“Russians” ( eng. Russkies ) is an American film of 1987 . The film became an example of a partial change in tonality in Hollywood films about people from the USSR in the second half of the 1980s: their image changes from “alien villains from the Evil Empire” to simply “aliens”, akin to the famous ET from Spielberg’s movie. Which in many respects are strange, sometimes ridiculous, they understand a lot and do “not like ours,” but who may have their own positive qualities. This is Michael in this film, and so is Ivan Danko in the film “ Red Heat ”, which appeared on screens a year later [4] .
| Russians | |
|---|---|
| Russkies | |
 | |
| Genre | |
| Producer | |
| Author script | |
| In the main cast | |
| Operator | |
| Composer | |
| Film company | New Century Entertainment Corp. |
| Duration | |
| A country | |
| Tongue | |
| Year | 1987 |
| IMDb | |
Advertising slogan : “He is a Russian sailor, thrown on the coast of America. They are three American boys. Together they will experience an incredible adventure. ”
Content
Title
The exact translation of the name is not "Russian" ( Russians ), but " Raski " ( Russkies ). During the Cold War period of 1946-1989, this word was a persistent dismissive nickname ( ethnopolitism ) of Russians and, in general, citizens of the USSR in English-language works.
Story
A Soviet fishing trawler falls into a violent storm in neutral waters off the coast of Florida . In the midst of the storm, the antenna breaks down and the ship loses the opportunity to get in touch. The captain of the trawler ( Jean Sherer ) orders the ship's radio operator Mikhail ( ) to immediately reconnect. When you try to fix the antenna Michael flushes overboard. He has time to reset the rubber rescue boat, but pick it up on board in a storm fails.
In the morning, the boat is thrown onto the American coast, where Michael is found by a company of local boys: Danny ( Joaquin Phoenix ), Adam ( ) and Jason ( Stefan De Salle ). Michael is immediately taken prisoner and treated to him with extreme wariness. After all, he is " raskas ", and what kind of bloody monsters this is, the boys are well aware: at the beginning of the film, they read together another edition of the comic "Sergeant Slammer" about another difficult victory over them.
Gradually, contact is established and it turns out that not all “ raskas ” are necessarily monsters. They can be quite good people. And Diana ( Susan Walters ), Danny's older sister, begins to fall in love with Michael more and more.
However, there are also “bad Russians” in the film. The fishing trawler had to pick up American equipment stolen by another group, and there are real Soviet agents on board, which was unknown to the rest of the crew, including Michael.
Sergeant Slammer Comics
By the time of the meeting with Michael, the boys (Danny, Adam and Jason) are fully aware of the whole monstrous nature of “ raskas ” thanks to the comics “Sergeant Slammer” ( eng. Sgt. Slammer ). The next release of this comic, they read and discuss at the beginning of the film. American film critic Roger Ebert refers to the best dialogues in the film episode where the boys accuse Michael of various crimes of his country from the comics, and he tries to understand and justify them [5] .
The Sergeant Slammer comic series didn't really exist. The fictitious release of the comic was created specifically for the film by professional artist [6] .
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Michael | |
| Susan walters | Diana |
| Joaquin phoenix | Danny |
| Adam | |
| Stefan de Salle | Jason |
From left to right: Adam ( ), Danny ( Joaquin Phoenix ) and Jason ( Stefan De Salle )
Michael, radio operator from the Soviet trawler ( ). According to critics, the first "good Russian" Hollywood with a warming of relations in the second half of the 1980s.
Critical ratings
Critics generally welcomed the film, emphasizing successful casting for children's roles. In general, moments and dialogues “with a childish look at adult life” refer to the most successful and touching moments of the film [5] . The role of the boyish group leader Danny became significant in the film career of Joaquin Phoenix (in the film he was declared under the former pseudonym Leaf Phoenix, Leaf Phoenix ). His growing talent was noticed, which later brought him the first adult roles [7] .
See also
- Russians are coming! Russians are coming! (film, 1966)
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093898/
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 http://www.filmaffinity.com/es/film231999.html
- ↑ 1 2 3 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093898/fullcredits
- ↑ William J. Palmer. From the Evil Empire to the Glasnost : The Social History. - SIU Press, 1995. - p. 236–237. - ISBN 0809320290 .
- ↑ 1 2 Roger Ebert . Russkies movie review & film summary (Eng.) (6 November 1987).
- ↑ Original art „Russkies“ movie 1987 prop comic art Sgt Slammer by Will Meugniot (eng.) .
- ↑ Martin Howden. Turn Over a New Leaf // He's still here: The Biography of Joaquin Phoenix. - John Blake Publishing, 2011. - P. 33—34. - ISBN 1843584301 .