House (2011 film)

The Shamanov family lives in a two-story house in the middle of the Don steppes. At the head of the family is the venerable Grigory Ivanovich ( Bogdan Stupka ), whom every member of the family respects and fears. Grigory Ivanovich’s father, Ivan Matveevich ( Victor Khorkin ), a World War I veteran chained to a wheelchair and barely responding to the outside world, is preparing to celebrate his centenary. Everyone is busy preparing for the upcoming holiday.

Meanwhile, Viktor ( Sergey Garmash ), the eldest son of Grigory Ivanovich, an authoritative criminal nicknamed “Shaman”, is heading by train from Moscow to his native home. He is accompanied by three accomplices subordinates. Upon arrival at the house, the whole family sits down to dinner, but the atmosphere at the table is heating up, as everyone present knows that Victor is a criminal. Grigory Ivanovich, on the contrary, is indescribably glad of Victor's arrival, emphasizing that he laid the main hopes on him in his youth. However, Victor’s mother, Nadezhda Petrovna ( Larisa Malevannaya ), doubts that the reason for the arrival of her son was the grandfather’s anniversary.

The news bulletins contain information about the elimination of a major St. Petersburg crime boss Leonid Barygin, nicknamed “Banker,” and accomplices understand that the Shaman should become the next victim. Victor releases his accomplices; they, in turn, leave him part of the arsenal brought with him, including a box of dynamite.

Meanwhile, in the Stepnaya Hotel, not far from the Shamanovs' house, several people in suits settle (according to Sergey Garmash, these are FSB officers ^[6] ) looking for Victor. Under the guise of electricians, they are trying to find out information about the whereabouts of the Shaman, however, none of the family members admit that Victor returned home.

The next night, Pashka ( Vladimir Epifantsev ), one of Grigory Ivanovich’s sons, goes hunting with Victor. Left alone with his elder brother, Pashka asks him about how he ended up in prison. Victor says that he cut the opponent "because of the woman", and beat her. And, as he later found out, she, being pregnant, lost because of this child. Pashka asks Victor to take him with him to Moscow, to a gang. Pashka provokes a fight with Victor, previously insisting that if he prevails, Victor will take him with him to Moscow. The fight ends with the actual beating of Pashka, the dispute is lost.

Meanwhile, the militants accidentally meet with Viktor's accomplices in a restaurant and kill all three, after first finding out where the Shamans are.

The hundredth birthday of Ivan Matveevich is coming. The second son of the hero of the day, Aleksey Ivanovich ( Pyotr Zaichenko ), comes with his wife ( Tatyana Shchankina ) and children. After another quarrel in the house, the Shamanovs youngest son Andrei ( Ivan Dobronravov ) collects things secretly from his relatives and, taking money from Alexei Ivanovich, takes the train to Moscow.

A battle group drives up to the house and takes up positions. The sniper is located on a hill opposite the mansion, looking for a target, the elder of the group quietly penetrates the house. Victor feels the danger is near. In the courtyard at this time, between the head of the family and his brother, a grand scandal unfolds, in which the rest of the relatives are drawn. The shootout begins, as a result of which both opponents (both Victor and the squad leader) are seriously injured. Screams from the yard drown out the shooting, and no one notices that in the house Victor alone confronts the killers. Finally, Pashka notices the bleeding Victor. From the window he opens fire on the cars of the servants, but kills only one of them. By order of the senior group, Pashka is killed by a sniper.

Having come to the conclusion that they are organized resistance, the senior group gives the order to open heavy fire around the house. The shelling ends with the deaths of all the members of the Shamanov family who remained in the house, with the exception of Viktor, Natalia and her husband Igor. The children were saved too, shortly before that they had left for the river and Andrei, who had run away from home. Shamanov manages to take revenge on the attackers with the help of Ivan Matveevich, who, having realized that something was wrong, left the house in a wheelchair and, very close to the car of the last survivors, blew up a box of TNT that Viktor hid in his room. Having given vent to his anger, Shamanov looks into the distance and sees a girl approaching him. He recognizes in her Sveta ( Angela Koltsova ) - his former bride, whom they have not seen since Victor went to prison. Sveta sends a pistol at him and shoots twice, taking revenge for her broken life and for the unborn child whom she once lost through the fault of Shamanov.

In the final scene of the picture, joyful children in a car return home from the river.

Design and Scripting

According to Oleg Pogodin , the first thought about creating such a film came to him back in 1998, after a conversation with one cameraman, who came up with the idea, saying: “Now, imagine - there’s just a house on the screen that stands in open space” ^{[7 ]} . Pogodin admitted that he was greatly influenced by the Westerns of Sam Pekinp and John Ford ^[7] . In addition, Pogodin grew up in the same steppe city in the Rostov region , so the atmosphere of the film was close to him ^[7] . The script of the film was first published on the pages of the cinema journal "The Art of Cinema " ^[8] .

Since 1998, almost nothing has changed in the script ^[7] , although, according to Pogodin, “the very first version of the script, which had to be rewritten four times, was still the best, but budgetary restrictions left their mark on the final version” ^[9] . It was because of a lack of money that Pogodin had to abandon the scene of a fire in the house: “I had to not only reduce the cost of the project, but come up with an artistic solution that could turn the symphony ending of the first version into a mono track, whose sound would preserve the old emotional core ", - said the director ^[9] .

In another interview, Pogodin said that the idea of ​​filming a film with such a plot came to him when traveling in the Rostov Region ^[10] . The director read one of William Faulkner 's books and thought:

Lord, this is all here, all the dramas that take place in his novels. If there is ever an opportunity in life, I will make a film in which there will not be a Faulkner family, but ours, a Cossack one, easily recognizable, but in which the echoes of my love for both my land and that alien American land that through literature gave me a “cultural vaccine” back in school.

- Oleg Pogodin, ^[10]

The director’s film was also influenced by Terrence Malik ’s Harvest Days , in particular the cameraman work of Nestor Almendros ^[10] .

Work on the script was fully completed back in 2005, but the producers did not believe in the success of the film ^[10] . The final scene of the picture was especially skeptical: a long Western-style shootout, which had to be cut out ^[10] . In 2007, the production of the film moved forward: producer Ruben Dishdishyan handed over the script to actor Sergei Garmash , who really liked him. Garmash, in his own words, agreed to participate in the film due to the fact that he had not seen such high-quality scripts for a long time ^[11] .

The script was rewritten several times due to the fact that no one would have rented a three-hour version of the film ^[12] . Pogodin regrets this, since the creators “lost some moments, very clearly articulated in the script due to its length” ^[12] . The director had in stock nine options for the final scene of the picture, only one of which was included in the edited film ^[12] . Cut scenes can be seen in a special edition of the film, released on DVD-ROMs ^[12] . In addition, the film prologue was also present in the script: in 1919, grandfather Ivan Matveevich came to these parts to collect the first surplus appraisal and cuts his own brother ^[13] . The producers refused to allocate money for this scene, so it had to be removed ^[13] .

The name of the film was also invented from the very beginning ^[10] . Oleg Pogodin commented on his choice: “I did not want any options. I wanted an archetypal simple name. A lot of “Houses” were shot: from the Japanese thrash-horror movie of the sixties, to last year’s French “ House ” with Isabelle Huppert . A house is an archetype, like a mirror. That is what the name should be ” ^[10] .

Casting

The starring role of Sergey Garmash, the role of Victor Shamanov was intended even before the writing of the script ^[12] , although the casting was held by Vladimir Mashkov , which the producers wanted for this role ^[14] . Mashkov himself refused to participate in the film due to the fact that the character seemed to him too weak ^[15] . Garmash’s candidacy was also supported by Oleg Pogodin, who said: “Mashkov’s role would have been more evil, he has been working secretly lately, it’s hard to show vulnerability ... I wanted Victor to have tenderness, to be wounded. Mashkov would have played pain, but this would have been the pain of a wounded beast ” ^[16] . To prepare for the role of a killer, Garmash watched those films that made him cry or laugh as a child - “ Mirror ”, “ Kalina Krasnaya ”, “ Two Comrades Served ”, “ Wounded ” and “ Ballad of a Soldier ” ^[11] . “I also studied with Sergey Garmash; as a person, he helped me make the“ House ”. I never doubted Sergey’s talent. He struck me with special discipline, decency, humanity. And not a gram of stardom. I can say so about each artist, but it was Sergei who became the core of the film, ”said Oleg Pogodin ^[13] .

In the role of Natalia Pogodin immediately saw Ekaterina Rednikova , in the role of Grigory Ivanovich - Bogdan Stupka , with whom they phoned about this back in 2006 ^[12] . The mother of the family initially seemed to the director to be tougher than the image that was embodied on the screen ^[12] . Sergei Selyanov , co-producer of the picture, insisted that the mother was more archetypal, and part of the script was rewritten ^[12] . Vladimir Epifantsev , who played the role of Pashka, was also approved for the role immediately, Pogodin told him that he should play the "overgrowth" ^[12] . Having met with Larisa Malevanna and Petr Zaichenko , the director immediately realized how much the film needed them, although at first other actors were approved for their role ^[13] . For some roles in the film were considered Larisa Guzeeva and Julia Vysotskaya ^[17] .

Filming

Filming started in early September 2010 in Simferopol and took fifty-three days, ending in late November ^[18] . Weather often let the film crew down, it rained constantly ^{[18] [19]} .

The house, in which all the main action of the picture takes place, was designed by production designer Sergey Agin in a month and a half ^{[9] [13]} . Pogodin spoke of working with him like this:

He came up with a house in which realism was combined with the Baroque style - all sorts of balconies, attics, galleries. I asked to simplify it, because in such a scenery it is very difficult to build stage scenes. To simply meet, the characters would have to hang over the railing, walk towards each other for a long time, instead of just taking a couple of steps. Sergey agreed and redid the sketches from ingenious to simply talented. And what he did during the construction of the house! Searched in the nearest villages for parts of old houses - window frames, doors, platbands, floorboards, old bricks, shed boards ... He directed the biography of the house.

- Oleg Pogodin, ^[13]

According to the president of Central Partnership , Mark Lolo , it was the construction of the house that took the most time, and because of this, the filming process was postponed for so long ^[1] . The director also noted that it was very pleasant to work with the operator of the picture, Antoine Vivas-Denisov, who “extremely quickly and accurately perceived all the director's ideas” ^{[9] [13]} .

Pogodin admitted that the scenery of the film was inspired by the paintings of the artist Andrew Wyeth : “I myself am a Don man, I was born and grew up in the steppe city. Three factors strongly influenced the aesthetics of the film. And all three are American-centric. The literary trail is William Faulkner . Picturesque - Andrew Wyeth . Cinematic - Sam Pekinpa . This is my hidden declaration of love to American culture, ”said the director ^[20] .

In the final scene of the film, the Cossack song “ Spring Will Not Come for Me ” sounds, played in the tape of Nikita Mikhalkov's “ Five Evenings ”, performed by the choir of the Trans-Ural Cossacks ^[7] . According to Pogodin, he has known this song since childhood, which is why he used it in the film ^[7] . In addition, the picture also contains the composition “ I am very happy, because I am finally returning home ” performed by Valery Obodzinsky ^[21] .

The budget of the picture was about 130 million rubles, which made the "House" one of the most expensive Russian films of 2011 ^[1] .

The Russian premiere of the film took place on November 3, 2011, and in the CIS countries on November 10 of the same year ^[1] . On DVDs, the picture came out in the regular edition, as well as in Blu-ray , December 1, 2011 and February 9, 2012, respectively ^[22] .

Despite the success of the film among film critics, the picture completely failed at the box office, collecting 142 thousand dollars with 4 million budget ^[2] .

The tape was shown as part of the non-competitive program of the 47th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival ^[23] . In September 2012, according to the Russian Institute of Cultural Studies , “Dom” was considered as a candidate from Russia for the Oscar in the nomination “ Best Foreign Language Film ” ^[24] .

The composer of the film was Eduard Artemyev , with whom Pogodin agreed to participate in the film in advance ^[18] . During the creation of music, the director and composer often argued about the suspense part of the compositions: “Eduard Nikolaevich had the whole suspense part exaggeratedly, on broad strokes, with a lot of copper band, and I didn’t like it, and I told him so . We argued, even had an argument once. But I suddenly realized that this picture does not need a theme of great suspense, ”Pogodin explained ^[18] . The director noted that there are almost no composers at the Artemyev level ^[18] .

Reviewers saw in Artemyev’s music a clear intersection with the lyrical compositions of Nino Rota from the movie The Godfather , although Oleg Pogodin denied this, saying that Artemyev wrote absolutely original music from the very beginning ^[18] . Svetlana Stepnova, an observer for ruskino.ru , the music seemed a little intrusive, but not too disturbing ^[29] . Maria Bezruk from tribuna.ru called Artemyev’s music amazing and accurate ^[30] .

For writing musical accompaniment to Pogodin’s tape, Eduard Artemyev was awarded the Golden Eagle Prize and nominated for the Nika Prize, losing to Leonid Desyatnikov ^{[31] [32]} .

Songs used in the film but not included in the official soundtrack

The film was positively received by the majority of Russian film critics, some of whom compared the film with The Godfather and Quiet Don ^[33] .

Anatoly Yushchenko from the site Filmz.ru considers the film primarily as a game with different genres "from the modern criminal epic to the postmodern booth" and quotes from American cinema. He praised the camera work, which, in his remark, does not refer “to Lutsik and Samoryadov ”, but to “Harvest Days”, and musical accompaniment. However, according to Yushchenko, the film turned out to be untenable in an attempt to claim the role of a parable ^[34] . Yan Levchenko from the Kommersant newspaper, who also noted the work of the cameraman and artist, saw in the film references to Pekingpa and an allusion to cinematic images of the expanses of the Wild West and at the same time compared Pogodin with Alexander Dovzhenko . In his opinion, “Home” is a film about the disunity of modern Russian society, which belongs to a rare category of films where all the main characters die, but the end is perceived as happy ^[35] .

Site analyst at ruskino.ru Svetlana Stepnova compared “Home” with Clint Eastwood ’s western “ Unforgiven ”, saying that their storylines clearly intersect. In general, the film did not like the criticism, but she appreciated the camera work, as well as the acting work of Bogdan Stupka and Sergey Garmash ^[29] . Proficinema.ru columnist Igor Perunov completely criticized the film, noting the unconvincing play of Sergey Garmash and the fact that the tape has no morality ^[36] . Daria Borisova, a journalist for Nezavisimaya Gazeta , wrote that in the parallel release of Andrei Smirnov ’s film “ Once Upon a Time There Was One Woman ” and “At Home” there is something symbolic: “They are about different eras, but in both of them there is a terrible clarity with tragic clarity. Russian irrational craving for self-destruction. Some dark depths of the national soul opened in front of two artists of different generations ” ^[37] . Victor Matizen, a reporter for the Novye Izvestia newspaper, fell into the soul, but he noted that it could have been done even better if it were not for the conflict of interests between director Pogodin and producers Dishdishyan and Selyanov ^[38] .

Many observers were shocked by the final scene of the film, and analogies were also drawn between it and the massacre in the village of Kushchevskaya in November 2010, just when the film was shot ^{[34] [37] [39]} . A separate place in the reviews of critics was taken by the acting. Anatoly Yushchenko noted that the best in the ensemble of the "House" was, surprisingly, not Bogdan Stupka, but Yekaterina Rednikova, "staying in an unforgettable image of an acidified intellectual woman" ^[34] . Svetlana Stepnova, on the contrary, gave the championship to Stupka, adding that he created an incredibly powerful, reliable and ambiguous image of the Master of the House ^[29] . Elena Ardabatskaya from Moskovsky Komsomolets supported her colleagues, saying that the acting work of Stupka and Petr Zaichenko were excellent ^[40] . The cinema expert Nina Tsyrkun , who writes in the magazine “The Art of Cinema”, “The House” seemed similar to the work of A.P. Chekhov's “The Cherry Orchard ”: “Chekhov's languid withering of the aristocratic family by Oleg Pogodin was replaced by the hard-nosed and uncomfortable collapse of the farmyard,” she explained . The critic added that Pogodin made a good movie, which would have been even better if “the screenwriter Pogodin had not devoured the director Pogodin.” Tsyrkun also praised the acting of Peter Zaichenko, Larisa Malevannaya and Sergey Garmash, who, in her opinion, played the best role in her life ^[8] .

Film critic kinobizon.ru Evgeny Antonov appreciated several nuances of the tape, including a powerful acting ensemble, drama, camera work and an ambiguous ending. The latter, however, in his opinion, can also harm the picture, since the final scene, perhaps, “stir up the audience” ^[41] . Intermedia.ru website reviewer Denis Shlebsky saw a paraphrase of the " Celebrations " by Thomas Winterberg in the "House". By revealing the characters of the heroes and the motivation of their actions, as well as by general psychologism, the tape reminded Shlyabin of “ Invasion of the Barbarians ” by Denis Arkan and even the “ Garage ” of Eldar Ryazanov . The critic summed up his review by adding “Home” to the top ten best films of the year ^[42] .

The director Oleg Pogodin himself admitted that the main moral of the film is that houses ceased to be our fortresses: “This is a film about how the family is destroyed, and it is destroyed first metaphysically, and then physically. Actually, this is a social cinema, which I tried to bring to a higher level than just the realistic rigidity, which is now inherent in many of our films. I understand that I made a disharmonious film, ”he said ^{[37] [43]} .

• "House" (Eng.) Online Internet Movie Database