Tycoon – A New Russian (Drama)
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: C+ Film: B-
With
Capitalism seeping into the former Soviet Union for over a decade now, the
Gangster genre would be a logical development in their cinema, which is what we
get with Pavel Lounguine’s Tycoon – A
New Russian (2002). It attempts to
tell how the forces of practice of Late Capitalism made easy for recently
assassinated Billionaire Plato Makovski (Vladimir Mashkov, based somewhat on
the real life story of Boris A. Berezovsky) to rose to power do easily.
All over
the packaging, the quotes boast comparison to the Godfather films, Public
Enemy, Scarface (without
specifying which version, but why not both) and even Citizen Kane, but that to me just shows how surprised many critics
were that this cinema produced such a film (finally?), and this could develop
into even more interesting films on the subject from Russia down the line. Though an interesting film and an amusing
counterpoint after endless American and British Gangster and Action films
offered so many variants since they acknowledged the fall of the Soviet Union, the result is mixed.
For one
thing, it does not have the scope of film like this should have. After so many better films from America alone, plus its lack of violence
and impact, the picture seems tame by comparison. People looking for more story will like this,
but it is TV safe by American standards.
The film that actually hunted it throughout was Sergio Leone’s Once Upon A Time In America (1984),
which has more length, construction, depth, took much longer to make, and has
so many great little moments this film does not. Though the story is believable, the telling
in the screenplay by Alexandre Borodianski, Lounguine, and Yuli Dubov from
Dubov’s novel is consistent, which is still good for a film running 128
minutes.
The
performances are good all around, but everything could have gone farther. One thing that may be disorienting to viewers
in the West is how different masculinity is there than here. That in itself is a twist on such
storytelling unintended that it makes up for what would otherwise be
shortcomings altogether if this were an American or British film. Some of the politics and history might escape
some audiences (especially when a former hero of the Afghanistan/Soviet
conflict surfaces in flashback), but others will make total sense. Tycoon
– A New Russian is an ambitious film with a difference.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image has softness throughout, but the color
consistency and depth shots help off-set that somewhat. Co-Cinematographers Alexey Fedorov & Oleg
Dobronravov deliver many strong, clean, rich shots throughout that allude to
the world of wealth that we can see, even when most Russians cannot. This is always in stark contrast to the
images on TV, which are always poor by comparison, especially on more expensive
big screen and even High Definition digital sets. It is work to be proud of.
The Dolby
Digital 5.1 AC-3 is not bad, but you can tell it comes from a stronger source,
and I was correct from the first scene that odds were the film was a theatrical
DTS theatrical release. It turns out it
was issued that way exclusively. Too bad
the DVD does not offer those tracks, or this would have been an especially
sought after DVD title just based on its sound.
Extras include two trailers for this film, a nearly 27 minutes-long
interview with Lounguine, and trailers for four other New Yorker titles. This is a New Yorker title that will get more
attention than usual, and those who catch it will enjoy it for being something
smart and different in a world so familiar to Westerners.
- Nicholas Sheffo
