Do you want to see a really good film ? Film that will make you think – what is happening , why is it happening ? Film that will surprise you – an indie film …Yes ? Then you definitely should check out the new Russian film Cheesecake . Reviewing it i not an easy task as I would not want to spoil your experience . The first scenes you will see are related to the story – even trough you will discover this further in the film . What you have to focus your attention on is an add – yes an add – I know that you are used to skip those while they are screening on TV – but this add – this add is special and so are the people who act in it.
Meet Mikhail(Sergey Chonishvili) – he is a doctor . He works till late , gets tired – his mother is worried about him as he recently split up with the girl he lived with. The film director made sure that the viewer gets to know Michail – and decide for themselves if he is a good or bad man or just a man with many problems. Sergey Chonishvili is a well known actor in Russia and his performance in the film is nothing short of perfect.
Second meet Natasha (Olga Lomonosova) – she is an actress – stars mainly in TV adds , has a boyfriend to whom is rather attached , but this does not stop her to full around with the producer of the commercial. Her character is not as well defined throughout the movie as the one of Mikhail – but the actress Olga Lomonosova makes sure that we remember each scenes in which she appears.
Last – but not least – meet the 13-year old boy Alesha (Pavel Melenchuk). He and Michel are the lead characters in the film. He is a very smart and talented kid – he make his bad , cleans around the house , washes , cooks – studies hard at school and is extremely polite. But he has a problem – no father and an alcoholic mother who calls him names and is indifferent of his existence .
One day – a coincidence bring those thee character together – in a commercial of a Cheesecake. On the advertising shoot, they depict a happy family in Moscow: smile, drink tea. They don`t even suspect that the fate has prepared for them big surprises and twists…at least not until one night Mikhail discovers Alesha – on the floor Matt in front of his apartment . Alesha asks Michael to allow him spent the night at his house. Michal thinks about it – he doesn`t like the idea – as he hardly knows the boy – but after some thoughts he eventually agrees .
From that moment on the young movie director Eugene Zvezdakova takes the viewers of her film to a wild roller coaster ride – to a journey with an unknown end. Cheesecake is a thriller , a psychological drama or a coming of age film – or why not all of those mixed together- the film is not yet listed in IMBD – but if you know Russian you can learn a great deal about it at its page at RussianArt.com
I finally had time to watch this movie (you know how that goes). It was a fantastic piece. I wished it would not end. A great performance by Melenchuk. I hope to find another of his films soon.
Thanks for commenting , Pat! There are many Russian dramas in which there is no death – several are mentioned in my blog : Frantsuz, The Greenhouse effect ,Koktebel ( you can find their respective reviews using the search box at the top of the blog) . Generally speaking I am not found of restricting what youngsters can see unless its something strictly adult or very inapproporiate – of course every rule has its exceptions and usually its the parent`s who get a vote on that ( or the kids sneaking off to watch a film they want to see , but are not allowed to ).
Saw it and realized that every Russian drama I have seen has a guy get killed, or a child, or both. I wouldn't watch it with my kids unless they were older.
He killed him because he was the boyfriend of the girl from the commercial. Therefore if he was left alive the plan of Alesha would not have worked.
Great film, but WHY did the kid KILL the swim coach???