Free Pussy Riot. End of Transmition.

Clandestine members of Pussy Riot

I usually blog about the media here, so this is stepping out of bounds a little bit but not really because there was a documentary made about the whole Pussy Riot fiasco called Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer (2013) released by HBO films so I can basically tell my grievances through that if you're really that uptight about it.

I'm writing this today because today is the 1 year anniversary of the incarceration of three key band members of Pussy Riot by the Russian government, two of which are under 25. Some back story coming up. 

the thee members on trial; Nadya Tolokonnikova, Katya Samutsevich, and Masha Alyokina, mocking the courts for the ridiculousness of the situation. Good for them!

I'm a first generation immigrant, born in Russian (thankfully not into the Putin regime of totalitarian dictatorship) and immigrated to the United States at 7 in 1991 as communism was falling apart all over the place. Now what Russia has is a very close environment to Stalinist communism bordering Fascism with Putin's reign as supreme fucktard of the universe. Pussy Riot are a punk band made up of angry chicks with the most hilariously bizarre ironic and iconoclastic attitudes. They are vehemently opposed to Putin (as most people in Russia and all over the world are) and were arrested when they performed in one of Moscow's most famous cathedrals in February of 2012 and charged with get this 'public hoolganism'. That must have been some shit Putin invented when fishing shirtless high on Desomorphine and vodka. 

Lead singer, Nadya Tolokonnikova always put on a brave face even when behind bars to show the world, and more importantly her captors that they weren't about to break her any time soon.

Three of the band's key members, Nadya Tolokonnikova, Katya Samutsevich, and Masha Alyokina (I'm calling them by their informal names as a symbol of my solidarity) stood trial in Russian court (which is an oxymoron in itself) and were eventually (of course) convicted because unlike the good ol' US of A, where we just let killers back on the streets despite damning evidence (whole other blog post, some other time) in Russia, you're guilty until proven innocent, and if Putin himself is trying to put you behind bars, honey you are going to spend time in Siberia doing hard labor, away from your family, your children (Nadya has a 2 year old daughter) and be thankful that the government is not going after them as well, which it very well might do. 'Public hooliganism' carries with it a mandatory 2 year sentence term, so let's think about this objectively as intelligent people with brians; a few girls performed some punk music in a cathedral, condemning Putin. They didn't get naked, burn the Russian flag, or run through the streets armed with Molotov cocktails threatening to overthrow the government. For that, they are now in prison for two years. And while we as Americans could go into any denominational church or synagogue for that matter, put on some Bush and Cheney masks (I don't know how relevant that would be...ok Anthony Weiner masks) and do the exact same thing and our rights would be protected under the 1st amendment, not so for these three very young chickas.

So seriously, be thankful you live in a country where the highest act of treason is burning your country's flag, and even then if you have a good lawyer you stand a fairly good chance of being acquitted on all counts. And be thankful for all your freedoms like being able to watch the Daily Show's correspondents make fun of congress's incompetence and the ability to shout whatever the fuck you feel about Obamacare out of your car window to any passing stranger. Because in Russia, you breath a nasty word about Putin and you're lucky you're not tasting cyanide in  your tea the next day. Am I right Alexander Litvinenko? 

The balaclavas worn by Pussy Riot have become an international symbol for the fight for freedom of expression.

This insanity has to end. People are marching daily chanting 'Rascia bez Putina' which basically means Putin go fuck yourself, or in the literal sense; 'Russia without Putin', I'll go a step further and say 'Mir bez Putina'; World without Putin. Get him on a big jet plane and set him as our first live test subject to Mars. He can be ultimate dictator over their many craters and waterless river beds. He'll love it, and we here on earth will all live in a better place. Fight the power! Free Pussy Riot! And in the words of their leader, Nadya I'd like to end with the following: 'Open your doors, take off your uniforms, come taste freedom with us.'

Below a trailer for the aformentioned documentary: 

Girls Write A Show For Girls...In Prison.

Piper (Taylor Schilling) and her one time lover Alex (Laura Prepon) take a minute to listen to the Piper's scumbag boyfriend exploit her prison experience for a writing gig on the radio.

Finally started watching Orange is the New Black (2013 - ) which is on only every other billboard in Los Angeles county and actually getting good reviews, and it's such a relief to be feasibly impressed with a show. Hasn't happened in a while. Especially considering most shows featured on Netflix are overrated and Netflix originals like Arrested Development Season 4 was a ridiculous let-down.

Orientation...yawn.

I know that everyone on the face of the planet has gone on the 'overrated' train with this one just because people like it and it's way overexposed at the moment, but you know what? It's not half bad, and if ya did your goddamn research, you'd know it's actually based on a memoir a woman wrote about her year of incarceration. So it wasn't just plucked from obscurity by some TV executive because they needed to fill that niche of lesbian prison shows and they were clear out.
Here's what I like, though the writing is somewhat trite, I can relate to the main character. She's on the cusp of 30 and is realizing there are serious amends to be made for living life so dangerously while she was still able to  back in the day. No I'm not an ex-con mofo's but I get what her character arc is. 
And that's basically what I really enjoy about it; the writing of the characters. As a writer who writes excellent characters (horn toot) and sucks at structure, I can fully appreciate that even if some of them are somewhat cliche.

'Red' (Kate Mulgrew) and Miss Claudette (Michelle Hurst) share some home-made hooch after hours. Two of my favorite characters.

I like that Taylor Schilling's character Piper Chapman is the 'straight man' of the series, a deadpan white girl stuck in a prison full of nut jobs and jaded inmates. One of my favorite characters is Galinka or 'Red' (Kate Mulgrew) who does such a superb Russian accent I was surprised to hear she was actually American, usually, Russian accents are totally butchered, especially by American actors. She runs the kitchen and is basically queen bee, whom everyone wants to please, and through her backstory we learn how ironic that really is.

Suzanne 'Crazy Eyes' Warren (Uzo Aduba) is one of the funniest eccentrics on the show.

The love story that develops between inmate Daya (Dascha Polanko) and one of the prison guards, Bennett (Matt McGorry) is particularly touching and one that I would consider going to prison for in order to experience. It doesn't seem contrived and that's always a good thing.
Anyway the best thing about it, is just like in a Joseph Mankiewicz film, the women have the best roles, and are the most dynamic. If you don't get this parallel then you're an idiot. The interesting part of it is, is that now you can tell that it's a group full of women writers sitting in a writers room thinking this stuff up hopefully with a giant picture of Nora Ephron as their patron saint hanging on the bearing wall with scented candles decorating her beautiful aura.

The very talented cast of characters.

I feel like Nora Ephron herself could have written this show and that's comforting, it's very difficult to combine black comedy with a hint of tragedy, pathos, and unpredictable character arcs, something only the Great Ephron was able to achieve, and I'm glad that this is a show finally for women by women that is NOT on the Lifetime network. Bravo Netflix. I now forgive you for the 4th season of Arrested Development. It's unique and wildly original. It's not just for chicks don't get me wrong, I think it's universally funny and challenging. Aside from that it's just plain old brazen and down the wall unapologetic. It gets my thumbs up. I'm excited to see what becomes of it.

Below some clips and interviews. Enjoy! 

Madonna Can't Do Anything

Madonna's direction: Ok now kiss her but be really uncomfortable about it, and try way too hard...perfect.

I know I'm a little late on this sentiment, but here we go. What CAN Madonna do? Well she can sip tea, pretend she's Jewish and generally annoy us on any given day but that's about it. I don't care about her music, lets talk about her 'directing'. I finally sat down to watch W/E (2011) today because I've been on a masochistic streak of late and it was on Netflix Instant. I quite like Andrea Riseborough who plays the man trap Wallis Simpson who causes the biggest crisis in the British Monarchy before Princess Di and Prince Charles divorced. Now, rich white people problems are always fascinating, especially when they're in love. There's almost always a problem in the bedroom, whether someone's too kinky or not kinky enough, or someone is having an affair with a hat check girl or worse...someone who's nouveau riche. 

Either way, Madonna is always digging like a pig for truffles for that tiny glimmer of romance amongst an otherwise dull and drab story. Here's what basically happened. Edward VIII was a milquetoast do-nothing prince and heir to the British throne, terribly busy with throwing lavish dinner parties for society friends. Wallis Simpson was twice divorced poor white trash who eventually merited an invitation to meet the dilettante. After that they fell in love, the royal family hated her (of course, since when do they like people?) and forced Edward to abdicate his thrown, hence shit like The King's Speech (2011) was able to be made about his even less interesting brother.

Wallis and Edward on their wedding day.

The entire time I was watching it, I was thinking; 'If I see one more shot out of focus come into focus I'm going to seriously blow chunks' that's basically don't of Film School 101, and what the fuck is up with all the grainy handhelds? Like this is some gritty indie drama about junkies and prostitutes. Aesthetically this movie is such a fail, even though it desperately tries to convince us that Edward and Wallis were actually way more attractive than they actually were.

The story is all told through a young lady named Wally Wintrhop (Abbie Cornish) and we all know how much I love her. She's the only one really really trying in this film to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, but it's to no avail. She plays a woman who like worked at Sotheby's at one point and now is disappointed in her marriage to a rich successful and handsome doctor (I mean, who wouldn't be?) so she frequents her old gallery where they just happen to be auctioning off the entire W/E collection. And then there's a subplot about her fucking a handsome Russian security guard for absolutely no reason at all, but that's to be expected when the screenplay is absolutely for shit.

If I glance through the view finder then it will appear as if I'm a real director.

Don't get me wrong, there is romance in this story, the actual story, all of which the film misses. There is nothing erotic, refined, or sensual the whole way through, it's so redundant and banal I ACTUALLY fell asleep...And then I woke up nauseous because there was another dreaded out-of-focus handheld I was waking up to, and The Sex Pistols' 'Pretty Vacant' was playing in a scene set in 1935. F to the AIL.

...Aaaaaand trailer. 

Seductress Pick: Olga Kurylenko

Olga Kurylenko at this year's Venice Film Festival.

This might be the first time in Filth Screen history that I've done two consecutive Seductress Picks in a row, but I'm really excited about Terrence Malick's new film To the Wonder (2012) (wow, that's a sentence I never thought I'd say) and I wanted to write about its lead Olga Kurlylenko who is easily one of the hottest young actresses in the business right now. 

You might say I'm biased because she's one of my people from the good ol' USSR, but she's actually Ukrainian so we really don't have all that much in common...sorry, not a big fan of the Ukraine, but let's stay focused. 

Kurylenko is a Bond girl, so you would think this is an easy post to do, Bond girl on Filth Screen, the blog writes itself, but it's more complicated then that. Only because I choose to make it so but whatever. Miss Olga was definitely blessed to be born in the high end of the gene pool. Beautiful brunette locks of thick hair, enormous bright green eyes, and a body built for sin, and close to being a solid 6 feet tall, she was practically a shoe-in for Bond girl status...or a porn star trajectory so she clearly made the right choice.

She doesn't seem like one that would be cast in a Terrence Malick film. He's kind of a snob. He goes for Charlotte Rampling or Jessica Chastain types. He's not big on conventionally hot models. But apparently to her, he 'hypnotized' her so maybe there's our answer.

Kurylenko in a sensual yet earthy editorial photo.

Anyway, I don't have too much to say about her other than she's beautiful and I think she has a bright future ahead of her outside of cocaine parties and downward spirals leading to an unimaginable abyss of unhappiness despair and rehab that usually accounts for being the young, hot, new Hollywood thing, but she seems like she has a good head on her shoulders, and in 3 years went from Quantum of Solace (2008) eye and penis candy to distinguished Film Festival fodder, so she's going to be just fine. I've never really seen her 'perform', I mean it doesn't take formal acting training at RADA to be a bond girl, but I'm guessing in To the Wonder (2012) she's very profound and serious and made-under. And when she speaks she's actually pretty coherent and interesting, who'd have thunk? It's usually impossible to be that physically stunning and to have more than air blowing between the two ears, but she's managing to prove that fake statistic wrong. She's got potential, and is probably the only reason why I'll be buying a ticket to To the Wonder (2012). She has a Yvonne De Calro/Sophia Loren vibe about her and brings back a sense of Old Hollywood glamour nostalgia to the big screen. She's not unconventional or strange which is highly popular right now, and even though she takes brazen photographs and always looks like she's in the middle of seducing you, she's actually pretty seemingly mellow and down to earth. Na Zdrovya Olga!

Below, clip of her promoting To the Wonder (2012) at the Venice Film Festival a few days ago.

Keira Knightley Butchers Yet Another Literary Classic

Is this the scene where she has an orgasm while fully clothed? Ahhh yes, I remember how Tolstoy wrote about it fondly.

You might guess that I'm pretty biased when it comes to adapting Russian literature for the screen which is almost always impossible to do, and especially when it takes place in the city I was born in, St. Petersburg. But nothing has yet been quite such a slap in the face until the new Anna Karenina (2012) trailer hit and I thought, 'wow, it's like Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette (2005) had sex with Across the Universe (2007) and had an abortion all over my face.

Let's start at the beginning because my list of grievances goes on forever so I'm going to try to make this as brief as I can. It's difficult for me to see anyone in the west adapt Russian literature, particularly one of the greatest books in Russian history because Russians like to write really really long books. 'Anna Karenina' is 8 volumes; each volume about 300 pages. So um...a 2-hour movie is just not going to cut it. Check that box, now moving on to the anorexic elephant in the room. 

Baroness Varvara Ivanovna Ikskul von Hildenbandt , whom it is said Anna Karenina is based on. Clearly there's a resemblance...not.

If there is an actress I despise more than Kristen Stewart, it's Keira Knightly. To me, everything she does is wrong and somehow cringe-worthy, to the point where it seems beyond ridiculous to even conceive of men killing each other to be with her. She always has that confused blow-fish look and I'm tired of counting the ribs in her mid-section. The director is Joe Wright, who is more or less obsessed with Keira, much like John Hughes was unhealthily enamored with Molly Ringwald. At some point you have to read the book and seriously consider who would be right for the part and who would stick out like sore ditz. No way does Keira have the psychological depth to play a tragic heroine on par with Anna Karenina, I wouldn't even cast her as Sophie. She needs to get her bony ass back to RADA and work on that Russian accent for a few more decades. 

I think this dress is from the Vera Wang bridal collection from last year. Also, not very excited about Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Vronsky. Please.

Speaking of, why is it she'll put on a Russian accent (and not a very good one) for the Cronenberg film, but for this one (where it really matters) eh...she'll just use her natural speaking voice. Bitch please. Every time she speaks in the trailer I'm sitting there thinking...yeah not buying it, and aren't you late for cheerleading practice? Just because you throw the prom queen into a period costume, doesn't mean she's going to pull it off, and even if she does, on behalf of my people I can say right now before the film is even released, we're not on board. 

Side note, please stop trying to squeeze Keira Knightly into corsets. Has she been in a film that doesn't require them since Bend it Like Beckham (2002)? (and aside from Atonement (2006)?) She's comically too thin for them. I think it's an aesthetic choice so that the audience gets the illusion that she's stacked. It's probably in her contract somewhere.

Here's the blasted trailer. 

The Women Karamazov: An Analysis of the 1958 American Adaptation

It's going to be difficult for me to do a review on this film without getting into the source material. It remains my favorite piece of fiction, and I was pleasantly surprised when first watching this considering the extensive effort that was put into being true to the philosophical nature of Dostoevsky. Considering Americans always royally fuck up any good literature (especially Russian) when making it a Hollywood thing, The Brothers Karamazov (1958), dir. Richard Brooks, is a refreshing adaptation and yeilds a comparison of sexual prowess and Mulveyain seduction; Katya (Claire Bloom) and Grushenka (Maria Schell).

Here's a little background. Katya (Katerina Ivanovna) is a lady in all respects. She comes from money, and is madly in love with the oldest brother Dmitri.

Claire Bloom is more or less perfect for this part. She's whimsical, demure, lovely, but not gorgeous. Also, she's a bit of an ice princess. She's nice to look at but you wouldn't actually want to tap that. Her hair is cropped tightly behind her head, her dresses are very proper and somewhat smarmy. She definitely has that gentle touch, but it seems foreboding as if any minute she would turn into a venus fly trap and eat a man whole.

Contrasted to her is the free spirited, tenacious, Grushenka (Argafena Alexandrovna). She's a vagabond of a woman, a lady, but wild and rebellious. She is the owner of a tavern, and is having an affair with the elder Karamazov, the father (played by Lee J. Cobb). She soon seduces Dmitri (Yul Brynner) after she buys up his debts accumulated from his father, and he tracks her down to discuss it with her. An excellent exchange between the two goes:

Dmitri: Stop! Wait!

Grushenka: Yes Lieutenant, is that an order? Oh you have come to pay me the money you owe me? Or you have come to beat me? I might like that.

She takes him to a tavern on the outskirts of town and he blows 500 rubles to have a gipsy party with her. She seals the deal when she does a seductive dance in her corset with a gipsy scarf.

The role was originally intended for Marilyn Monroe, who at the time was sick of the menial projects 20th Century Fox was sending her direction and was taking classes under Lee Strasberg at the Actor's Studio, wanting to become a serious actress. And let's face it, how perfect would that have been. As her husband at the time, Arthur Miller had stated; 'everything about her was controversial'. Ergo, Grushenka was the ideal role for her at the time. But for some reason or another, she backed out and the role went to Maxamilian Schell's older sister, Maria. She was pretty enough, great bosom, and a lyrical voice, but she was no Monroe. Nevertheless, she proved to be a good opposite to Claire Bloom's well-mannered Katya.

In this analysis, we can argue that both women as opposite as they are of each other can both be considered Mulveyian, or Haskellian for that matter.

Both exemplify the castration concept that Mulvey theorized about but by different means.

Grushenka is the obvious Mulvey/Haskell incarnation as she is threatening to the male spectator considering how little regard she has for the status quo and 'a woman's place', She is rogue, rebellious, and unapologetic. She seduces not only Dmitri, but also his father, and inadvertently causes a significant rift between the two which ends with Father Karamazov's murder, and Dmitri being wrongfully accused of it. In this, she becomes the catalyst for the great moral conflict of the story of the Brothers Karamazov. She not only causes men to question their choices and beliefs, but is actually capable of transforming them into her idea of a good human being, and a good partner.

Katya on the other hand is threatening because of her stoicism. She is neither affected nor hurt when Dmitri is put on trial for the murder of her father, and also indifferent to his younger brother Ivan's advances towards her. She seems completely impenetrable, and is the only one who does not bat an eye to change herself regarding the new circumstances that engulf the characters in the story. Even Ivan (Richard Basehart), a stubborn atheist ends up recanting his beliefs when he realizes what is what in the whole conflict and Dmitri's demise. But she keeps her cool, and even ends up taking revenge on Dmitri for cheating on her by acting as a witness for the prosecution at his trial.

It can be seen as Grushenka is the catalyst for Dmitri's demise, while Katya is the villain who attempts to completely destroy him afterwards.

Maria Schell as Grushenka on the left, Claire Bloom as Katya on the right. If you watch the film, you will notice there is much more to this distinction than just their physical attributes. 

And while both parts are those that young ingenues dream of playing one day, the more significant is obviously Grushenka. At the time this film was made, it was an opportunity to play a character so opposing of the standards of the times (America in the 1950's). She symbolizes sexual power; one that is incorruptible but is capable of corruption of men's souls. This kind of power is exactly what we as spectators simultaneously admire and fear. All this said, it is actually still played down from what her character is like in the novel. It is a bit of a glossed over Grushenka who is a flirt and tease, while the book portrays her as an indelible feminine force.

I would recommend this film, not only for Maria Schell, but because of how the entire cast is able to accurately translate the characters they play into performance. Dostoevsky is notorious for being poorly translated into English, but even more notorious for being just about the most difficult material to be adapted for the screen. His books are volumes long, very dense, and very philosophical. But the task is still to this day intriguing to filmmakers. And none has before or since done better in my opinion than this film.