The end of the Cold War caught Hollywood by surprise, leaving film makers unprepared to deal with the new realities. American cinema industry wasn't the only one affected with that problem; their European counterparts were also having difficulties in finding new approach to the themes behind the former Iron Curtain. One of the examples can be found The Russian Singer, 1993 Danish spy thriller directed by Morten Arnfred.
The plot, based on the novel by Leif Davidsen, is set in Moscow after the fall of Communism. Two women are found dead in one Moscow apartment and since one of them happens to be the secretary of Danish Embassy, diplomat Jack Anderson (played by Ole Lemmeke) is assigned to observe the investigation. Despite the efforts of Russian police colonel Gavrilin (played by Vsevolod Larionov), higher-ups within Kremlin want to quickly shut the case by pronouncing it as an accident. Anderson's own investigation shows that the case was not only murder, but murder that involves some very influential people within Kremlin. After ignoring friendly advice to quit, Anderson brings the wrath of his superiors on himself, but even greater danger comes from dark forces within Russia itself - those who wouldn't mind killing the Danish diplomat.
The Russian Singer takes an ambiguous approach in its portrayal of post-Communist Russia. On one hand this film shows former superpower as the cesspool of corruption and violence, run by KGB and old Communist Nomenklatura - people who just wait for the right moment to re-install the Evil Empire. In the same time Russia is presented as more-or-less normal Western country where the system needs only a little boost to remove few rotten apples and thus establish things like democracy, human rights and rule of law. Film makers might be forgiven for being slightly confused with the contradictions of early 1990s Russia (in 1993, when the film was released, democratically elected President ordered the shelling of democratically elected Parliament), but not for allowing those contradictions to damage the plot. So, throughout entire film the protagonist is fighting unstoppable juggernaut of corruption and evil only to have completely implausible deus ex machina of reformed Russian state at the end. Without those contradictions, The Russian Singer could have been quite an interesting film. The acting, music and photography is very good, but pretty pictures and sound are poor substitute for incoherent content.
RATING: 4/10 (+)
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on January 28th 2003)
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