The 2003 Russian film entitled "The Stroll," directed by Aleksei Uchitel completely caters to the appetite of your typical western viewer. The film generally centers around two young men and a woman as they take a stroll through St. Petersburg. The beginning of the film is somewhat confusing as we hear a conversation between a male and our female protagonist, but it isn't until the end of the film that this conversation and the events immediately following this scene makes absolute sense. Throughout the majority of the film everything seems to be in a fast pace: from the quick encounter of Alyosha and Olya, to him immediately professing his love for her within a few minutes of just meeting. Oddly enough the scene were Olya and Alyosha are observing people and judging their personalities based on their appearances you can't help but sense the irony whenever Olya begins describing Alyosha's bad luck with women. Her chatter with the two men that sometimes seems like mindless rambles as well as her actions at one point begin to contradict itself. Take for example the scene where she tells Alyosha that she's unable to sit as she fell off a horse and injured her spinal column, which she forget all about at one point in the film. Or when she said she doesn't drink, but later says she wants a beer after being robbed. This leads the audience to essentially question her true intentions in bewitching the two male best- friends. The camera work throughout the majority of the film is real time in that a vast amount of scenes are presented in an unbroken sequence. Take for instance the scene where Alyosha is insisted in buying tickets for Moscow. This real time footage gives a depiction of St. Petersburg that is quite different to early films are it portrays the city as this beautiful busting city. Shots are often out of focus as the camera work is hand held which can sometimes prove to be too chaotic for a viewer who isn't accustom to such unconventional technique. Take for example the scene where people are cheering due to the soccer match being held. It isn't until the conclusion of the film that the camera work switches to a more conventional method, and the cool coloring of the scenes are entirely different to the scenes earlier in the film Perhaps signaling the film drawing to an end where everything is revealed. The song in the beginning credits also seems to connect the ending showing this sort of "dead end". In how this casual stroll that seemed to have a happy ending turned into something quite dark and depressing.
Review of Progulka
