take even a few steps without the help of sticks.
The way this story is told is amazing. And also how ironic Lynch treats himself in this film. When you look at this picture, you constantly expect to see some kind of ghost, a cut off ear in the grass, or something else like that. But none of this happens. And Lynch never returned to such realistic language in his next films. Great job. I cried when I watched this movie.
I also really appreciate Lynch’s “The Elephant Man.” His greatest merit is that he placed a disabled hero at the center of the film. A very strange character. By doing this, the director expanded the rules of storytelling. I also really love Twin Peaks. But Lynch’s most significant work for me is “The Straight Story.”
Pulp Fiction (1994) Quentin Tarantino
I love Tarantino’s films for their courage. Because the long dialogues in his feeds look like a breeze. For attention to details that are not at all cinematic at first glance (for example, how much Coca-Cola or a hamburger costs…) This is something that films usually don’t have enough time for. This film probably expanded the consciousness of all its viewers a little.
All Woody Allen films
His films must be watched in the original. Firstly, without Allen’s voice, his jokes are perceived completely differently. Secondly, intonation is very important, as well as untranslatable phrases and words. In general, any movie is better to watch in the original. For many years, this director has been talking about the same thing in all his films. I love his humor and the way he digs into people. This is his specific Freudianism.
They say that Allen has uneven creativity, and after some very successful film he can release a mediocre movie. But I want to note that this director has been releasing a film every year for about fifty years. Just think about how difficult it is to work at this pace. At the same time, he doesn’t make a movie that makes you feel ashamed for watching it.
Autumn Marathon (1979) Georgy Danelia
There is amazing humor here. But if you approach such films from the point of view of American cinema, then they can hardly be called comedies, because they have no gags. But they have a very subtle contrast with the drama. Danelia’s other film, “Mimino,” is also very important to me. In the films of this director, the viewer needs to look for a joke. Moreover, it is embedded in literally every scene.
Great American TV Series
I can’t single out just one series from all this great variety of cool serial films that have been shot in the USA over the past decades. First of all, I’m talking about Friends because that show is always on time. It is charged with some incredible positivity and is very universal, due to which it is understandable in many countries. Secondly, this is “The Sopranos”, “House” and “Californication”, which literally from the first pilot episode made some kind of crazy breaking of taboos on TV.
I consider Mad Men to be the pinnacle. Leo Tolstoy could have written such a story, I think. Imagine the 19th century and a thick leather-bound tome that you open while sitting in front of the fireplace. And it says “Mad Men” on the cover. This series is a must for
give at school in the format of extracurricular reading. And the best animated series I’ve watched in recent years is “BoJack Horseman,” which makes you want to laugh and cry.
This incredible rise of American TV series after screenwriters began to actively move from the feature film industry to television. In longer serialized stories they had more opportunities.
Both Ace Ventura films (1993 and 1995)
What Jim Carrey does in these films, as well as in Mask, is pure art. It’s just an incredible job to play this. This is very brave. Imagine that at that moment when he does all this with his face and gestures, there are 150 film crew standing in front of him (behind the camera).
I also consider his role in “Man on the Moon” a great acting achievement. But his work in the films “The Truman Show” or “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” does not make such a strong impression. After all, playing a comedic role is much harder than playing a dramatic one.
Male – Female (1966) Jean-Luc Godard
Among other things, this film proved that you can spend fifteen minutes looking at the back of the head of a person who is silent and listening to his interlocutor. Godard perfectly conveys the signs of his time. He pays a lot of attention to detail, which is often not enough time in films.
This picture gives a feeling of small moments that seem to pass through in everyday life. Typically, filmmakers try to compress time and concentrate events, discarding everything unnecessary. And Godard in some amazing way concentrates attention on events that, at first glance, do not matter at all. But after looking at them, you understand that these supposedly random episodes are actually filled with very important content.
Also, watching “Breathless” was a real highlight. Jean-Paul Belmondo for me is one of the main actors in life. My grandmother told me that you should live as if you were starring in the same film with Belmondo.
The pornography I’ve watched in my entire life
Porn is the most popular movie that attracts the largest box office. In addition, such films, it seems to me, cannot but influence true filmmakers. And indeed for any person. Scientists still cannot decide whether pornography affects us positively or negatively.
In addition, it is the porn industry that accelerates the development of technology. It was when porn films began to be distributed on disks, rather than on cassettes, that the VHS era finally became a thing of the past. Porn has been a similar catalyst in the development of 360-degree video and virtual reality.
Often people watch porn to see something they would like to do, but for various reasons they couldn’t do it. Many movies have love scenes that we remember and that affect us. It is pornography that expands the possibilities of sex scenes in cinema.