Admiral Alexander Kolchak (Konstantin Khabenskiy).
A gorgeous film, wrapped in a mystery, inside an
enigma...
> The Admiral
Director: Andrei Kravchuk
Cast: Konstantin Khabenskiy, Elizaveta Boyarskaya,
Sergey Bezrukov, Vladislav Vetrov, Anna Kovalchuk, Egor
Beroev, Richard Bohringer, Oleg Fomin, Anatoliy Pashinin,
Dmitriy Shcherbina, Vladimir Rybaltovs.
Rating: (M)
3 stars (out of 5)
Review by Mark Orton
From the opening salvo, The Admiral leaves you in no doubt
that this will be two hours of pure cinema.
The World War 1 naval battle that sets the tone is impressive
in a way few war films manage.
At the heart of the drama unfolding on a Russian warship
under fire from the Germans is Admiral Alexander Kolchak
(Konstantin Khabenskiy), who miraculously steers his troops
into safe waters.
Rapidly ascending the Russian naval ranks soon after, he
develops an interest in a fellow officer's wife, Anna
(Elizaveta Boyarskaya). The dialogue is so dense, subtitles
can't hope to keep up.
Before long, it is difficult to figure out any details other
than the subversive romantic melodrama.
Normally that would be enough to switch off, but The
Admiral is just so amazing to look at that even without
the speedy subtitles you would feel compelled to stick with
it.
An understanding of Russian history would be a huge asset.
While it is pretty obvious the Admiral and his beautiful
mistress will meet again, what happens outside that is a bit
of a puzzle.
Apparently, The Admiral was filmed as part of a 10-hour
series.
This might explain the awkward shifts between locations and
events.
Never mind, the costumes are exquisite, the cinematography
unreal and the sound design unparalleled.
The Admiral restores your faith in cinema as spectacle, and
if you can figure out what is going on, then great.
Best thing: The mise en scene, one staggeringly
good-looking film.
Worst thing: Assumed knowledge. Anyone without an
intricate knowledge of the Russian Revolution will be left
floundering.
See it with: A Russian/English dictionary. The
subtitles are a little hard to read, and don't linger.
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