The North Wind (2021)

The North Wind: Directed by Renata Litvinova. With Mariya Berdinskikh, Ulyana Dobrovskaya, Sofya Ernst, Mikhail Gavashely. The matriarchal clan led by gorgeous Margarita enters a turbulent period when her son loses his beloved fiancée.

“Summaryu003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA chronicle of the decline of a family, with a dazzling and baroque staging, far from realism, where Chekhovu0026#39;s theater, the aesthetics of Wes Anderson and Peter Greenaway, the absurd, magical realism and noir are combined. A kind of fairy tale in the middle of the snow, in an imaginary kingdom where some live a curious dimension of time.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eReviewu003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film takes place in an imaginary and icy kingdom ruled by women and portrays a series of New Yearu0026#39;s meetings in the mansion of the clan led by Margarita (Renata Litvinova), the scene of growing family and love conflicts after an accidental death.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film does not hide its theatrical origin, since it is based on a play by Litvinova herself. It takes place almost entirely in the strange family mansion. The death of one of the characters unleashes a kind of curse and growing tensions and conflicts in that family order, steadfastly directed by Margarita.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut the treatment of these conflicts is very far from realism. Litvinova puts on a staging where she combines Chekhovu0026#39;s theater, Wes Anderson and Peter Greenawayu0026#39;s aesthetics, the absurd, the fairy tale, the noir, the magical realism… and the Addams Fools. The decadence of the characters is reflected not only in their dynamics but also in the rarefiedness of the same house always besieged by cold and snow. In a necessarily episodic story (due to its ellipsis that jump from one new year to another), the drama is consolidated when it focuses on one of the protagonistu0026#39;s most recurring conflicts with one of the characters, one of the few common threads between a series of subframes more or less successful. Every family dinner is necessarily a ritual.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFrom the aesthetic point of view, the setting is dazzling (the costumes are incredible) and at times overwhelming and even bizarre baroque, where we cannot help but notice a certain divism on the part of the director: Renata Litvinova has beauty and talent as if to captivate us with his manipulative Margarita in this kingdom that refers to an imperial Russia and a curious dimension of time.”