I wanted to watch something relatively short today. Something that I felt could be easy to pay attention to. I had The Needle as a film I had been needing to watch for quite a while now, as part of my Russian film viewings. For some reason, I just never quite got around to it, which is interesting given I had seen the film mentioned around far before I considered watching Russian cinema. This film is probably most famous for its featuring of one of Russia's most famous musicians: Viktor Tsoi. A sign of hope and rebellion through the genre of rock. With a heavy influence in the youth back in the day. I am a bit familiar with his music, and partially this also influenced my desire to check it out all this time, as I'm sure many others have over the years. The Russian films I have seen so far I admit have mostly been quite pretentious, very artistic and certainly pertaining to the arthouse genre. Mostly coming either during or the collapse of the Soviet Union, though I have seen others that are more recent. This is probably one of the most normal Russian films I have seen.
But I have to admit that it didn't really impress me much. With a short runtime, I feel it didn't really make much sense or give me much to care about. And I feel much of this is a result of the film being more about Viktor Tsoi's presence than anything else. There are many films like this in which a musician jumps into the film industry, and the result is that it ends up being relatively lackluster and feeling more like an advertisement for their music more than anything else. I did get that feeling with it, as I struggled to understand where things were going or what was really happening, as the film roamed around different environments portraying our protagonist as some kind of badass. Low budget, lots of action, but just not really any substance to it. To be honest, I'm not really sure I would recommend it. It is hardly a staple of what Russian cinema is capable of, but also not really Russian cinema at its worst.
The Needle
One thing I do like about Russian filming soften the locations they find themselves in. There is definitely something quite cinematic and atmospheric about the average Russian town and city. Coated in snow during the winter, or rundown, abandoned locations that merely suggest the events of prior, better days. On film stock, this often makes for something quite emotional. Gritty and moody. The film utilises these very concepts, and I believe it can sometimes do it quite well. Some of that influence of more artistic direction could have been found in parts. Reflections in mirrors, unique camera perspectives and movements. In terms of photography, it definitely could have been worse. And this falls under the directing, also. I don't feel it visually lacked much, but the story itself fell flat.
Part of this is his it introduces its main character, and you guessed it: Viktor Tsoi. He is introduced alongside one of his songs, fresh off a train in some random location, showing his rebellious side as he gives the woman that collects tickets the finger as he walks off all smug to a phone box. My problem here is that it is precisely what his music sums up, and it felt all too cliche. From here, the story starts to confuse, with little dialogue he's running through cellars chasing people, getting involved in some sort of, quite literal, underground work. There are a few fight scenes throughout the film, they aren't the best in terms of sound design and choreography, but I think it added a bit of charm, honestly. Those old effects in which you know there's no actual collision, but the sound of a meaty punch is made. And of course, our protagonist appears to easily take on such challenges.
But this is where the film starts to take on a familiar oddity within Russian cinema: the strange and isolated environments. Likely a result of budget, these films find themselves in the most poverty induced locations, and this is where it started to lose me a bit. Not due to the environment, but the story it began to attempt to tell. One containing a woman, and I admit, even at this point, I still didn't really understand what the film was really about or where it was heading. Usually this can be fine, but this is a film that is barely even 90 minutes. And each time you feel some sort of tension or important events are to unfold, it sort of starts to lose you again. And before you know it, it's over. Perhaps it was just an experimental thing, a result of Tsoi wanting to take a chance at being in the film industry, to see what he could do. This does have that sort of feeling to it. Where you can sort of tell there isn't quite enough film experience to make it work. Anyway, it isn't terrible, it just isn't really any good.
I don't think the film is bad as a result of having Viktor Tsoi as the lead, I do think he did a decent job at acting in it. My issue is that it just constantly catered to him, making all else just feel weightless. And when it did end, I just didn't really feel anything as a result of watching it. Perhaps it's the fact that I'm a little sick at the moment, but I just didn't really get it. Often enough this is the norm with Russian arthouse films where they're quite philosophical and rich in themes that throw off implications, but this isn't one of those. I think, unfortunately, if you are a fan of Russian cinema or perhaps want to get into it, this film might be worth missing. Unless, to no surprise, it is one that you feel you must watch knowing about Viktor Tsoi and wanting to see the influence he had at the time. To which, I guess it is a film that offers some aspect of culture.
Fortunately, it doesn't have a really long runtime. I don't feel as if my time was wasted. It's a low budget, short flick that certainly wasn't made for this decade or me. Perhaps natives may have more to connect with here than I do. And that's fine!
