The Saratov Approach (2013)

The Saratov Approach: Directed by Garrett Batty. With Corbin Allred, Maclain Nelson, Nikita Bogolyubov, Alex Veadov. This riveting drama tells the true story of two young American Mormon missionaries held captive and brutalized for a week in a remote part of Russia.

“I like the direction that LDS cinema is starting to take. I heard about this movie from my uncle, who had just finished his mission in Russia when this story was happening, so he had some close personal connection to it. And the film turned out about like I expected it to, which is not a bad thing.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe first thing audiences will notice is the excessive use of hand-held camera, Bourne-style but in the wrong genre of film. Hand-held was a good choice generally, but every single shot was bobbing and moving around, often so much that it pulled me out of the story and reminded me that thereu0026#39;s a camera in the room, a camera that wonu0026#39;t sit still.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe next thing I noticed was that the camera assistants were not that good–focus was noticeably soft on a bunch of the shots, and many of the rack focuses were either too fast or too slow. I have worked on plenty of student productions that did much better than that.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe screenplay was pretty decent, actually. I am a screenwriter, so this is the area I pick on most closely, and they did all right. I felt like they relied too much on tears and violins to create emotional tension, but that happens in every single LDS film so I wonu0026#39;t complain about that. I would have done some things differently, like not shown the ex-missionary who calls the parents, or given the parents something to do other than mill around the house looking concerned and/or crying. But the story moves forward in a way that builds tension and sets the stakes high, but allows room for some powerful moments.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOn the whole, I would set this movie on the shelf right next to Saints and Soldiers. LDS cinema in general hasnu0026#39;t gotten to the point where it can really compete with Hollywood, but as far as LDS cinema goes The Saratov Approach is a pretty solid addition.”