KARLOVY VARY – Films depicting the political and societal corruption in modern day Russian have become almost commonplace this decade.  It’s almost rare to find a major filmmaker not commenting on it in some aspect.  Even Kirill Serebrennikov, who has been under house arrest since October, found a way to comment in his 80’s period piece “Leto,” which debuted at Cannes in May.  Now, Ivan I. Tverdovsky, who had a strong sophomore effort with the subversive “Zoology” two years ago, returns with perhaps the most blatant example of everyday Russian corruption yet, “Jumpman.”

READ MORE: ‘Zoology’ is much more than the ‘Woman with a Tail’ movie [Review]

The winner of a special Jury Mention at the 2018 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, “Jumpman” begins with a young Oksana (Anna Slyu, memorable) dropping her baby off at a boy’s orphanage, seemingly unable to raise him on her own.  

Continue reading ‘Jumpman’ Wants To Chronicle Everyday Russian Corruption But Can’t Take Off [KVIFF Review] at The Playlist.

KARLOVY VARY – It’s goes without saying that it’s usually a good idea not to pigeonhole a movie before you’ve actually seen it. The collective media groupthink usually can’t help itself from doing so and have often been guilty of falsely misrepresenting a picture before they’ve actually seen the completed work. Just this past January and before it screened for a majority of critics, “Swiss Army Man” was unfairly branded the “Daniel Radcliffe farting movie” at Sundance, potentially damaging its chances at being acquired for theatrical distribution (luckily A24 saw what a great film it was overall and picked it up).

Continue reading ‘Zoology’ Is Much More Than The “Woman With A Tail Movie” [Review] at The Playlist.