At the end of March, the series “Chelyuskin. The First” ended on Wink, which artistically depicted the story of the famous icebreaker. We tell you what the project turned out to be and why it would have looked better as a feature-length film.

The huge beard of Kirill Kyaro, an impressive polar bear, obedient and good-natured sled dogs, a beautifully shot scene of the ship sinking – that’s probably all that surprised and delighted in the series “Chelyuskin. The First”, although it is noticeable that its producers planned to create a large-scale and spectacular action in the spirit of Hollywood’s “The Terror”, but it didn’t work out…

In 1933, Soviet research scientist Otto Yulievich Schmidt set off on an expedition with his crew on the steamship “Chelyuskin” to traverse the Northern Sea Route from Murmansk to Vladivostok for the first time, but the project was not completed due to harsh climatic conditions and technical problems. The ice trapped the ship, which sank under its pressure. Fortunately, almost the entire crew survived, except for the supply manager. The expedition members landed on the ice and set up a tent camp, awaiting the arrival of rescue aviation.

The wait was long. The Chelyuskinites could not establish communication with the mainland. This caused a mutiny among the crew. Then people fell ill en masse. Schmidt tried to keep the situation under control, but he was not very successful. A young daredevil, Yuri Nabatov (Gleb Kalyuzhny), volunteered to travel a long distance by dog sled to relay the coordinates of the tent camp to the rescuers. The guy is in love with meteorologist Olga (Stasya Miloslavskaya), who reciprocates his feelings, but her husband, the brave pilot Somov (Dmitry Chebotarev), is looking for her. He participates in a complex operation to rescue the expedition members…

Director Stepan Korshunov, who previously made second-rate detective stories and melodramas, decided to reach a new level and produce a large-scale series in the disaster film genre, but apparently slightly overestimated his abilities. I have no complaints about the visual aspect. Our specialists have learned to create high-quality computer graphics. The work of production designers Sergei Tyurin and Yuri Fomenko is of a high standard. Cinematographers Vladimir Bashta and Alexander Simonov did what they could under difficult conditions. But the directing is disappointing. I got bored halfway through the first episode and spent a long time wondering whether to continue watching this production.

Perhaps the creators misjudged the format. If they had made a feature-length film for the big screen, the movie would have benefited from its spectacle, and the directorial flaws would not have been as noticeable. I had the feeling that all the actors decided for themselves what to play. They were disjointed. Korshunov failed to unite them into one ensemble. The “blanket” is pulled now by Kyaro, now by Kalyuzhny, now by Miloslavskaya, now by Chebotarev…

The storyline with the shaman (Mikhail Vodzumi) and his family (Shoraana Ondar and Andrei Shalbulov) is “dragged in by the ears” for the sake of “northern mystical exoticism”. The shaman’s dances with a tambourine by the end of the series look not dramatic, but funny. As one famous wolf said: “What, again?” So the script rating is also a 3 minus.

Let’s return to the lyrical storyline. It has one interesting hook related to Nabatov’s mother. I didn’t quite understand why she abandoned her son and left for America without him. From the very beginning, it was clear that he wouldn’t get away from the pretty Olya, who is torn between two men – the daredevil Yura and the brave pilot Somov. At the end of the series, the director didn’t convince me that she stayed with her beloved Nabatov. I suspect that after returning to Moscow, all this romance will quickly end. Olya will leave both Yura and Somov, as she is a feminist-opportunist. The guy will most likely be taken by the Chekists, and the pilot will continue to win the hearts of other girls. Well, these are, so to speak, ideas for a continuation of the story, which most likely won’t happen.

So, the verdict. The impression of the series “Chelyuskin. The First” is mixed. On the one hand, it turned out to be a moderately spectacular film with good visuals, but on the other hand, the impression was spoiled by the script and poor directing. I think our filmmakers will return to this story. But, in my opinion, it is more suitable for a feature-length film.

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