[:de]“Chagall-Malevich” Film Review von Critic Dennis Harvey – Variety[:en]“Chagall-Malevich” Movie Review by Critic Dennis Harvey – Variety[:ru]Рецензия на фильм «Шагал — Малевич» от критика Дэнниса Харви, американский журнал Variety[:fr]“Chagall-Malevich” Movie Review by Critic Dennis Harvey – Variety[:]

[:de]chagall

Der Regisseur Aleksandr Mittas poträtiert in seinem Film zwei duellierende Künstler schön kitschig in dem Genre der‘folklore ballad.’

Dennis Harvey

Mitten in der Award-Saison präsentiert er uns einen respektvollen, wenn auch nicht immer streng biografischen Film. Man muss dem 80-jährigen Aleksandr Mittas Respekt zollen, dem mit diesem Film ein Glanzstück seiner Karriere gelungen ist. Er zählte zu den Führern der Sowjetischen Strassenkunst viele Jahrzehnte zuvor. Es ist auch eine Hommage “The Music Lovers”-Ära von Ken Russell, scheut keine dramatische oder ästhetische wenn es um in der Breite gut aufgestellten Film geht um die zwei extravaganten Genies künstlerisch darzustellen. Dieser freigeistige Film “folklore ballad” dramatisiert die Rivalität zwischen Marc Chagall und Kazimir Malevich in einem Hauch von Wodka gesogenem, farbreichen, shtetls-on-fire abandon.

Außerhalb der sowjetischen Territorium, ist es eine Reise in eine kleine niche, welches zu Hause angesehen werden kann, insbesondere unter den jüdischen Zuschauern.

Ein beinahe cartoonischen Beginn Szenario finden wir vor, als Chagall geboren wird während der flammenden Judenverfolgung. Dann machen wir einen drei dekadigen Sprung nach vorwärts; jetzt lebt er 1914 in einer Pariser Kammer voll mit Wein, Frauen und Liedern. Er kehrt nach Vitebsk zurück um seine Jugendliebe Bella zu heiraten (Kristii Schneider), unabhängig von seinem werbenden Konkurrenten dem Dichter Naum (SemyonShkalikov). Doch der erste Weltkrieg hindert das junge Paar von der Rückkehr nach Europa, Chagall entscheidet sich für “ein kleines Paris” in Vitebsk aufzubauen, vielleicht eine Art Kunsthochschule mit dem widerwilligen Naum, der es zum regionalem Führerschaft in dem sozialistischen Staat geschafft hat.

Chagalls skurrile, folklorisch moderne Volksverführende Persönlichkeit begeistert immer mehr Student die strömend zu ihm kommen. Doch seine “bourgeois Individualismus” bleibt ungeachtet von revolutionären Gesellschaft, insbesondere als Malevich hinzustößt (Anatoly Bely), ein leitender Befürworter des “Suprematist” style, mutig, simple geometrische Designs sind von dem wahren Populisten Trotsky empfohlen worden. Malevichs humorloses, polemische verführt eigene Studentengruppen die es oder besser gesagt ihn wie ein Kult feiern.

Währenddessen, bleibt Naum hoffnungslos in Bella verliebt, welche diese Zuneigung zu nutzen weiß, um ihren Mann, welcher sich der politischen Gefahr, die seine Position umgibt nicht bewusst ist, zu schützen. Ein weiterer Handlungsstrang im Film handelt von einem weiteren jungen Künstler namens Lyova (Yakov Levda), welcher schon unter der Last des Sowjetischen Antisemitismus zu leiden hatte und sich danach sehnt weiter zu malen, unabhängig von seinem Vater, einem konservativen Rabbi.

Während sich der erste Kitsch gelegt hat bleibt “Chagall-Malevich” ein historischer Rückblick, der es nicht so genau mit den Daten und Fakten nimmt um dem Expressionismus Platz einzuräumen. Dies bedeutet generell eine sehr gute Darstellung, überschwänglicher Szene Rhythmus und ein enthusiastisches ein dimensionales Screenplay, welches ein wenig viel für den Zuschauer wirkt auch aufgrund der Übermenge an Kunstwerken der Künstler. (Welches eigentlich nicht so eine schlechte Idee wäre, wäre das Filmende digital f/x und die Grautöne nicht so derb in den Vordergrund gerückt wurden).

Dies ist nicht nur Kritik verstehen sich mich nicht falsch. Obwohl es den Anschein macht dass es sehr altbacken daherkommt und recht simpel, Mittas Film ist nicht langweilig, und seine unbedachte Herangehensweise ein herantasten an ein wenig Nostalgie. Technologie und Design sind uneinheitlich, jedoch immer schwungvoll und begeisternd.

variety.com[:en]chagall

Veteran Russian director Aleksandr Mitta’s portrait of two dueling artists is an enjoyably kitschy screen ‘folklore ballad.’

Dennis Harvey

Amid an awards season even more than typically cluttered with solemn, respectful if not always stringently factual biopics, there’s a certain guilty pleasure in seeing something as gaga as “Chagall-Malevich.” In many respects, octogenarian Aleksandr Mitta’s first feature in more than a decade could pass as one made in his heyday as a leading light of Soviet state cinema many decades ago. It also recalls “The Music Lovers”-era Ken Russell, deeming no dramatic or aesthetic stroke too broad for the job of depicting the fevered internal and external lives of artistic geniuses. This freely imagined screen “folklore ballad” dramatizes the rivalry between Russian painters Marc Chagall and Kazimir Malevich in a spirit of vodka-soaked, color-saturated, shtetls-on-fire abandon. Outside former Soviet territories, it will fare best as a niche home-format item, particularly among Jewish audiences and programmers.

An almost cartoonish tenor is set from the outset, as Chagall’s birth takes place during a flaming pogrom. We then leap forward three decades; he’s now living in a 1914 Parisian garret naturally full of wine, women and song. He returns home to Vitebsk in order to marry childhood love Bella (Kristii Schneider), despite her family’s objections and rival wooing by poet Naum (Semyon Shkalikov). When the outbreak of WWI prevents the couple from returning to Europe, Chagall decides to create “a smaller Paris” in Vitebsk, eventually founding an arts college with the reluctant cooperation of Naum, who’s become a regional leader in the new socialist state.

Chagall’s whimsical, folkloric modernism and Pied Piper persona enthrall many students who soon flock here. But his “bourgeois individualism” strikes others as irrelevant to a revolutionary society, particularly once the staff is joined by Malevich (Anatoly Bely), a leading advocate of the “Suprematist” style, whose bold, simple geometric designs are endorsed as truly populist art by no less than Trotsky. Malevich’s humorless polemicism attracts its own cult-like student following.

Meanwhile, Naum remains hopelessly in love with Bella, who is not above manipulating that devotion to protect a husband oblivious to the political precariousness of his position. A subplot involves talented young artist Lyova (Yakov Levda), who’s already suffered the violent brunt of Tsarist/Soviet anti-Semitism, and yearns to paint despite his conservative rabbi father’s staunch opposition.

While it calms down somewhat after the galloping kitsch of its first reel, “Chagall-Malevich” remains a historical flashback in which strict accuracy takes a distant backseat to high cinematic expressionism. This generally means breathless performance and scene rhythms in line with the enthusiastically one-dimensional screenplay, plus overripe imagery often directly inspired by the subjects’ paintings. (Which would work better if the film’s low-end digital f/x and garish color manipulations weren’t so crudely conspicuous.)

To call results over-the-top is less a criticism than a statement of intent. While it may be old-fashioned and silly in many respects, Mitta’s film is not dull, and its heedless embrace of cliche has a retro charm. Tech/design aspects are somewhat uneven, but always spirited.

variety.com[:ru]chagall

Язык рецензии: английский.
Veteran Russian director Aleksandr Mitta’s portrait of two dueling artists is an enjoyably kitschy screen ‘folklore ballad.’

Dennis Harvey

Amid an awards season even more than typically cluttered with solemn, respectful if not always stringently factual biopics, there’s a certain guilty pleasure in seeing something as gaga as “Chagall-Malevich.” In many respects, octogenarian Aleksandr Mitta’s first feature in more than a decade could pass as one made in his heyday as a leading light of Soviet state cinema many decades ago. It also recalls “The Music Lovers”-era Ken Russell, deeming no dramatic or aesthetic stroke too broad for the job of depicting the fevered internal and external lives of artistic geniuses. This freely imagined screen “folklore ballad” dramatizes the rivalry between Russian painters Marc Chagall and Kazimir Malevich in a spirit of vodka-soaked, color-saturated, shtetls-on-fire abandon. Outside former Soviet territories, it will fare best as a niche home-format item, particularly among Jewish audiences and programmers.

An almost cartoonish tenor is set from the outset, as Chagall’s birth takes place during a flaming pogrom. We then leap forward three decades; he’s now living in a 1914 Parisian garret naturally full of wine, women and song. He returns home to Vitebsk in order to marry childhood love Bella (Kristii Schneider), despite her family’s objections and rival wooing by poet Naum (Semyon Shkalikov). When the outbreak of WWI prevents the couple from returning to Europe, Chagall decides to create “a smaller Paris” in Vitebsk, eventually founding an arts college with the reluctant cooperation of Naum, who’s become a regional leader in the new socialist state.

Chagall’s whimsical, folkloric modernism and Pied Piper persona enthrall many students who soon flock here. But his “bourgeois individualism” strikes others as irrelevant to a revolutionary society, particularly once the staff is joined by Malevich (Anatoly Bely), a leading advocate of the “Suprematist” style, whose bold, simple geometric designs are endorsed as truly populist art by no less than Trotsky. Malevich’s humorless polemicism attracts its own cult-like student following.

Meanwhile, Naum remains hopelessly in love with Bella, who is not above manipulating that devotion to protect a husband oblivious to the political precariousness of his position. A subplot involves talented young artist Lyova (Yakov Levda), who’s already suffered the violent brunt of Tsarist/Soviet anti-Semitism, and yearns to paint despite his conservative rabbi father’s staunch opposition.

While it calms down somewhat after the galloping kitsch of its first reel, “Chagall-Malevich” remains a historical flashback in which strict accuracy takes a distant backseat to high cinematic expressionism. This generally means breathless performance and scene rhythms in line with the enthusiastically one-dimensional screenplay, plus overripe imagery often directly inspired by the subjects’ paintings. (Which would work better if the film’s low-end digital f/x and garish color manipulations weren’t so crudely conspicuous.)

To call results over-the-top is less a criticism than a statement of intent. While it may be old-fashioned and silly in many respects, Mitta’s film is not dull, and its heedless embrace of cliche has a retro charm. Tech/design aspects are somewhat uneven, but always spirited.

variety.com[:fr]chagall

Veteran Russian director Aleksandr Mitta’s portrait of two dueling artists is an enjoyably kitschy screen ‘folklore ballad.’

Dennis Harvey

Amid an awards season even more than typically cluttered with solemn, respectful if not always stringently factual biopics, there’s a certain guilty pleasure in seeing something as gaga as “Chagall-Malevich.” In many respects, octogenarian Aleksandr Mitta’s first feature in more than a decade could pass as one made in his heyday as a leading light of Soviet state cinema many decades ago. It also recalls “The Music Lovers”-era Ken Russell, deeming no dramatic or aesthetic stroke too broad for the job of depicting the fevered internal and external lives of artistic geniuses. This freely imagined screen “folklore ballad” dramatizes the rivalry between Russian painters Marc Chagall and Kazimir Malevich in a spirit of vodka-soaked, color-saturated, shtetls-on-fire abandon. Outside former Soviet territories, it will fare best as a niche home-format item, particularly among Jewish audiences and programmers.

An almost cartoonish tenor is set from the outset, as Chagall’s birth takes place during a flaming pogrom. We then leap forward three decades; he’s now living in a 1914 Parisian garret naturally full of wine, women and song. He returns home to Vitebsk in order to marry childhood love Bella (Kristii Schneider), despite her family’s objections and rival wooing by poet Naum (Semyon Shkalikov). When the outbreak of WWI prevents the couple from returning to Europe, Chagall decides to create “a smaller Paris” in Vitebsk, eventually founding an arts college with the reluctant cooperation of Naum, who’s become a regional leader in the new socialist state.

Chagall’s whimsical, folkloric modernism and Pied Piper persona enthrall many students who soon flock here. But his “bourgeois individualism” strikes others as irrelevant to a revolutionary society, particularly once the staff is joined by Malevich (Anatoly Bely), a leading advocate of the “Suprematist” style, whose bold, simple geometric designs are endorsed as truly populist art by no less than Trotsky. Malevich’s humorless polemicism attracts its own cult-like student following.

Meanwhile, Naum remains hopelessly in love with Bella, who is not above manipulating that devotion to protect a husband oblivious to the political precariousness of his position. A subplot involves talented young artist Lyova (Yakov Levda), who’s already suffered the violent brunt of Tsarist/Soviet anti-Semitism, and yearns to paint despite his conservative rabbi father’s staunch opposition.

While it calms down somewhat after the galloping kitsch of its first reel, “Chagall-Malevich” remains a historical flashback in which strict accuracy takes a distant backseat to high cinematic expressionism. This generally means breathless performance and scene rhythms in line with the enthusiastically one-dimensional screenplay, plus overripe imagery often directly inspired by the subjects’ paintings. (Which would work better if the film’s low-end digital f/x and garish color manipulations weren’t so crudely conspicuous.)

To call results over-the-top is less a criticism than a statement of intent. While it may be old-fashioned and silly in many respects, Mitta’s film is not dull, and its heedless embrace of cliche has a retro charm. Tech/design aspects are somewhat uneven, but always spirited.

variety.com[:]