“Phrasebook” is an original project from the debut lineup of IVI Originals by “Kvartet I”, which works at the intersection of a play and a television film.

One of the most successful and beloved creative associations in Russia is the troupe “Kvartet I”, which has given audiences such plays and films as “Election Day”, “Radio Day”, “What Men Talk About” and several other popular projects.

This year, Rostislav Khait, Leonid Barats, Alexander Demidov and Kamil Larin presented to the public a new work titled “Phrasebook”, released as part of IVI Originals from one of the country's largest online cinemas. What kind of beast is this and why this performance is worth watching, you will learn from our review today.

First of all, it's not exactly a film...

Formally, “Phrasebook” is a movie, but in fact it is more of a television play, a concept long out of use, but it gives a complete idea of the project. Before the audience is a stage, four actors, and rather abstract and conventional scenery, within which the soloists of “Kvartet I” move, creating a simulated dynamic. Yes, sometimes graphic and animation inserts appear on the screen, but they are all so insignificant that it is not worth focusing on them.

...but that doesn't make “Phrasebook” any less interesting

If you have seen the movie “What Men Talk About”, you can already imagine quite well what awaits you from watching. It's the same simple but witty men, a little older, having gained experience and fascinating stories that they are happy to share with the audience.

The actors tell anecdotes, sometimes hilarious (like the story about Mikhail Shats and Mike Tyson), and sometimes with a moralizing slant, which the characters also do not forget to joke about.

These everyday stories, divided by the authors of the film “Phrasebook” into several thematic blocks, bring us closer to the charismatic artists, allow us to recognize ourselves or our loved ones in some of them, and give us the opportunity to think about our own lives, values, and priorities. It is certainly very interesting to follow the development of these small sketches, provided you have no antipathy towards the members of “Kvartet I”.

Relevant form of content

In 2020, when we faced phenomena such as the pandemic, quarantine, and self-isolation, many creatives immediately responded to the new reality and offered a lot of original content, for example, series on Zoom (e.g., “The Staging”). The actors of “Kvartet I” apparently decided that since there is no opportunity to organize a full-fledged filming process, why not simply “revive” their play and transfer it to the screens.

Now audiences are ready to perceive a wide variety of content, so taking and filming a kind of friendly conversation with the public in the format of stories in the spirit of “What Men Talk About” seems a perfectly justified and original solution. And even if in the end it turned out not to be a movie, the main thing is the emotions, and you will have plenty of them over an hour and a half of sparkling monologues accompanied by background music from BI-2.

Trailer: