Menin (film)

Among contemporary artists who have become filmmakers, Igor Podolchak is an odious figure. Unlike Matthew Barney and Marina Abramovich , he does not balance on the verge of conceptual video art , but is engaged in cinema in its purest form. At the same time, Podolchak’s films are much closer to experimental cinema than those made by other contemporary artists Julian Schnabel , Cindy Sherman , Sam Taylor-Wood and Steve McQueen .

A family of four (Father, Mother, Daughter and Son) lives in almost complete social isolation in a country house, which seems to be a maze of rooms and mirror reflections. This confined space is so entangled ^[2] that it turns into a non-orientable surface like a “Mobius strip” . Because of this, the time axis is also curved, which results in the interweaving of the past and the present - in this house there is no difference between the direction “forward” and “back” in time, as there is no difference between vague memories and actual events.

The protagonist - the 30-year-old Son, almost does not appear on the screen, but the feeling of his presence is total. Suffering from childhood from eczema and asthma , he uses his illnesses to manipulate his parents and sister. Family life is turned into an endless ritual of satisfying his whims and the anxious expectation of another asthmatic crisis. The film is built without the traditional dramaturgy of climaxes. This is mirror drama, drama of a vicious circle. Refusing narrativeness and action, the director draws the viewer into his film, offering him the role of an “invisible observer”, devoid of protective psychological mechanisms. Thus, the viewer at some point ceases to feel the line between his own reflection and the reflections of the characters in the film. It is at this point of "erasing the edges" that the connection between the film and the painting of the same name by Diego Velazquez becomes apparent, to which the director appeals.

Michel Foucault wrote that the Las Meninas picture was a turning point in the formation of the “modern” personality and its way of perceiving. According to Foucault, Velazquez created a unique optical system, thanks to which the viewer at a certain moment realizes that he is at the very point where the king and queen are, reflected in the mirror. Thus, the viewer, as it were, observes the moment of drawing himself. That is, if instead of the painted mirror to place the present, then having become at a certain point in front of the picture, the viewer could see himself. Similar games with perspectives and points of view in Igor Podolchak’s film leave the viewer alone in a mansion with ghosts, giving him the opportunity to collect the “puzzle of meanings” himself both within the film and beyond. That is why Podolchak does not explain the motives of his characters - he only detachedly captures their movements around the house and passive conversations, plunging the viewer, meekly observing and listening, into a state close to catatonia . The viewer himself will have to understand what is hidden behind this head turn, this grimace, this gesture, look, laughter or tears. And most importantly - whose faces are these, gestures and looks? It is possible that the viewer himself.

• Mykola Veresen (born 1960), a famous Ukrainian television journalist. Laureate of a number of Ukrainian and international awards in the field of journalism. He played three main roles in the film: Father 1, Father 2, Father (young). This role of Mykola Veresnya was the first in cinema.
• Lyubov Timoshevskaya (born 1958), actress of the Municipal Theater “Kiev”. She played a number of supporting roles in Ukrainian and Russian films and television series. In " Las Meninas " played the main role - the role of Mother.
• Anna Yarovenko (born 1974). Documentary film director, cameraman, screenwriter. The first movie role. She played the main role - the role of the Daughter.
• Dmitry Chernyavsky (born 1972) - starred in the role of the Son. Actor of the Kharkov Drama Theater. T. G. Shevchenko , played in the performances of Andrei Zholdak , starred in the film “ Camera 6/13 ” (director A. Bogaty, 2004).
• Ilona Arsentieva (born 1994). At the time of filming - a schoolgirl of Kiev high school. She starred as a daughter (girl). The first role in the movie, before that was shot in commercial and political advertising.
• Stas Arsentiev (born in 1998). At the time of filming - a student in Kiev high school. He starred in the role of the Son (boy). The first role in the movie, before that was shot in commercial and political advertising.
• Victoria Ulyanchenko (born in 1983). Graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (Microbiology) in 2006. She starred in the role of Mother (young). The first movie role.
• Valeria Ulyanchenko (born in 1983). Graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (psychology) in 2006. Gestalt therapist works. She starred in the role of Mother (young). The first movie role.

The main characters (Father, Mother, Daughter, Son) had clearly developed neuropsychiatric characteristics that create a certain ensemble, where the instruments are compulsions (Mother), tics (Father), stereotypes (Daughter).

The idea of ​​the script arose after the story of Janos Sanotsky (chief neuropathologist of the Lviv region) about a case from his medical practice. In 2005, the script was basically ready. From January to August 2006, its detailed development was carried out with the involvement of various specialists: Janos Sanotsky (neurologist), Alexander Korolev (psychiatrist), Bogdan Motuzenko (sociologist), Vladimir Verloka (philosopher, writer). Latvian-Russian writer Andrei Levkin took part in writing the dialogues. At the same time, there was a search for locations for filming and the development of scenery. The director's script was completed just before the filming began. Already during the development of the director's script, the authors of the film realized and declared the non-commercial nature of the project.

The filming period took place from September 15 to October 24, 2006 in Kiev (pavilion - the hall of the former "Ballet on Ice", L. Ukrainka St.) and in Pushcha Voditsa . There were 28 shooting days in total. From October 15 to October 17, 2006, the famous American video maker Dean Car ^[3] participated in the filming as a co-director of the musical part of the film.

Filming was done on a Thomson Viper digital camera, the material was recorded on HDCAM SR tapes (4: 4: 4 RGB , FullHD , 25fps , 1080p ). Cinema screens of the Ukrainian film technology company “Accordion” , “Pull-Push” and the gyro-stabilized panoramic head “Flight Head” were used . A significant part of the film was shot through mirrors ^[4] , which caused a lot of problems for the operator, since there was always the danger of part of the film crew getting into the frame. On the set, the script simplified. The original director's script provided for the shooting of each scene through at least three mirrors. Filming showed the redundancy of this approach. In addition, the way of shooting one scene was changed - it was shot not through a mirror, but from a top point above the shooting area with an almost motionless camera from a crane. One of the scenes (5 minutes) was shot in one shot from the camera car with constant movement. During the movement, flights were shifted, actors changed to understudies, props in the frame changed.

The editing, effects, color grading and toning of the film took 14 months. Such a long lead time was due to the fact that almost all the work, except for tinting, was performed by the director himself - a lack of funds for post-production affected. Las Meninas became the first full-length film (designed for release in cinemas) in Ukraine, fully created using digital technology ^[5] . The work was carried out on equipment and using the Apple Final Cut Pro software, effects were made in Adobe After Effects . Video capture and recounting of materials took place using the Aja Kona3 video card . Color correction was carried out in Color Final Cut Studio . The sound production of the film was performed by the famous Ukrainian musician and TV presenter Miroslav Kuvaldin .

Since the main character of the film Mother is a former cellist , and the Son studied piano in childhood, the bulk of the music was created specifically for these instruments. Without completely discarding the traditional use of music in the cinema as a background for dialogs or as a means of emotional coloring, the director and composer focused on the independent role of music as a semantic counterpoint to words and videos. In many scenes, music comes to the fore and combines with noises, both natural and artificially created, which are mounted according to musical principles. Therefore, the entire sound series of the film can be considered as an integral sound installation . For the 15-minute scene of the film (memories and ravings of the Son), which does not contain a single word, Alexander Schetinsky created the Sonata for cello and piano - an independent concert composition that can be performed separately from the film. The stylistic palette of music, respectively, the multifaceted semantic structure of the film, is quite wide - from baroque , classical and late romantic allusions to harsh atonalism and sonorics . However, the composer avoids collage combining different styles, striving for their integration and synthesis.

The production of the musical episode of the film "Las Meninas" was attended by invited American director Dean Carr which has many music videos shot for artists such as Ozzy Osbourne , Marilyn Manson , Duran Duran , Iron Maiden , Cypress Hill and many others.

The world premiere of the film took place at the Rotterdam Film Festival ^{[6] [7]} on January 25, 2008. During 2008-2011, the film took part in the competitive programs of international film festivals in Brazil ^[8] , Croatia ^[9] , Russia ^[10] , Poland ^[11] , Slovakia ^[12] , Spain ^[13] , Romania ^[14] , Italy ^[15] , Hungary ^[16] ; in the official programs of festivals in Germany ^[17] , South Korea ^[18] , France ^[19] , Australia ^[20] , Greece ^[21] , Great Britain ^[22] , Colombia ^[23] , Estonia ^[24] , USA ^[25] , Sweden ^[26] , South Africa ^[27] , as well as in the official selection of the Moscow Film Festival ^[28] and the International Film Festival in Karlovy Vary ^[29] .

Criticism noted the film’s “attractive beauty” ^[30] and praised the camera work of Sergei Mikhalchuk ^[31] . The Ukrainian premiere took place on June 9, 2009 as part of the European Film Festival in Kiev ^[32] . The cinema release of the film in Ukraine ^[33] took place on October 5, 2009 . The film was a limited rental in Kiev (cinema "Zhovten") and another 10 cities. In Ukraine, the film was perceived ambiguously. Critics took diametrically opposed positions - from complete rejection and accusations of “props” and “artificiality” ^[34] to apologetics, appreciating the artistic qualities of the film ^{[35] [36] [37]} and the break with tradition, the so-called “Ukrainian poetry cinema “ ^[38] .

In 2010, the organizers of the International Film Festival of Experimental Cinema in Bucharest positioned the film ^[41] among a number of significant European film experimenters ( Roy Andersson , György Palfi ). In the rating “Results of the Ukrainian Film Process - 2011”, conducted by the Bureau of Ukrainian Cinema Journalism and the National Union of Cinematographers of Ukraine “ Las Meninas ”, it was included in the twenty “Best domestic films of 1992-2011.” ^[42] .

• Grandma (1970, David Lynch )
• The Paper House (1989, Bernard Rose )
• “Midday Networks” (1943, Maya Derain )
• “Last Year in Marienbad” (1961, Alain Renee )
• The Vampire (1932, Karl Theodor Dreyer )

• Baker Mariya. Rotterdam is watching a movie from Ukraine and Kazakhstan. , Radio BBC , January 23, 2008
• Kosmolіnska Natalka. Igor Podolchak, Igor Durich: For those who represent Ukraine a little Galician, ст historical justice. , “Step / Brahma” - No. 28 (686) (Ukrainian)
• Kornienko C. Las Meninas. Very authorial film. svobodanews.ru, 02.19.08
• Kurovets, O. Las Meninas: “Carefully, Arthouse!” ” ,“ Telekritika ”, 06-15-2009 (Ukrainian)
• Kupіnska, A. Ten Ukrainian Films to Retail Square , life.pravda.com.ua, 08.24.2011 (Ukrainian)
• Lozhkina, A. I think a little about the viewer " " Top10 " , Sep., 2009
• Plakhov Andriy. Rotterdam saints. Kommersant , No. 16 / P (3833), 02/04/2008
• Shpilyuk A. Igor Podolchak conquers the Dutch heights. "Kommersant Ukraine" , No. 8 dated 01/23/2008, SR
• International Film Guide 2009: the definitive annual review of world cinema, edited by Haydn Smith. 45th Edition. London & New York: Wallflower Press 2009, pp. ISBN 978-1-905674-99-2 (English)
• Matamoros C. ¡Viva el cine de los márgenes! , Miradas de Cine , número 81 - diciembre 2008, Retrieved July 13, 2010 (Spanish)
• Pethő, Ágnes . The Cinema of Sensations . Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2015, pp. 155-182, ISBN 978-1-4438-6883-9 , ISBN 1-4438-6883-3 (English)
• Sanders R. Recensie. movie2movie.nl (nid.)

• The best Ukrainian films on the Internet Movie Database website
• Most popular Ukrainian-language films on the Internet Movie Database website
• Menin at Columbia University website
• Menin on Facebook
• Menin on Film.Ru
• YouTube on Menin
• Menin Script and documentation on issuu website
• Menin Press 2008-2009 on issuu website