The film "Earthquake": reviews of viewers and critics

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The film "Earthquake" (2016) is a Russian and at the same time Armenian feature film created by director Sarik Andreasyan based on a real natural disaster that happened in 1988.

In 2017, the work was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was later removed from the list because it did not meet the requirements.

What the painting is based on

The story of the movie "Earthquake" 2016 is based on real events that took place on December 7, 1988. On that day, a terrible earthquake (magnitude 7.2) occurred on the territory of the Armenian SSR, covering almost half of the land of the Soviet Republic.

Cities such as Leninakan, Stepanavan, Kirovakan, Spitak, as well as about 300 other settlements were destroyed. The losses were colossal: the earthquake claimed 25,000 people, 19,000 received disabilities of varying degrees, and 500,000 lost their homes.

Movie "Earthquake" 2016year covers four days of the tragedy: from December 7 to 10 in the city of Leninakan. It has several storylines, gradually intertwined.

The actors of the film "Earthquake"

About 43 actors took part in the filming.

Starring:

1. Konstantin Lavronenko (Konstantin) is a Russian actor who was awarded the Silver Prize at the Cannes Film Festival for Best Actor and the Golden Eagle. The best films of Konstantin: "Return", "Exile", "Territory", "Composition for Victory Day" and others.
2. Victor Stepanyan (Robert), who also starred in the TV series "Black Cats".
3. Maria Mironova (Anna) - Russian actress who participated in the films "Swing", "Oligarch", "Wedding", "State Councilor" and TV series "Owl Cry", "Death of the Empire", "Battle for Space".
4. Tatev Hovakimyan ("Lilith").
5. Mikael Poghosyan (Yerem) - army actor, participated in the film "If everything".
6. Grant Tokhatyan (policeman), also starred in "Our Yard" and "Big Story in a Small Town".
7. Daniil Muravyov-Izotov (Vanya) - a boy who also played in the series "Fizruk" and "The Bloody Lady".
8. Sos Dzhanibekyan (Senik), participating in the "Knight's move".

Ratings and reviews of the film"Earthquake 2016

Mostly good reviews of the picture received from the audience. Let's get to know them:

1. Reviews of the film "Earthquake" on "KinoPoisk" are above average: the audience gives it 6.7 out of 10. Reviews in percentage terms: 82% (positive) and 18% (negative).
2. In the Internet project "Kino-teatr.ru" the picture is rated 8.9 out of 10.
3. At IMDb, the world's largest movie database, viewers rated the movie 6.4.
4. Reviews of the film "Earthquake" on one of the largest Russian film portals Film.ru are extremely high - 7.7 out of 10.

Reviewed by critic: GQ

Lydia Maslova, one of the contributors to the monthly GQ magazine, perceives the film "Earthquake" more as a discreet monument film shot in a cold grayish color scheme. She believes that the work fully meets all the requirements of the Oscar and can be considered a reference for it: based on true events, saturated with humanism, glorifying the best qualities of human nature.

One of the main characters - Konstantin, Lydia perceives as a monumental and majestic man after the words he said: "So, so. We do as I say."

The critic also notes the director's new style, attributing to him a certain timidity. Sarik Andreasyan is more familiar with the comedy style, where you can feel the author's individuality, but when the actor moves away from his usual territories, we see the director from a completely different angle.sides. Lydia explains this situation by the fact that the theme of mourning does not allow sufficient scope to give free rein to the director's work, therefore even the technique present in the film, like a child's toy lying on the ground, is shown very quickly and a little "shamefully". As a result, the excessive caution of the authors, due to the fear of "going too far" with sentimentality, results in an insufficiently strong film on an emotional level.

Newspaper "Interlocutor"

The following review of the film is given by Ksenia Ilyina, a film reviewer for the weekly newspaper Sobesednik. The critic calls the picture "Earthquake" "a race for a long distance", noting the unsuccessful attempts of past films on the topic that "for 30 years it has managed to become dusty in the archives." Also, Ksenia, like the critic above, praises the director for unpredictability and courage, mentioning him in the past more as the author of humorous films.

However, to Xenia Ilyina, on the contrary, it seems that the picture is flowing like a fountain of dramatic abundance. He is present, almost in every episode: this is a mother dying in front of her son, and a cheerful birthday boy joking in the company of fellow countrymen corpses. All this hints at the lack of a sober view from the outside. The critic believes that the director, saturated with the suffering of the Armenian people, forgets to stop at the right moment and reconsider what has been done.

However, despite the harsh response, as it may seem at first, the film reviewer changes his mind in a positive direction. So she pays tribute to the director for a great attemptlook up archives of thirty years ago: watching the film, at one moment you already begin to believe in everything displayed on the screen. The reviewer notes that the film claims to be high and serious.

The Hollywood Reporter

Yaroslav Zabaluev, one of the authors of the Russian edition of The Hollywood Reporter, also leaves a review of this work.

Review critic of the film "Earthquake" begins with the phrase:

A film-memory to which it is strange to make artistic claims.

Yaroslav perceives the picture more as a cinematic monument to the victims, rather than as an artistic work of a comedy director. The critic believes that the picture of Sarik Andreasyan is not an attempt to force him to take himself more seriously, but a way to draw attention to his first big film. As a young director, Sarik makes a big and big call in the cinematic arena. The critic notes that the episodes of the disaster were thought up quite famously, but the graphics for their maximum implementation were not enough.

But the shots in the prologue with the life of the city are the author's revelations about his childhood memories, setting you in the right mood. The critic feels one hundred percent understanding and feeling of the author. Thanks to authentic photographs, Andreasyan was able to achieve the highest level of realism. According to reviews of the film "Earthquake", people really cried while watching this picture.

Evening Moscow

Boris Wojciechowski, one of the authors of the Evening Moscow news feed, talks aboutdirector Sarik Andreasyan in a negative way, discussing his past works. However, the critic's review of the film "Earthquake" is completely different. Boris considers this work the best of all Sarik's films made before.

The reviewer notes that only five minutes of the film broadcast a natural disaster, while the rest of the time is devoted to the human essence, and what happens to it during a sudden terrible stress: death, pain, impotence and fear.

In the end, the work takes on a whole moral purpose - a story of redemption, holiness, meanness, forgiveness and, of course, love.

The critic believes that "Earthquake" is not a picture about Armenia, not about geography and national mentality, it is about the spiritual side of everyone.

Izvestia

The review of the film "Earthquake" by Anastasia Rogova (the author of the news site "Izvestia") is positive. In her opinion, the director managed to combine large-scale shooting with a dramatic basis.

The moment with the earthquake seemed extremely convincing to the critics, the author of the license has no complaints about the effects, casting and dramatic moments.

However, a couple of questions still appear to the plot itself. Some lines seem far-fetched to Anastasia, and the finale itself confuses the author with morality about friendship between peoples and universal forgiveness.

New look

According to the critic Vadim Bogdanov (the author of the media resource "Newlook"), the film works quite well as a reminder of history, but it is lame on two legs as a feature film. He states that the cinema is the best work in the luggage of director Andreasyan, but in modern projects on historical themes it can hardly compete.

Review of the film "Earthquake" by Vadim Bogdanov is very ambiguous. So he evaluates the beginning of the picture positively, calling it "ambitious". However, the car accident itself seems rather sketchy to him.

The reviewer criticizes the director for being too dramatic when he puts on five scenes in a row, ending in the same thing - tears. Vadim Bogdanov understands that Andreasyan is thus trying to show the scale of the tragedy of the Armenian people and humanity as a whole, but it was unnecessary to demonstrate five monotonous episodes in a row. The director himself is an Armenian, therefore it is difficult for him to look from the outside through the eyes of those who were not affected by this tragedy, hence the sobriety of the look is lost.

However, the critic praises Andreasyan for his scrupulousness and responsibility for the detailed reproduction of the events of 30 years ago.

The main goal of the director was "not to lie", which, according to Vadim Bogdanov, he coped with flawlessly.

Interesting facts

Shooting one of the best films about the earthquake in 2016 lasted 42 days in Moscow and Gyumri (former Leninakan). In Russia, scenes were filmed after the earthquake, in Armenia, the world before the terrible tragedy.

BThe casting was attended by 500 actors from Russia and Armenia. In the filming, which was carried out in Armenia, the population of Gyumri participated in the mass scenes, most of them were real witnesses of those events. About 150 people starred in group shots.

As many as 5 trucks were loaded with props to fill the rooms: racks, walls, chandeliers, dishes, books, toys and other items. Each day of filming ended with a moment of silence.