I Dream of Genie
CONTEXT - This Week in Arts and Ideas from The Moscow Times
A new youth comedy featuring a wish-granting genie in a Sprite can tries to be hip, funny and stylish â with limited success.
By Tom Birchenough Published: February 11, 2005
The shadow of British director Guy Ritchie, who earned fame with his offbeat gangster comedies like "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and "Snatch," continues to loom large over the Russian youth movie production scene.
The last two years have seen Ruslan Baltser's "Don't Even Think" and its sequel "Don't Even Think: Independence Play." The latest film to continue this trend is Ilya Khotinenko's "Call Me Genie" (Zovi Menya Dzhinn), playing in wide release across Moscow.
Stylistic shared elements abound, many of which recall Ritchie: fast cutting, energetic music, use of a split screen or dropping into black and white, as well as a conscious attempt to be cool and contemporary, not to mention comical. Being cool, contemporary and comical is no bad thing in itself, of course. The only problem is that the style Ritchie perfected in his time (he went badly off course with his third film, starring his wife Madonna), Khotinenko plays with considerably less flair.
The story behind this romp is pretty limited. Three Moscow friends face a variety of dilemmas as New Year approaches, among them the fact that the would-be girlfriend of one of them is heading off for a vacation in Goa -- a location that seems to have become a favorite with some Muscovites -- with another partner.
The solution? As the film's title suggests, it's a genie. Only these days, genies don't come out of bottles, but out of soft drink cans. And in a display of product placement that's excessive even by local standards -- as in some parts of last year's "Night Watch" (Nochnoi Dozor), to provide just one example -- they are cans of Sprite, a brand featured ubiquitously, along with others, throughout the film.
In due time, this mixed-up, but sometimes quite attractive threesome, who do have some energy behind them, are transported to Goa, where they enjoy the beach life and its raves, find the girl, brush up against some local (though actually Russian) authority figures (read: gangsters) known only by their monikers, like "Ufa" and "Uralmash."
The puzzle behind this derivative farrago is the presence of Pyotr Buslov in the role of the genie. In addition to his acting career, Buslov is best known as the director of the 2003 cult film "Boomer." But if that was a genuine cult movie, the same can hardly be said of "Call Me Genie." Buslov looks quizzical through much of the role and eager to get away â he will be released from his duties as a genie when his clients cast their last wish, which turns out to be to get home to Red Square in time for New Year. This is probably explained by the fact that his superiors, to whom he as a genie must answer, are a group of animated fish in an aquarium, voiced over in a style reminiscent of pronouncements from the Kremlin.
Given Buslov's talents as a genie, he can conjure up some quite impressive visual effects â but only quite impressive in a film that doesn't appear to have the technology to back up its intentions. The cinematography isn't bad, but catching local Indian color when shooting scenes on Goa beaches is probably not that much of a challenge. The film's editing and rhythm are distinctly uneven, as is the sound design â which, for a film based heavily on music, is not that impressive. Or perhaps the projectionist in the theater where this critic caught the film was just having an off-day.
For the record, Buslov was injured in a motorcycle accident during shooting, but he's back in good health and his sequel to "Boomer" should arrive on local screens in the near future. Also for the record, the promotion company behind "Genie" has received a great deal of flak for its heavy-handed attitude to press comment, threatening to bar journalists from the premiere unless they agreed to provide favorable coverage. Ending the record, Khotinenko is the son of director Vladimir Khotinenko, whose last film, the submarine drama "72 Meters," performed very well at the Russian box office a year ago.
Youth comedies may be a staple of film production the world over â and traditionally critics rarely rave over them -- but the art of handling the particular genre of parody is one which has to be finely learned. Sadly, director Khotinenko hasn't quite done this. To enjoy "Genie," audiences should bear in mind the title of one of its generic predecessors: Don't even think.
"Call Me Genie" (Zovi Menya Dzhinn) is playing in Russian at Zaryadye.
