Director Zhora Kryzhovnikov announced that he plans to create three seasons of the series “The Boy’s Word,” implying that the story will not end with the traditional happy ending...
The series about Vampires "Food block" - Impressions of what he saw
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The picture tells the story of children who arrived at the summer camp and found themselves in a situation of complete mysticism and danger. Even long before the release, high hopes were placed on the serial film and even compared with "Very strange things" (Stranger Things).
“So guys, listen up. The story is like this. There lived one director, Stanislav was his name. He shot different things - commercials, clips, but most of all he loved horror films. Now about the damned apartment, then about the dead bride, then about Baba Yaga ... Why are you laughing? And his films seemed to collect money normally, and it was even scary in places, but something was missing. This director searched and searched for something else so terrible to shoot, and how the book specially fell under his arm. The cover is black, like the heart of the Queen of Spades, on the cover, the five-pointed stars are red, like blood. Since then, he has become not himself - some kind of pale, his eyes sparkle, and everything does not part with this damned book. And then one day...
- Once the lights out was canceled? Quickly all to the beds!
In the bright moonlight, the leader's face seemed excessively pale, and for some reason no one dared to disobey him even after the footsteps had died down in the corridor. Multi-legged shadows swarmed in the dark corners, fog crept along the paths, and a plaster bugler stepped inaudibly in a white haze. Another night began in the Burevestnik camp.
- excerpt from the book
Alexei Ivanov's novel about the "Olympic" change of the pioneer camp somewhere on the banks of the Volga was greeted ambiguously. And it's not even that the singer of the Urals changed direction. In the same “The Geographer Drank His Globe Away”, Ivanov showed how vividly he can describe real, schoolchildren - such as they are, not cardboard with characters, but living people with their own advantages and disadvantages. In general, his characters are excellent - as well as descriptions of nature. No, the fact is that the new book turned out to be a vampire horror, with an interesting, if not the most original idea about the hierarchy of bloodsuckers, and even in a pre-perestroika setting.
Given the rich layer of scary pioneer folklore (which is presented in the novel in all its ridiculously luxurious glory), the combination turned out to be successful, although not in everything. For example, lengthy arguments about the importunate officialdom of the pioneer movement, stemming from the same officialdom of the late Soviet system, and about the similar nature of local vampirism, were not to the taste of many. Nevertheless, the novel "The Pishcheblok" is an original and juicy thing with bright characters, in which many can easily recognize their friends and foes from a distant camp shift, flooded in the memory with the sun of nostalgia. Eduard Uspensky was the last to write something voluminous on a similar topic.
Impressions
The first two episodes have already been released, which means it's time to find out if it's worth spending your time on the series. I have already rated the debut episodes and I hasten to share my impressions.
The Food Plant trailers were encouraging and promised, at the very least, a compelling atmosphere and compelling story—although, of course, a lot could go wrong. But what actually happened? Fortunately, after two episodes, the series is truly impressive and has the potential to become one of the best creations of Russian cinema.
Very strange things
The year is 1980: the famous Moscow Olympics are about to begin, the asphalt has long been melting from the scorching sun, and Soviet pioneers are leaving for summer camps. The heroes of the Pishcheblok got the Burevestnik camp, which at first glance seems completely ordinary. Classes in it are also completely ordinary: breakfast, lunch and dinner are strictly on schedule, many sections are open for visiting, in the evenings you can watch how Soviet athletes beat the Americans, and at night you can’t avoid terrible tales of horrors that unfolded right on this place.
But very soon, some children notice very strange things: one of the guys suddenly changes and starts to bite (or did it seem?) roommates, who then seem to turn into dolls that have fallen under the control of the owner. At the same time, the “vampire” himself, that his victims as a whole behave either absolutely normally, or even transform from notorious hooligans into decent pioneers.
Adults, however, do not notice anything unusual. In general, they are much more busy with their own affairs: someone turns passionate novels, and someone saves their own skin, because "a call to parents is an emergency." And who will guarantee that the counselors themselves have not yet turned into bloodsuckers. The kids here seem to fall into John Carpenter's The Thing, where you can't trust anyone - even the friendliest comrade can turn out to be an enemy. In such a terrible environment, the heroes have to figure out what the hell is going on in the Petrel, who is the adult who bit the first pioneer, and how to get out of here.
Despite the fact that so far only two episodes of the series have been released, the scriptwriters managed to fit a large number of events into them and how to intrigue. I'm sure if the whole Food Block came out, many viewers would spend the whole night watching just for the sake of history. But the plot, although the most important, but far from the only strong point of the series.
Of particular note is the cast: the children play here very convincingly, and their motivation is understandable. Having met with an incomprehensible devilry, the main character first of all goes to seek help from adults, and only when he does not receive it, he begins to build a plan for independent survival. At the same time, the behavior of negative characters is quite understandable: they do not seek villainy for the sake of villainy - I will not say more so as not to spoil. In general, both adults (who have a lot of skeletons in the closet) and children are very interesting to follow.
And the creators managed to very convincingly recreate the atmosphere of a summer camp. Everyone who has been in such places with nostalgia will remember the old days, rejoice at familiar horror stories, and remember the alterations that he got into there. In many ways, this effect was achieved with painfully familiar scenery: the creators did a really great job on the setting.
Helps the atmosphere and absolutely amazing soundtrack. Already in the first episodes, there are seemingly incompatible melodies: here is a girl in class beautifully performing “Where Childhood Goes”, and then the counselors come off on the river bank under David Bowie’s Space Oddity – and this is implemented very appropriately.
The camera work deserves special recognition - the camera regularly takes the best positions and shoots very spectacular shots. And the genius who was involved in the transitions really wants to give out an Oscar: the way the night here replaces the day, and the water surface turns into a starry sky, delights. It is worth noting that the picture itself is very juicy and bright - it is simply pleasant to look at the screen.
Although sometimes there are strange shots, and the graphics are implemented in a rustic way. Of course, the monsters from night horror stories look solid, not in places the wonderful animation catches the eye.
However, all this is nothing more than nit-picking, since the Pishcheblok is not "Godzilla vs. Kong" and catches not with special effects, but with history and dramaturgy. The story keeps you in suspense so much that you don't feel the need for fancy graphics. The series manages to amuse, scare and catch up with fog so skillfully that you want to immediately give it a high rating and recommend it to everyone - but you still can’t rush.
The viewer has already been burned more than once on projects that started off nicely, and then quickly slipped into mediocrity. Recall at least Wayward Pines, who skillfully arranged the pieces on the board, and then destroyed the intrigue with their own hands and left the viewer to be content with a strange ending. I would like to hope that the authors of "Pishcheblok" will not repeat the mistakes and retain the quality of the story. However, if they follow the original, then there is nothing to worry about.
***
So far, the “Food Block” seems to be a very high-quality work, in which almost everything is good: the atmosphere, the visuals, the acting, the plot – for these strengths, the series is worth devoting time to. And if you are looking forward to the fourth season of Stranger Things, then watching the film adaptation of the novel by Alexei Ivanov can be called a must.
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