Myron Clemons
A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.
andreygrachev
Konets Veka is another Konstantin Lopushanski's fantasy parable with the elements of mystic thriller. The story takes place in Moscow in autumn 1993 during the hard days of strike that took place in Moscow then. The army is assaulting the parliament. Marina Nikolayevna (played by Irina Sokolova) and her daughter Olga (played by Svetlana Svirko) found themselves on the opposite sides of barricades. Olga leaves Russia and becomes a successful journalist in Germany. She hates Russia and its culture. She likes the western freedom ,changing lovers like gloves and believes in no God. And her mother is begging for money but does not accept the capitalist way of living, prefers poverty to evil new world. Marina Nikolayevna is shown as a convinced 60s person,noble and honest. And her daughter is shown like typical promiscuous independent business woman. Six years later Olga feels sorry for her mother and decides to invite her to Germany to cure her in mental hospital (the part of The institution of dream controlling) where a perverted doctor (played by Roman Viktyuk) promises to cure the grand lady. The problem with Olga's mother, that she can not forget her husband who died in 1993 in that strike in Moscow. the doctor persuades the old lady to cut all her memories to become happy. But she finds her memories to be of no harm, but the western world to be unhappy and does not want to take more drugs to delete her memories. The doctor manages to give some drugs to her, but the old lady felt even worse. She turns out to be more intelligent than her daughter and fake doctor. She shows them her deep love to her motherland and the old world, so she goes back to Russia and commits suicide in her flat after all. Before that we can see how unnatural European cynicism for true intelligent people of the past. Another doctrine work from Konstantin Lopushanski with fine psychedelic score, great acting and philosophical angle of view.
