

Director
Геннадий ПолокаGuión
Леонид Пантелеев, Григорий Белых, Леонид Пантелеев

Aqueronte72
21 ago 2024
Fun but bittersweet gem of Soviet cinema. Slightly cloying due to the musical vein at the beginning that is used as a recurring motif and is clinched, somewhat overwhelming, but yes, a moving eighteenth-century portrait that can be traced back to Fielding's Tom Jones and a century later, of course, the red spotlight of the opulent English societies observed by Dickens. The problem of indolence in the demographic explosion, of child laziness and its execrable exploitation not only of labor in factories and the countryside, but also of crime, was one of the first pathos of industrialized societies that, logically due to the difference in type of State and form of government, arrived at least a century late in feudal Russia. The performances are unbeatable and the opening song should forge by itself the chorus that will advocate for empathy towards the finicky children throughout the plot "По приютам я с детства скитался, Не имея родн ого угла." (I've been wandering around shelters) "Ах, зачем я на свет появился?"; (oh, why was I born?) . It's true, in the shelter or hospice where the story takes place, the boys bully each other by snatching the bowl of soup, insulting each other "you're a gypsy" and "you're a bad blonde" or pushing each other in the bedrooms, but in common they keep the same trait of annoyance and effusiveness in the world. When their gym teacher arrives they undress them and it is the short girl with a squeaky voice Amalia Varnitovna who provides them with uniforms made of anti-American material Haha and I'm still laughing at the literature teacher Pavel Ivanovich; who tried to teach orphans "urban culture" in popular singing in the classrooms, alas, but he did not have time to do much for classical literature, as he himself lamented on his departure the next day after his debut as a teacher (debut and farewell) while the boys cheered him "don't go Pavel" with their eyes cloudy with pain. This arrogant action by the director Victor Mikhailovich, that of firing teacher Pavel, forces the children to create a hooling state by the president of the council of ministers and to kupu Kupych the genius as a dictatorial representative. A republic of Shkits and an unhappy country, they say it groans for the flight of the Chaldeans, LOL. But, although the simplest thing would have been to use force, repression and control over the young people, he continued his same game of lobbying or "political" negotiations within the classroom inside the shelter and, immediately afterwards, he made them fall in love by improvising with the piano, in full delirious assembly, the song of Gaudeamus igitur, iuvenes dum sumus, which, as he later explained to them, reminded him of his old good times of poetry alongside Alksandr Blok. The scene of Kostya stealing pants in the middle of the night is great or also when the young people steal sandwiches from Vitenko Victor Mikhailovich's mother, where the shadows of the kids' stealings mimic a Nosferatu curtain mixed with comedy. When the adorable little old lady arrives at her destination with the tray of cookies, it is empty but she is so blind that she only says "like Vitenko, my blue-eyed rooster." The only bad thing is that the newly arrived student, Alexey Panteleev, disowns the gang of young people for stealing from a blind grandmother. Victor Mikhailovich's ideas were good, but the discipline of the boys could not be the most careful and when the director authorized self-government in the kitchen, the leader of the boys Savuschka (Savin) abused him and began a series of trades involving bread and provisions that left some of his companions hungry and left others in excess. He was expelled in an assembly by Victor but immediately defended by the villainous kids. And the viewer should not miss the pitched battle against the scouts at the end when Kostya is injured but it is worth it for his support from his fellow comrades. Highly recommended film.
Георгий Колосов
Meftakhutdyn
2023