Film «The Ugly Swans» (press reviews)

...This film looks a significant event both public and artistic; the awards it has harvested have just been expanded with the Grand prix and «The Diamond Phoenix» at the international movie festival in Smolensk... ...Lopushansky's film actively polemizes with today's simplified mass culture reduced to bleating. To some extent, it even is its sense. It is this mass culture that is resisted by the wise children of the novel and film who cannot stand the suffocating environment. And this is where the «mainstream» people try to pull them, so that they were «like everybody», so that the ugly swans returned to being ducklings in a poultry yard and never strove to some other life. So that they stopped thinking. Unthinking people are easier to manipulate; zombies are forever prevented from independent decisions and acts.
Konstantin Lopushansky is initially a musician, a philosopher by his calling, a cinematographer in communicating with others. His movies are rare events, one in approximately every five years. They push through to the audience with difficulties, and it is hard to remain silent for someone who has something to say. Besides, the society is far from abundant in those who are ready to listen and hear.
Valery Kichin
«Son Razuma» - «The Dream Of Reason»
«Russkaya Gazeta» - «The Russian Gazette», October 2006

...Konstantin Lopushansky is Tarkovsky's follower. His films, though appreciated at various international festivals, caused debates and disapproval at home. Not always irreproachable, they always follow the main direction, the search for "the oxygen of spirit», consequently being still less appropriate to the "spirit of time» and fashion...
Larissa Malyukova
«Budushchee oglyanulos» - «The Future Looked Back»
«Novaya Gazeta» - «The New Gazette», '79, 16.10.2006

...Thanks to the Strugatzky brothers and Tarkovsky, fantasy has become the cherished way of expression for philosophical, metaphysical, and poetic cinematography. All these features qualities are furiously denied and despised by the pragmatic approaches of today, which, however, did not interfere with Konstantin Lopushansky's old project: a screen version of a best story by the Strugatzkys, "The Ugly Swans"...
...As Tarkovsky's follower, Lopushansky has moved into the "Strugatzky" artistic world between "The Eclipse Days" by Sokurov and "The Hard Life of a God" by Hermann...
Anton Dolin
«Phantom Fantastiki» - «The Phantom Of Fantasy»
Newspaper «Moscovskie novosti» - «The Moscow News», '40, 20.10.2006

...Konstantin Lopushansky is one of the most unusual Russian directors. He may be of a different opinion, but I believe he is one of those who approach the reality in some tragic way...
Ekaterina Varkan
«Polititcheskiy zhurnal» - «The Political Journal»
23.10.2006
...In regard to its relevancy, only two, maybe three products of Russian cinema are comparable to this movie. This significant work certainly has its - also significant, - merits and flaws...
...Its primary advantage is its timely addressing great literature...
Elena Fanaylova
«Vyjti iz sumraka» - «Getting Into The Light»
Magazine «Seans» - «Show», 19.10.2006

...This movie can well become a historical mark in modern Russian cinematography as the first one based on a story by the authors known to everybody, the Strugatzky brothers, and shot by a director producing highly personalized, delicate and philosophical films...
....This is the third film delivered by the «Proline-film» studio founded in 2004 by the renowned musician, composer, and producer Andrey Sigle; its debut was Alexander Sokurov's "The Sun"...
"Novosti" - "News", September, 2006.

...In general, the Strugatzkys, so frequently (and justly) accused of straightforwardness, continue to intrigue cinematographers. Very few writers can boast such a list of directors who have made their stories into movies: Andrey Tarkovsky ("The Stalker"), Alexander Sokurov ("The Eclipse Days"), Alexey Hermann is presently working on the second screen version of "The Hard Life of a God" (after the disastrous movie by Peter Fleischmann), Fedor Bondarchuk is considering yet another film. Over this background, "The Ugly Swans" by Konstantin Lopushansky could be perceived as following the trend, but for the reputation of that Petersburg director who has always gone his own path irrespective of the overall situation. His hour of triumph was the film "Letters Of A Dead Man" which life itself collated with the Chernobyl catastrophe.
A.Plakhov
«Gadkie Lebedi» - «The Ugly Swans»
"Commersant - Weekend", 20.10.2006

...At the recent festival in Smolensk «New Cinematography: the 21st century», the Grand Prix was given to «The Ugly Swans» by Lopushansky. Once again, the audience has been convinced that the conflict of mediocrity and individualism, cruelty and humanism, the generation gap are still tearing the world apart. Nevertheless, one has «where to wake up», as Pelevin said. There is a door at the Tashlinsk station, opening into broad daylight away from the red rainy gloom. Tarkovsky's films can be distinguished through looking glass of «The Ugly Swans». There are Pasternak's lines present both in the book and in the film: «Behind the turn, deep in the woods, the future ambushes me, certain as ever». There are the stars seen by the audience at the moment when the girl wipes a mirror in the final scene of the movie...
Maria Grositskaja
A review of «The Ugly Swans»

...«The old regime leaves, a new one advances»; this is what the Strugatzky's novel «The Ugly Swans» written in 1967 is about. Konstantin Lopushansky's new film is a screen version of that novel. Once again it proves that the time has changed, but the writers' thoughts have lost nothing in their urgency...
«Novoe Vremya» - «New Times» Journal
«Um vsegda krovavy risk» - «Wisdom is always death risk», 5.11.2006

...Apparently the most refined classics of Soviet and post-Soviet cinematography chose the Strugatzkys... ...The Strugatzkys have primarily been read not so much by educated or informed people as thinking ones. It was understood by Tarkovsky and Sokurov; it is known also to Hermann...

...The essence of the Strugatzkys' writings is clear to yet another follower of the semi-forgotten traditions of the unofficial Soviet art, - to Konstantin Lopushansky. "The Ugly Swans" are one more brick in the Strugatzkys' Great Wall. By the way, this director put his first stone into it over twenty years ago when he won the country-wide fame with his "Letters Of The Dead Man"; that script had been written with Boris Strugatsky's participation...

...The problem does not rest on the level of originality, but rather in the ideological choice: what is preferable, to be a swan or a duckling? To side with unfashionable "poetry" and "intellect" or with the masses? The first option is almost heroic: the swans' fate is the same as that of the "wetters". Their heads will finally roll: wisdom hurts...
Anton Dolin
«Nailutchshiye iz utyat» - «The Best Of Ducklings»
«Vedomosti» - «Reports», 493, 13.10.2006

...A very special atmosphere in the film is produced by Andrey Sigle's music performed with huge metal sheets fastened to intricate frames. They were noticed by Sigle at an avant-garde exhibition (where they were called "sound sculptures"). Plus the Tibetan flute creating the mood of a prayer and dismissal. Along with the torrents of water incessantly present in the frame, they result in a strange sensation and make the whole somewhat magnetic...
Svetlana Khokhryakova
"lskusstvo - territoriya obostrennykh samolyubiy" - "Art as an area of aggravated self-esteem"
Newspaper "Cultura" - "Culture", 40 12-18.10.2006

...No doubt, Lopushansky is a thinker, one of those who pays the price of pained conscience for the sad consequences of our at least ambiguous attempts to cultivate and adapt the environment...
...This is how the director perceives today's situation in the world, precisely reproduced in every, never casual, but rather elaborate frame. Even without sharing his Weltanschauung, one cannot fail to believe in the artificial world present on the screen in its artistic completeness. It is a frightening one, but also captivating with its refined light, plastic, and sound. That world sounds, sighs, groans, shudders, and trembles in order to get re-created in meditations and dreams...
Published in English on international web sites dealing with Russian cinematography. Konstantin Lopushanskii: The Ugly Swans (Gadkie lebedi, 2006)
Reviewed by Ol'ga Surkova© 2006

...«The Ugly Swans» by Konstantin Lopushansky is a special movie, unique for our time. This is fantasy for the wise...
Larissa Reznikova
«Tanetz Gadkikh Lebedey» - «Dance Of Ugly Swans»
14.08.2006 MK

...For Lopushansky, being a movie director is a fairly archaic job, a sort of spiritual service following traditions of Bergman and Tarkovsky. What only recently used to be a mark of being chosen, the sad dialectics of history made a brand of the derelict in the 1990s. Here, I wish to honor that maniacal persistence with which the director repeats his themes in all his products, despite the pressure of time and the changed concepts of the movie community, setting his own highest standards...
Paul Kuznetsov
«Deti indigo i tzarstvo mertvykh» - «Indigo Children And The Empire Of The Dead»
Magazine «Seans» - «Show», 19.10.2006

...First of all, «The Ugly Swans» represent modern cinematography shot in accordance with modern requirements to the techniques, to the sound (mark the excellent music by Andrey Sigle), displaying saturated frames, experienced camera, a decent number of highly remarkable (voluntary or not) hints towards various films of the recent past. This movie can be counted among thrillers as well as dramas; at the same time, it does not forget about fantasy seen here, thank God, not through visual effects, but in the very spirit inheriting a lot from the world of plentiful experiments in horror and trash...
Roman Korneyev,
«Nad Vsem Tashlinskom Bezoblatchnoye Nebo»
«Kinokadr» - «Shot»,06.09.2006

Konstantin Lopoushansky's works

(impressions, opinions)
.
.Lopushansky has a unique style as an author; his works can today be viewed as a
separate cultural phenomenon, as a trend in Russian cinematography.
Maria Smimova-Nesvitskaya
"Nevskoye vremya", February 5,2000

...Instead of dealing with everyday life, Lopushansky's attention gets drawn towards
philosophical issues; his movies are saturated with thought about mankind, its destiny,
and about the moral responsibility of humans for everything around them.
Vadim Brusyanin
"Televideniye", No.33, 2000

...Konstantin Lopushansky is a sign figure for Russian authored cinematography, a true
follower of his teacher Andrey Tarkovsky. However, his new movie "The Turn of the
Century" will hardly remind the audience of "The Dead Man's Letters", "The Visitor to a
Museum", or "The Russian Symphony" shot by a director with a vision of an Apocalypse,
a Doomsday. The slow sequence of close-ups introducing female faces, the psychological
movie immersed in presenting personalities resembles, if any thing, Bergman's "Person".
Michael Trofimenkov
"Pulse", October 2000

... Tarkovsky's student and an adept of stoical philosophy, Konstantin Lopushansky seems
to remain too immersed into his profession. Even while engaged in a lengthy monologue
in which ideas of art are interspersed with philosophical and musical terminology,
Lopushansky manages to stay inside his own "shell", and it is only the most patient
"naturphilosophers" hiding in the dark depth of the audience who can hope to see its soft
and delicate contents.
Tatyana Poznyak
"Sobaka.ru", No3/7,2001

..'In all of the post-Soviet cinematography, Lopushansky is the only one "who attempts to
assess historical shifts from a religious philosophical viewpoint, from a solid ground.
This allows him to notice separate trees in a dense forest and to draw inevitable
accusations of "moralizing". He has approached the thesis favored by "patriots", that of
the nation undergoing genocide and of its mentality, but he makes a different point: the
nation is not being destroyed by some unidentified enemy, but rather by ourselves. "This
is suicidal psychology," the professor says. "This is the psychology shared by half the
population of my country," replies the hero.
Valery Kitchin
"Izvestiya", June8,2001

...Lopushansky changes with every following movie which in itself is an unimaginable
luxury in Russia. Mass culture demands stability, be it one of a popular singer or a
theatrical director staging for "intellectuals". The ever-adapting director Lopushansky
authors movies on a good European level which assumes a degree of the audience's
sensitivity towards the changing style, nuances, and hints. In "The Turn of the Century",
Lopushansky addresses the metaphysical sources: the feeling of the -world harmony
however badly it might have been distorted; the clearness and transparency of the story; the impossibility to provide answers to eternal questions.
Michael Trofimenkov
"SK novosti", December 21,2001

... What concerns Lopushansky's new movie, it bleeds with the blood of those Russians
who have for the recent two centuries been interested in little but truly humanitarian
values. These values may have not been directly related to the reality, but they
nevertheless have never been betrayed by their bearers, retaining their ultimately
precious nature. Without a dream of the Divine Kingdom on Earth, Russia looks
castrated, devoid of its very special outlook, may it seem strange, admirable, or
unpleasant to outsiders.
Olga Surkova
"Iskusstvo kino". No. 11, 2001

... Meanwhile, Lopushansky is not one of those for who marginality is another hobby. The
global nature of his artistic claims has intensified instead of disappearing; one cannot
imagine Lopushansky or Sokurov as authors of minor projects following parallel
courses, documentaries, or short feature movies... As we are discussing "The Turn of the
Century", this turn, according to Lopushansky, can still take its time impossible to
specify. Like the end of the authored cinematography which has been proclaimed for
quite some time.
Andrey Plakhov
"Commersant", No. 13,2002

... What is "The Turn of the Century"? It is a movie outstanding from the viewpoint of its
setting, staging, acting, and the social understanding and responsibility rare in our
time...
Michael Trofimenkov
"Iskusstvo kino", No.4,2002
... The movie attracts, literally attracts with its pain, sincerity, honesty. Yes, life is an
ordeal; we simply don't like and even hate saying this.
Marina Murzina
"Argumenty i facty". No. 8,2002

...The director is engaged in a serious and uneasy dialogue with the audience. He
alienates whatever we know making its understanding require certain effort. He reminds
the people why they are present on the Earth, and how difficult it is to remain human.
Lopushansky trusts in the mission of cinematography. He never compromises; he
continues tolling his topic remaining true to his system of views, and this results in the
dramatics of his destiny in art.
"Kinoprocess", No.2,2002

Konstantin Lopoushansky's works
(impressions, opinions)

I think Lopoushansky to be a brilliant filmmaker. I am deeply interested in
watching him directing. It is thrilling to see him arranging a take, dealing with
actors. The way he shot the atomic catastrophe in "The Letters from a Dead Man"
made my heart ache. I put myself in those people's shoes, visualized this happening
to me. It is a rare thing in art. When making " Visitor to a Museum " he kept up his
high artistic level.
Alexay Gherman, film director, Russia
"Picture Show" # 1

The film made a striking impression on me, turned my soul inside out... As I
am leaving from Moscow I have a dream that every American might have a chance
of viewing "Letters from the Dead Man".
Gregory Peck, actor, USA
"Iskusstvo Kino" # 4. 1987
I find "The Letters from a Dead Man" one of summits of the achievements of
the world cinema.
Arkady Strugatsky, writer, Russia
"Ekran" ("Screen"), #17, 1986

"Letters from a Dead Man" is an outstanding visionary film. It transfers
future to the present day. The letters are addressed to all contemporary humanity.
Vim Wenders, film director, Germany
"Tip".1987

...When I saw "Letters from a Dead Man" in the cinema, not one person
moved until the last credit had faded.
Anyone looking for signs of a new life in the Soviet cinema should begin here.
Andrew Wilson
"Observer", September 21. 1986

A good knowledge of music and literature, an ability to fuse Dosloevsky with
Bradbury, cite Olivier Messiaen and Gabriel Faure makes Konslantin
Lopoushansky competent to create image, frame a take filling his protagonists in
sets. Treatment of the plot chosen and the plot itself are equally important in his work since like Bergman or Bresson whom he is in the habit of mentioning, he doesn't regard cinema as either a source of entertainment or an opportunity to
experiment with the style no matter how refined it might be.
Jean Roy
"Cannes-87", the official catalogue

The film director strives to adhere to Andrei Tarkovsky's tradition, his
obsession with moral problems. "Visitor to a Museum" is worth of being acclaimed
critically and by audience.
Marina Vladi, actress, France
"Life", 23 August, 1989

The only festival film Vim Wenders views is "Visitor to a Museum", which he
finds the focal point of the Festival. The reality persists in the theatre within two
hours holding its breath. While watching the two-hour film audience comes to
understand that films might be more than commodity, that is art, as essential as
bread.
"Visitor to a Museum" is cinema intended for future, apocalyptic cinema. It
departs from the post-perestroika realism, criticism of the existing socialism, silly-
speculative Hollywood cinema likewise. It deals with the collapse of the civilization
in the East as well as in the West. Lopoushansky's characters, brown, greyish-
yellow, their glance seems to be struck by acid, come out beyond the limits of the
technological reason that has already turned to the total insanity. Lopoushansky's
film is drama about salvation without salvation.
Mattias Matusek
"Spiegel", 24.07.1989

I was deeply impressed by what I saw. It was beyond my expectations.
"Visitor to a Museum" is an art film made by a distinguished film director, (hat
held my attention to the last frame.
Dr.Wolfgang Pachke
2nd German TV

/ am flabbergasted... "Visitor to a Museum" touches both heart and mind.
The director's way of thinking is convincing, his energy radiates from the film. But
what is amazing is that it allows for personal associations.
Dr.Norbert Schnaider, producer, Germany
"The first impressions", "Sojuzinfomkino'\ June 1989

3
...There is no way of disregarding the dramatic force of "Visitor to a
Museum" augmented by Alfred Shnitke's remarkable music, its ideological and
social magnitude.
Marcel Marten
"Le Film", 1990

Konstantin Lopoushansky doesn't hide his interest, syncretic by its nature, in
various religions. He regards the idea of the material progress rather than spiritual
that has evolved since the Renaissance, to be the beginning of the collapse.
Lorand Danielou

"Cahiers du Cinema", 1990
Lopoushansky appeals to the universal memory of mankind of the 20th
century retaining rather sensation of spiritual values lost that knowledge of the past.
Other than that his foresight can be termed as "recollections of future".
Andrei Plakhov, film critic, Russia
"Film", #8, 1989

Unlike film directors of the new generation making films, Lopoushansky
works in the old way "making cinema '\ Every new film of his is closely linked to the
previous one - even Bresson could have envied him. Here is a relic of art cinema.
What is more important is that Lopoushansky's cinema doesn't degrade or stagnate.
It is wonderful that grotesque, black humor, slightly frantic culturological gambling
are included in "J7ie Russian Symphony".
Andrei Plakhov
"Seans" ("Picture Show"), # 10, 1995

"77^ Russian Symphony" is the work of severe, nearly devastating self-
criticism". For the first time Konstantin Lopoushansky keeps himself aloof from his
protagonists, prepares and mocks at them (satire and sarcasm have never shown up
before in his films).
Michael Trofimenkov, film critic, Russia
"Scans" ("Picture Show"), # 10. 1995

Lopoushansky's feature is one of the distinguished ones made in 1994. It
displays irony and subtle feeling of hypocrisy. Really we laugh while parting with
our populist past. Intelligentsia that has always borne guilt to people, now may feel
comforted. Ttiroughout 75 years people did it best to release intelligentsia from that
burden of guilt. Alas, there is future for the newlyborn community indeed. Bravo,
Lopoushansky.
Sergei Sholokhov, film critic, Russia
"Seans" ("Picture Show"), # 10, 1995

Among the titles included in "Berlinale-Forum" the most forceful one is
Konstantin Lopoushansky 's "Russian Symphony", a many-faceted work in terms of
its aesthetics and contents.
Haike Kuen
"Frankfurter Rundshau", February 16, 1995

K. Lopoushansky's ^Russian Symphony" is voice in the wilderness, a
denunciation howl that can be compared by its force to P. Chaadaev 's prophetic
moans or the ones of the authors of "From the Low Depth". Tim film is prophetic
not only in the biblical interpretation of prophesy, but also in more run-off-the mill
prediction of the future. It came true several months after the release -of the film
when airbombs of our democracy and reform champions were dropped on children's
homes in Chechnya.
Lopoushansky exposed what we all knew but somehow tried to push to the
background of our consciousness, that lie was the main element of the recent
Russian revolution like of the preceding Russian cataclysms. He did it virtuously by
removing all social and time layers beginning from the present time down to the
battle of the Kulikovo Field.
A.Eremin, N.Sirivlya
"Iskusstvo Kino", # 2, 1995