At the beginning of the year, Danila Kozlovsky's new project 'Karamora' was released. We didn't talk about it right away, but gave ourselves some time to comprehend what was happening on screen. As a result, we can say — the project definitely deserv...
Karamora is a series with a complicated fate. The project was first talked about back in 2017. The director's chair was supposed to be taken by Ilya Naishuller. This would have been the second joint project between the director and Danila Kozlovsky, as they had previously worked together on the film "Hardcore Henry". Given this fact, viewers were not without hope of expecting a continuation of the bloody trash with the addition of the historical atmosphere of the early 20th century.
The format of the project itself also changed. Initially, they wanted to make a series. Afterwards, it was decided to shoot a feature-length film, but then they returned to the series option again. The result was an eight-hour story, the production of which was undertaken by Danila Kozlovsky himself.
Let's analyze what kind of director Kozlovsky turns out to be, and at the same time discuss his acting abilities.
Pomposity All Around
Many internet portals rightly noted that there is a lot of pomposity in Danila's acting. Perhaps this is where the main problem of our creator lies, which has been dragging on since his debut directorial project — the absence of another director and an outside perspective on his own performance. No one can slightly lower the level of his pomposity. For viewers who have seen more than one film with Kozlovsky, this will not be new, but if you encounter the work of Danila Valerievich for the first time, then we have warned you.
And what about Karamora?
Let's take a closer look at Kozlovsky's new hero. A former nobleman who gets involved in the revolutionary movement. He is young, naive, and most importantly, he lacks the experience and wisdom with which he could attract and retain members of his team. So all that remains for him is to deliver languid and pompous speeches about the righteous cause. Sometimes you just want to brush off the hero's words like the buzzing of a mosquito. By the way, "karamora" is precisely a type of crane fly. So maybe this kind of acting is exactly hitting the image? The story seems not to need this hero, but after all, someone is needed to drive the plot forward.
A parallel can also be drawn with Danila's own work on the project. So many beautiful words were said, many promotional videos were made, but they were so filled with pompous words that the main advantages of the film were not visible behind all this, which could have repelled viewers. Although in the end, it turned out to be a wild project, with good visuals and an excellent cast. In this regard, Kozlovsky the director managed to do an excellent job. Like a true revolutionary, he boldly plunged into the fight against distrust of domestic fantasy projects.
Atmosphere
The action takes place in an alternative Russia of the 20th century. All the main actions are either in St. Petersburg or Moscow, and the beginning of the story is in Tiflis. Sometimes Peterhof played the role of Amsterdam, which the main characters visited.
The main feature of the story is that it features vampires occupying positions in the highest echelons of power. According to the authors' version, vampires came to Russia thanks to Peter the Great. By the way, this is where the answer is given as to how Alexander II survived six assassination attempts. Yes, yes, the answer is exactly what you would expect, given the context.
The main feature of the project is the visuals and the magnificent work of the production designer. More than 150 locations were used during filming. Dirty streets, flashy abandoned houses here stand in opposition to the rich world with luxurious palace interiors and colorful balls. Like our heroes — the common people against the elite.
Faces of Karamora
Caution, this section may contain spoilers.
It is worth noting that the vampire theme is not so popular in our cinema. Earlier we already covered the main bloodsuckers in our cinema. The creators of the show 'Karamora' faced the task of creating a completely different, unique image.
A brief excursion into the history of Russian vampires in films and series.
Open materialWhat deserves a big five is the work of the screenwriters within the framework of the story and the correspondence of the facts about the characters' lives to real prototypes. In terms of development and the very concept of the series' action, it can be compared to the computer game Assassin's Creed. You find yourself in the center of some incredible story, but you are surrounded by historical figures and they are so beautifully woven into the fabric of the narrative that after watching, you want to delve into history and read a couple of books about one or another person.
Next, we will talk about the vivid characters of the series and the historical references.
Koba
One of the first historical characters to appear on screen is the leader of the Bolsheviks — Koba. This is the party nickname of Joseph Stalin. Even in childhood, Stalin received an injury to his left arm. It did not fully straighten at the elbow. In the series, he receives this injury in a fight alongside Karamora.
Nobel
Karamora's comrade Nobel brings a dose of humor to the project throughout the series. Suffering from consumption and knowing about his approaching death, he agrees to participate in the fight against vampires. He is responsible for all the inventions of the battle group. The prototype of the character is Emmanuel Ludvigovich Nobel — a famous engineer who made many revolutionary discoveries. And the Nobel Prize came about thanks to him (in honor of his uncle).
Stolypin
Like his real prototype, the local Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin is responsible for changes in people's lives. Only here vampires have been added to them. Wanting to return them to the world of people, he, of course, meets resistance in his circles. One of the key events of one of the episodes repeats the event at Stolypin's dacha in St. Petersburg. Also interesting is the mention of the phenomenon "Stolypin's necktie" — a colloquial name for the hangman's noose.
Yusupov
One of the brightest characters in the series is Felix Yusupov. Many positive words can be said about the performance of Evgeny Schwartz. It's not surprising, because even in his first scene, he appears extravagantly in a woman's dress. This is directly related to the curse of the Yusupov family — only one boy always remained in the family, and he did not live to be 26 years old. Therefore, Felix's mother, Zinaida Yusupova, dressed him in dresses, wanting to deceive the curse.
There is one interesting intersection in the historical and cinematic context. It is extremely amusing to watch the meeting between Yusupov and Runevsky played by Filipp Yankovsky, because Yankovsky played the role of Felix in the 2011 film "Rasputin" (his on-screen tandem then was, who would have thought, Danila Kozlovsky). It turns out that Yusupov gives advice to Yusupov on how to live.
The hero of the series also worries that the Yusupov family line may be interrupted because of Stolypin's idea to be cured. Rasputin also supports this idea, so Yusupov seeks every way to stop him. As we know from history — he will succeed.
In his memoirs, Felix Yusupov is proud of his kinship with Genghis Khan — the founder of the family was his grandson. So our hero, shooting terrorists, cries out: "I am a descendant of Genghis Khan!" Such are the references.
Rasputin
One of the most mysterious characters, like his real prototype, is Grigory Rasputin. Since Rasputin is known for being able to help Tsarevich Alexei survive attacks of hemophilia, the series character possesses the gift of suggestion and emotional control.
Among the characters, you can also "meet" figures of art. So we meet Fyodor Chaliapin, Igor Severyanin. Even more vivid scenes were given to Vladimir Mayakovsky and Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy.
Karamora – Hero or Monster?
The image of Karamora contains an interesting reflection on what happens to a person who gains power. With each episode, we observe how Karamora loses his original purpose in this struggle — to avenge his deceased beloved and free the world from vampires. But the hero changes. He has the opportunity to become the head of the entire revolutionary world. And for this, he is ready to compromise his principles. So, already in the first episode, he avoids execution, and after some time, he calmly executes himself and is even ready to go further — to arrange a real bloody massacre. Is there a possibility for the hero to return to his path, or does he lose his soul and become like his enemy?
In addition to entertainment content in the form of shooting, fights, lots of fire and blood, the project makes you think about who is the real evil. For many years, in many film projects, viewers were taught that vampires are evil, and they deserve nothing but killing and destruction.
The trend of changing the assessment of vampires was already started by the series "Vampires of the Middle Zone". Only if that series did it through irony and laughter, then "Karamora" leads us through all the dark corners of the soul. The creators seemed to want to show that any phenomenon in the world has two sides. Sometimes what we might consider evil is actually good. After all, vampires in Kozlovsky's concept are not so bad. They rule and punish the guilty, they just lead a different lifestyle.
This creates the feeling that the same Runevsky may evoke more sympathy than Karamora himself. And for another viewer, everything will be the opposite. Everyone chooses for themselves.
In the end, we have a series that definitely should not be missed. Of course, initially, a big project was conceived with the creation of an entire universe. And only time will tell whether we will see a continuation of the story in our time or whether Karamora's adventures have ended here. After all, even Kozlovsky himself once admitted that this was one of the most difficult projects in his life.
Trailer:
Comments
0No comments yet.
Sign in to join the discussion.