Review on the movie “The Serf”
A spoiled son of a rich Russian oligarch takes life for granted and lives it up to the very limits. Grisha has gone too far and now he faces a real sentence. To save his son from the prison, the desperate father is ready to do anything to make a man out of Grisha. Together with a psychologist he works out a crazy but a sure-fire plan. The dilapidated Russian village would embody a real Russian village of 19th century where the nasty “kid” would learn right from wrong.
To make it look real a car accident is set up where Grisha supposedly gets injured so badly that miraculously finds himself in another epoch. In reality a sophisticated psychological experiment is carried out. By making the son a simple serf Grisha who lives in a stable and serves a noble boyar family, the psychologist and the father hope to change the rich boy. Grisha is surrounded by actors whose goal is to change his personality and attitude to life. Installing numerous cameras all over the fake countryside, the film crew is watching the serf’s every step, analyzing it with the help of the psychologist. Grishka is to learn how to behave and cherish simple pleasures of life, work and also find a real love.
The plot looks brand new, doesn’t it? We all have seen so many trite movies about bad boys who learn a life lesson and get back to normal that it is a piece of cake for us to predict every other scene of the movie. Here it doesn’t work this way. The twists of the plot are very unorthodox and sometimes even unpredictable what engrosses you in the film more and more. What also makes this movie a worth watching comedy are the jokes. The laughter of the audience is one of the first benchmarks that distinguishes a well-made comedy and I can say some jokes really cracked people up.
The idea of film within the film is not a new one but, as for me, it is always interesting to observe how the movie is made and what bloopers can occur during the shooting time. If you are as curious as I am you’d definitely appreciate some scenes that reveal a filming process.
The cherry on top of this New Year comedy are young starring actors: Milos Bikovic, Sasha Bortich, Kirill Nagiev, Ivan Okhlabistin and others. My personal love is the Serbian actor who finally got his leading part in a Russian movie (I hope this movie would be a great start for talented Milos). The starring cast perfectly convey the message of the movie and make the audience not only enjoy the good-laugh comedy but also realize the existing problem of rich spoiled kids who are lost in the modern world of lust and temptations.
I don’t want to spill the beans so I stop here. If you still hesitant whether to go or not, stop it and make a beeline to the cinema. You’d have no regrets ;)
