Sputnik
Sputnik
Sputnik
Directed by:
Egor AbramenkoCinematography:
Maksim ZhukovComposer:
Oleg KarpachevCast:
Oksana Akinshina, Pyotr Fyodorov, Fyodor Bondarchuk, Anton Vasilev, Анна Назарова, Vasiliy Zotov, Natalya ShvetsVOD (1)
Plots(1)
Due to her controversial methods, young doctor Tatiana Yurievna (Oksana Akinshina) is on the precipice of losing her medical license. Her career may not be over, though. After she’s recruited by the military, Tatiana is brought to a secure science research facility to assess a very special case, that of Konstantin Sergeyevich (Pyotr Fyodorov), a cosmonaut who survived a mysterious space accident and has returned to Earth with a unique condition: there’s something living inside of him that only shows itself late at night. The military has nefarious plans for it. Tatiana wants to stop it from killing Konstantin. And the creature itself thrives on destruction. (IFC Midnight)
(more)Reviews (3)
Sputnik is an American-style science fiction horror film with a pseudo-alien at a military research station in the Kazakh desert (set in 1983), conceived by the Russians as a human drama about a parasite-afflicted cosmonaut and the scientist who wants to help him because she has fallen in love with him. But with American-style visuals, genre clichés and archetypal characters that we already know from elsewhere (the inhumane colonel in command, the enthusiastic scientist with a conscience, etc.). The production is okay and the actors are fine, but the viewing experience is unsurprising and a bit yawn-inducing.
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A solid Russian sci-fi film with a nice main monster. After crashing in orbit, a cosmonaut brings back something alien from outer space and is imprisoned, examined and tested. At first glance the film seemed like it was going to be a rip-off of Alien, but the Russians go their own way and it's fine. The film is suspenseful and atmospheric rather than action packed (three scenes had me holding my breath nicely), and there was some gore, with one scene being downright delicious – I watched it three times immediately. The film is of course also on a great technical level, the thumping music is excellent, which adds to the cramped atmosphere, and I enjoyed the actors as well. Similarly-tuned genre films come out once a year with luck, so despite the minor flaws (the creature could have done more mischief) I'm happy with this one. Story***, Action***, Humor>No, Violence***, Entertainment****, Music****, Visuals****, Atmosphere****, Suspense****.7.5/10.
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I enjoyed this film about a Soviet encounter with a space parasite (or symbiote) a lot. I managed to see past the logic holes this time, thus being able to enjoy the whole thing without suffering any cultural shock from not hearing the otherwise ubiquitous English. Plus, to my surprise, I found that I didn't need subtitles all that much, I even sometimes noticed inaccuracies in them. So, for various reasons, I'm giving it four stars.
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