I have one problem - every time I stumble upon a more or less sane trailer of the national film, I expect that it will become the very point from which a truly new Russian cinema will begin. Not gone into the chernushnye jungle boring art-house or tucked to the brim with pathos of sports dramas about the past achievements of the already disappeared power. A little hope was instilled by Bekmambetov's "Night Watch" and "The Turkish Gambit" by Janik Faiziyev, who, with all its drawbacks, I'm still inclined to consider one of the best new Russian films.
Relatively recent "Viking" tried to reanimate the historical movie, but it turned out that it turned out, and about the Kolovrat which i didn't want to speak at all. And then suddenly there is "Scythian", the trailer of which is filled with animal energy and promises, at least our belated answer "Apocalypse" Gibson. C pagan tribes, an abundance of meat and blood and an operator who is enduring the vestibular apparatus of particularly impressionable spectators. Looked at him twice and ready to share his impressions.
Warrior Lutobor (Alexei Fadeev) is serving to Tmutarakan's Prince (Yuri Tsurilo) and thanks to his military talents is his "right hand". Because of such high position, his wife and newborn son are abducted by Scythian mercenaries, and offer an exchange - the life of the prince, for the life of the family. Lutobor agrees, and the prince, having learned about this misfortune, is ready to play up to him to find out who sets behind this conspiracy, and while the ruler pretends to be poisoned, Lutobor and the captived young warrior Kunitsa (Alexander Kuznetsov) go to the shelter of the last Scythians.
What to say? The film is not the same cruel thrash, which he unsuccessfully pretends to be. Yes, in some scenes he is devilishly rude, but it looks just fine and even the final pathos scene does not spoil the overall impression.
The first act, excellent in terms of notes, creates an excellent foundation and gradually shifts the accent from the historical drama to the traditional "road movie", where the opposite heroes in a joint adventure are forced to rub against each other, despite the abyss that share their views and faith. And here the "Scythian" manifests its bestial character, performing very strange somersaults. Dynamic, hard fights and forest, field and mountain types peculiar to adventure cinema change dramatically - everything changes, music, colors, costumes, and with every new scene the film plunges into chaos where it's easy to draw parallels with both the fashionable historical series "Vikings", and with the old "Mad Max" or "Hulk".
Although about the old Max - probably got excited - from the "Road of fury" in it, too, a lot of things, and you do not need to be a big fan of anime, so in some scenes do not remember the "Princess Mononoke." Kneading is not one of the simplest components.
Do you think - solid borrowing? Again, I will grieve. The film looks very solid and does not fall apart, as it happened with the recent "Cloverfield Paradox". Fastened with blood and the most brutal editing, the narrative rushes in full pairs to a gloomy denouement, not forgetting to make a stop and throw out a couple of unpredictable feints to finally convince that times were not easy, and decisions almost always led to someone's death. Or even genocide.
In the genre column, "Scythian" means fantasy, so if you have claims to historical certainty, then this is very in vain, because in addition to the background with the steppe tribes, the film has a very bright mystical component, so I recommend to take it as a child's tale and the great success of the young Russian director.
8 OF 10
Sorry for possible errors - English is not my native language