In the most precarious times of human history, there is a mixing of meanings, concepts, and even times themselves. Sometimes it is not clear where the Light is and where the Darkness is. And in this monstrous confusion, when the Light becomes hard, Darkness, oddly enough, comes to its aid: “I am part of that force that always wants evil and always does good.” Yes, yes, we are talking about “The Master and Margarita”. About the film by Mikhail Lokshin and Roman Kantor, a film that excited everyone: those who read Bulgakov’s novel and, naturally, do not accept any pictorial and semantic versions, and those who did not read it, but really want to be on the agenda with their statements – from delight to demands to cancel the film – depending on which camp the “reviewers” belong to.
(It is quite possible that this is a cleverly exaggerated production PR campaign.)
But let’s get back to the film. In mixing stories (which, as we know, give rise to meaning) and times, the filmmakers outdid the writer. Essentially, this film is a novel within a novel, which is in a script, which is, accordingly, in a film.
The master here is clearly Bulgakov himself. Evgeny Tsyganov in this role is subtle, melancholy and convincing: his Master is not broken by the system: even mentally disfigured, he manages to restore his novel (after all, what is written with a pen cannot be cut down with an ax) and leave it to the people. A novel about Pilate and Yeshua, Woland and his retinue, the Master and Margarita. The meaning of Light and resistance to the violence of power, the meaning of freedom of creativity, the meaning of Darkness, which “does good,” the meaning of love, without which nothing at all and at any time is unthinkable, sound in the film with varying strength. The strength depends both on the skill of the actors (Yulia Snigir is an absolute Margarita!), and on the accents and additions made by the authors of the film in accordance with our time.
The cinematic techniques that make the film “The Master and Margarita” almost a blockbuster are consistent with the times. Well, nowadays there’s nowhere without entertainment.
It’s just a pity that Woland’s retinue looks rather pale, which cannot be said about Woland himself (German actor August Diehl in style).
Well, these are the times these days…
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