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Release Date: April 7th, 2006 (Cinema Village) by Leisure Time Features. The Cast: Mariia Vovchenko, Konstantin Murzenko, Yuri Laguta, Shavkat Abdusalamov, Alexei Khvostenko, Anatoli Adoskin. Directed by Ilya Khrjanovsky. BASIC PREMISE: Three strangers, Marina (Vovchenko), Oleg (Lagura), and Vladimir (Murzenko), have a late-night discussion at a bar and then go back to their separate lives. ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: While short on plot and even character development, 4 is heavy on powerful and off-beat imagery and subtle references to the number 4. The first few minutes foreshadow just how bizarre and unconventional the rest of the film will be as four large drills hammer into a street late at night, which startles some dogs. Then, the camera cuts to the interior of a bar where Marina, Oleg and Vladimir gradually get to know one another. Marina claims that she works as an advertising representative for a large company; Oleg claims to be a mineral water salesman for the Kremlin. Vlamidir makes the most interesting claim that he works for a secret project for the government which involves cloning. He insists that there’s a village where these clones already co-exist with the real humans. Meanwhile, the bartender constantly nods off to sleep while standing and listening to them blabber about themselves—although he claims he wasn’t sleeping. Just before you start fearing that the entire film will consist of this long, heavy conversation (like in My Dinner with Andre), the three strangers eventually stop talking and separate. The most fleshed out character throughout the rest of 4 is Marina, who turns out to be a prostitute with three sisters, one of which recently died while choking on chewies, hardened, chewed-up bread which she turned into unique faces for dolls. After the funeral, Marina returns to her village where many old ladies stand around eating bread and complaining about the lack of dolls—somehow, there’s a market for these bread dolls. In case you were wondering about Oleg and Vladimir, Oleg is actually a meat salesman who doesn’t know what Round pig until he inquires about it at a restaurant. Vladimir is a piano tuner living with his father, but wants to send him away and refuses to eat his steamed meatballs and pea soup. That’s about as complex as the plot gets. Director Ilya Khrjanovsky frames every poetic, slow-paced scene with a lot of brilliant details which add plenty of atmosphere. Some scenes feel initially pointless and redundant, but the longer you stare at the visuals, the more interesting they become. For example, in one scene, Marina runs across a field, but the brown field covers up 90% of the screen while she runs at the top part of the screen. The images of old ladies laughing, getting drunk, eating—and touching eachother’s breasts,too—recalls the off-beat humor found in Hukkle. At 126 minutes, 4 slightly overstays its welcome, but still makes for a memorable, visually-fascinating experience. SPIRITUAL VALUE: Every scene challenges you to connect it in some way—subtly or explicitly—to other scenes, even though none of the three strangers ever meet again. You’ll notice plenty of references to the content of their initial conversations at the bar—especially regarding the number 4, which Vladimir claims to be the most fundamental number (i.e. four corners). While never become too preachy or profound, 4 does make you think about Marina’s sister, who once gave distinct personalities to the bread dolls as if “playing God”—which somewhat reminds you of cloning without directly referencing it or commenting on it. INSULT TO YOUR INTELLIGENCE: None. NUMBER OF TIMES I CHECKED MY WATCH: 0 IN A NUTSHELL: Un4gettable! A visually-stunning masterpiece! Intelligent, challenging, and ultimately haunting! RECOMMENDED WAY TO WATCH: Movie Theater (1st Run) Main Page Alphabetical Menu The "#0-9" Menu ______________________________________________________ |
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