The Student (2017)

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

hyped garbage

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Making a movie pro or against anything as "The Student" does it, is not hard. Following the examples of the despised propaganda that biased media provide us, the movie depicts just the right circumstances that prove the needed points. I guess the film is in some way intellectually provoking but it's a 2016 film.Let me elaborate: 1 century ago film-makers and media creators started to put to work the brainwashing power of mass-communication. Today even commercials don't take themselves too seriously; otherwise you don't take the product seriously - we all know ads are just a way to sell something.Serebrennikov and von Mayenburg instead take themselves very seriously as if they are contributing to mankind's progress (for sale) or unveiling some great mystery (while they are just giving another shape to ideas and concerns way older than them). They take themselves too seriously for someone who chose not to become a prime minister, an academic or a prophet. They are supposedly entertainers but they don't seem to care about the boring and lengthy script.Therefore, for the potential audience of the movie (which is very limited and likely made up of people that already agree on most of the points the authors stress), warning! This is mostly an annoying waste of time with very few redeeming moments.While respecting the fact that someone may still learn something or ask himself some new questions as a "response" to the movie, there is nearly no entertainment; it's just a prosaic, uninspired lesson. Watch Agora (2009) instead.

This is the main idea of this film, which is a parable and a satire at the same time. The main character is a text-book case of a psychotic person, with all relevant schizophrenia symptoms (visual hallucinations, illusion of grandeur, paranoid ideas). Many of the scenes actually describe psychotic crises (getting undressed, wearing the ape costume, carrying the cross, abusing his friend, killing him etc.). So this is actually simple to understand. But the movie goes beyond that. The parable aspect of the film is that no one (neither the biology teacher) understands the madness of this character, and treat him like a normal person (or at least in acceptable terms). They all come into argument with him, support or contradict his delirious ideas, and finally tolerate his fundamentalist way of thinking (which is the product of mental disease). Of course the situation is not realistic; in the normal world, the person would be immediately taken to a hospital. But the point that the director is trying to make is that fundamentalist ideas are a delirium that is contagious, that other people tend to lose their critical thinking, that science can not withstand the attack of religious ideas and that normal people can actually become victims when the liberal values are dismissed. A beautiful, heart-breaking movie about how society's values can be lost, along with sanity, love and respect to each other.

"The Student" – "(M)uchenik" directed by Kirill Serebrennikov is an attempt to reconsider religious fanaticism in the modern world. The picture is based on the play "Martyr" by German author Marius von Mayenburg and it was adapted to the reality of modern Russia.In a way the problems touched upon in the film are universal and not connected to one particular religion. An interesting aspect of the film is the constant quoting of the Bible which shows that any religion can become an instrument of aggression. The picture is a sharp and humorous satire. The teachers in the film are very well depicted, they whose heads are full of self contradictory ideas combining Stalinism, Putinism, Communism, Liberalism and religion. The school administration cannot confront a religious fanatic because they themselves do not have any ideas or principles.When the biology teacher tries to confront Veniamin, she also looks into the Bible, which she interprets in a vulgar and primitive way. The relations between Veniamin and Grigori are interesting; he becomes very close to Veniamin but we see later that Grigori is gay which is the real reason why he becomes his disciple.The film is shot in a minimalistic way in this low-budget production, but the actors play well and the dialogues are very funny. The ideas of the picture are important, the film has an open end just as our society has an uncertain future with growing extremism and radicalism.

There are two kinds of movies. Those where the director tells a story and all you need to do just sit and watch. Batman. La La Land. And so on. And there are adult movies where the audience is expected to do some work filling in the gaps. But even here, there has to be same places clearly indicated for the audience to color in, so to speak. This film is a long overblown self regarding pile of nonsense. Nothing is explained. Nowhere do we learn why the protagonist is a religious nut case, nor why the school he attends and disrupts daily with his gospel quoting madness is allowed to do so unpunished. He comes dressed as an ape when the lesson is about Darwin, whose theory of evolution offends his biblical beliefs. He then takes all his clothes off as a protest in a lesson where a carrot used as an erect penis covered with a condom to illustrate safe sex. Again, there is not a word of admonition. I simply do not believe any Russian school would tolerate such behavior - and I know a fair bit about Russian life. He would be sent to a nut hutch as fast as you can say Putin is Boss. The director, a bearded man with glasses, and he has an agenda. This is that the church is creeping back and will again rot the thinking of the forward looking masses. Well, that is what I got from coloring this miserable movie without a single line to guide me. There is a touching performance from Tiny Tim - not really. A sad lonely potentially gay lad with a short left leg who gets killed by the nutter. Laughable.