Crystal Swan (2018)

Crystal Swan (2018)

A young DJ is caught between tradition and modernity in '90s Belarus

7.9

Movie

Belarus, Germany
Belarusian, English, Russian
Drama
2018
DARYA ZHUK, FEMALE DIRECTOR
Alina Nasibullina, Anatasiya Garvey, Artem Kuren
94 min

What it's about

Minsk, Belarus, 1996. Velya, an aspiring DJ, wants to move to Chicago to make her dreams come true, but bureaucracy, a phone line and the human condition will put obstacles in her way that will be difficult to avoid.

The take

A nostalgic look at '90s Belarus brings to bear a sharp generational divide. Evalina is a young DJ living in Minsk with her mother, but dreaming of Chicago, the birthplace of House music. Her attempts to gain a US visa land her in a small factory town, where the tensions between her modern lifestyle and old-time traditions boil over.

This promising debut from director Darya Zhuk features a mesmerizing palette of saturated colors and some striking shots calling to mind the work of Douglas Sirk, a star-making turn from lead actress Alina Nasibullina, and a dry wit that keeps the film lithe. At times, the somewhat heavy-handed script gets in the way, but Zhuk’s vivacious filmmaking is a pleasure.

Comments

Add a comment

Your name

Your comment

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

Lilting (2014)

A thoughtful, heartbreaking debut feature where shared grief bridges two different people

7.2

La Chimera (2023)

A dreamy, bewitching film that ponders on ideas of lostness and longing

8.0

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

A star-studded and riveting legal drama with a blockbuster feel.

8.1

The Guilty (2018)

A minimalist, razor-sharp thriller that will have you gasping for air.

9.0

Forgotten Love (2023)

The stunning third take of the classic Polish pre-war melodrama

7.7

Drowning by Numbers (1988)

Peter Greenaway plays with structure and numbers in this surreal, quirky crime comedy

7.9

System Crasher (2019)

A tale of trauma and one of the most talked about movies on Netflix in 2020.

9.0

Breaking the Waves (1996)

Lars von Trier breaks his rules in the tearjerking first film of the Golden Heart trilogy

8.1

Leave the World Behind (2023)

Shyamalan meets Black Mirror in this hugely entertaining, visually inventive apocalyptic thriller with a killer ending

8.2

Hail Satan? (2019)

Forget everything you think you know about the Satanic Temple

8.0

Curated by humans, not algorithms.

agmtw logo

© 2024 agoodmovietowatch, all rights reserved.