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Kolya is a good film from good people, people thinking more about important things in life than about the revenue.Being the former member of the Soviet block, they are excused. Hell, the film is even immensely enjoyable. OK, it is somewhat predictable, but it has enough good humor and just what I love - HUMAN faces (as opposed to idiots), to more than justify its existance.
But of course it never enjoyed wide popularity here, and as well it should not. It has no football. No underdog winning at the end. And perhaps most important - it has no US-written film music!!!!! It seems like all Hollywood soundtracks are written by the same soulless machine, and if there is another thing as objectionable as the Hollywood syrup, it is its music.
So Kolya was doomed from the start. I am sure it produced pitiful revenue here.
But all is not lost for it yet. I think with must few minor touches it can be made a commercial success.
First - rename the film. "Kevin" is much easier to remember, and when people don't remember, they ain't go.
Second - there MUST be an obligatory "Based on True Story" at the beginning. That alone is guaranteed to boost the crowds to something like 20% or record-breaking.
Third - the subs must go. It is completely unimportant what the characters will be saying - as long as they say it in a familiar language, and just a notch above the PG-13 level.
And last - the audience should not be left hanging uneasily at the end... and we all know how to do it. No need to waste the film reshooting the ending, though. All we need to do is to add the text at the end. Something incredibly stupid, but soothing, like: "Fifteen years later Kolya, a graduate of the Frunze High Military Academy, commanded his tank regiment on the second wave of invasion", "Kolya's mother married a Saudi millionaire and is now enjoying worry-free life in Paris", "Louka died at the age of 58 of complications to gonorrhea. He was burried with his chello. No one came to his funeral"
Of course if we could add short segment of aging Kolya, now Kevin, dragging his feet baboon-style towards the Louka's grave, fifty members of his family following at safe distance, no one is going to complain and accuse us of plagiarism. But that is strickly optional.
I can assure you that these will create new life for an otherwise promising early effort.
Follow Ups:
Good, good, I like it. Venom is good! When are you going to Prague?
Hey, Victor, we did like the Il Postino, and it had a foreign title. Actually I believe young Kolya did pretty well, it was advertised in NY and played in a few theaters. I even cruised through it a couple of times when clicking for something. Strange you missed it then.
A story like Kolya's is timeless. I knew it'd bring a smile and a tear a few times to you and Mrs.VK.
Prague is one of the places I would love to visit, don't know when though. Maybe when we get a strong Czech distributor? Plus the CZ brand means good things to me, and not just in arms.Watching Kolya is akin to reading Checkov - there is warmth and seeming simplicity to the story, and you walk away feeling good without that LA slop and drool all over your new shirt.
...the filming ?Glad you did like it ,even if you are (were) the occupants...
Start with Checkov.
Just few days ago his museum in Yalta, his former home, was vandalized. Some bastards started hitting his marble statue, then it fell and crashed.I don't know who the sculptor was, but this is such shame I can't express myself.
Kolya is a good film. Its charm is not in some new hight that it was able to reach, or in blazing some new trails - it has none of that if placed next to the best movies already made.
What is good about it is the honesty and its love of mankind that come through strongly. And today when many movies go to the utmost extremes in their parading all sorts of deviants and morons, this is refreshing.
in one word this film has a face,is human, has seasons..you can watch the river flow...Every where the same ..vandalism & idiots & stupidity & cretinism...boy oh boy..what a world.
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