As
the home of the USSR’s Pacific Fleet, Vladivostok was off-limits to foreigners
during the Cold War. It looks like we weren’t missing much. The post-industrial
Vladivostok is positioned as something like the Detroit of Russia in model-turned-thesp
Olya Zueva’s feature directorial debut, In
the Hood (trailer
here),
which screens as part of Russian Film Week in New York.
Vladimir
(Vova) and Kisa are two knock-around meat-headed thugs, who have done pretty
well by doing the dirty work of Shamir, an up-and-coming gangster. Initially,
their latest assignment sounds like fun: shadowing Shamir’s hard-partying
girlfriend as she hops from night spot to night spot. However, Vova draws a line
in the sand when they are told to administer a beating in punishment for her unfaithfulness.
Vova
wants to go straight, but the crooked system constantly pushes him back towards
the thug life. Isn’t that always the way? Plus, the self-destructive Kisa is
always going to be a destabilizing influence. Do you think Vova might agree to
do him one last solid?
All
the archetypes are here. There are two potential love interests: Sonya, a
singer in the choral group led by Vova’s mother, who represents purity, and
Lida, the nouveau riche scenester Vova meets during their shadow work, who
stands for temptation. Plus, there is Kisa, Vova’s tragically flawed
brother-from-another-mother and his own long-suffering mom.
Frankly,
it is all a little too familiar, even though the crummy Vladivostok setting
adds a new, cinematic wrinkle, with its abandoned Soviet-era industrial
projects and the grand architecture of its ultra-modern, people-dwarfing bay
bridges. Maybe it is a great place to live and rise a family, but Zueva
certainly makes it look chilly and grim.
Maybe
we have seen these elements before, but In
the Hood feels like it is still rather gutsy depicting crime in the Russian
underclass at a time when the state news agencies are trying to convince the citizenry
they are living in a golden age. You also have to give Zueva credit for taking
on the unsympathetic role of Lida, instead of the virtuous Sonya. (Presumably, Zueva is a draw in her own right, having appearing in the Hollywood movie Salt and a high-profile Russian sports
film.)
Ilya
Malanin and Danila Kozlovsky (a new addition to History Channel’s Vikings next year) are so convincing as
the two strong-arm buddies, we can believe they were plucked straight out of
skid row, instead of being cast because they are well known Russian actors. Zueva is also quite intriguing as Lida, but her subplot quickly falls by the wayside
(which happens fairly frequently in ITH).
Frankly,
In the Hood is not a bad film, but
anyone who has seen a few Western urban dramas will always be several steps
ahead of it. Mostly recommended for the cast’s Russian fans, In the Hood screens this Thursday (12/13),
as part of Russian Film Week in New York.
