Vesna - Spring

Director: Nathalia Konchalovsky

Starring: Svetlana Pismichenko, Aleksandr Shinkarev

Year: 2018

Provenance: Russia

Review Author: Roberto Matteucci

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"Love is watching television together."

Peter I was already tsar when, around the fortress of St. Peter and Paul, the construction of a new town began: "The tsar immediately defined the new city as his «paradise». (1)

It was 1703, the birth date of St. Petersburg. In a short time, it became the metropolis of Western lifestyle, of the culture, of the new political ideas, of the Bolshevik revolution.

St. Petersburg is the city of the Hermitage, of art, of music, of theatres, of ballets.

In its great perpendicular and parallel avenues, there is the set of the movie Vesna - Spring by Russian by director Nathalia Konchalovsky, presented at the 55th edition of the Pesaro Film Festival.

Nathalia is a daughter of art. Her father Andrej Konchalovskyis the award-winning director as The Postman's White Nights.

The plot is a relationship between four characters.

The first protagonists are two women: Marina the mother, Olya the daughter. The third is Artyom, a young boy. The fourth participant is the beautiful St. Petersburg.

It is a relationship full of difficulties, contrasts between the new and old generation.

"It's nice here" her mother says, entering Olya's house. Some years ago, she has moved to St. Petersburg, away from her family.

The film begins with a winter scene. It's snowing, a crowded station with people carrying suitcase. The camera focuses on one woman. With the trolley, she walks in the storm.

A taxi leaves her in front of a building, with a bunch of flowers in her hand.

Marina has arrived in the city because she wants to surprise her daughter. It is her birthday.

Olya's astonishment is evident, like the consternation of the mother in examining the bohemian flat. It is a home of a nonconformist, with many paintings, sculptures, with the classic artistic disorder. Part of the furniture is also her boyfriend, also amazed, half-naked, silent and shabby.

She obtains the same coldness in the evening. Olya organized a party at her home. A huge party. The mother is completely out of context, she goes around looking for something to lean on. She finds it in a vast terrace from which she can observe the harmony of the nights of St. Petersburg.

On the balcony, there is a young, handsome man, Artyom. He is solitary too, uninterested in the party.

It is obvious, he has a secret.

The two meet. They smoke, they exchange some talk. Above all, they recognize each other: both have a tormented and in crisis love.

It is an affinity brief, fleeting but profoundly amusing and moving.

The author is skilled at showing different moments. First the solitude of the two, then a quick but affective knowledge, despite the differences between a young man and a mature woman. Then there is St. Petersburg, an integral and dominant part of history.

The first meeting is on a terrace above the Baroque churches and palaces. While, in their escape, they roam in the streets, in the clubs, in the karaoke, in the vices of the inhabitants like the excess of alcohol and vodka.

In a beautiful scene they run under the porticoes, they seem to escape from a world full of disappointments. The excellent photography, with a multitude of lights, project hope into the frame.

Similar sequence: they get into a bar, a desolate karaoke. Inside there are discouraged existences. Marina is full of euphoria, so she takes the microphone and starts singing. Mid-shot, she sings well, is involved. She is living a light experiencing but useful to break the rust of a banal and boring life.

Later, the Artyom unexpectedly kisses a bewildered Marina. She is shocked.

In the white night, the adventure in the city continues. A dolly shows the intensity of affection, even if ephemeral, between two dissimilar people.

The escapade ends in another terrace. This time Marina trying to kiss the boy, but Artyom is fleeing. There's a taxi underneath, there's a man inside, he is waiting for him. He greets the woman and he goes down.He has found his love again.

Marina returns to her daughter at dawn. She is happy, cheerful, it was a special and enthusiastic night.

The party is over. Olya was worried. Between mother and daughter, there is a truce, the natural separation finds an awarenessand the conflict a momentary peace. Love reappears. Olya, affectionate, hugs Marina, who gently cuddles her. The mother is radiant of joy. In this gesture, two generations meet.

The author builds the medium-length film by penetrating the human soul of two women, of two generations. She directs a measured, elegant, psychologically delicate story. Use the Artyom's character as a key to reading, like a crowbar. He is a rebellious, exuberant.

It is a universal message, but something makes it extraordinary. It is the city of Peter I, St. Petersburg, makes the story specific and much clearer.

Because Nathalia Konchalovsky knows well Dostoevsky:"... the reforms, the ideas, all this has even reached us, in the province; but to see more clearly, and to see everything, it is necessary to be in Petersburg." (2)

In fact, in St. Petersburg Marina sees everything more clearly. And in St. Petersburg Olya understands affection for her mother.

(1) Roger Bartlett, Storia della Russia (A History of Russia), Mondadori, Milan, I Oscar Storia edition, October 2007 (translated by author)

(2) Fedor Dostoevskij, Delitto e castigo (Crime and Punishment), Mondadori, Milan, The Oscar Classici edition, January 2012 (translated by author)

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