MOSCOW, April 20, Tatyana Ryzhkova. The first season of «Secrets of the Lost Village» — one of the most anticipated series of 2023 — has been released on the IVI platform. About true Russian humor, solidarity between Moscow and the provinces, and the chicken operator — in the material.
Well-known places
Locations in the Russian regions have become a trend in the filming of TV series. The glamorous «Moscow herring» journalist Tatyana (Maria Gorban) and her cameraman continue their journey through the provinces at the risk of their lives.
They come to the village of Lower Brody — in the neighboring village of Upper Brody, the population has disappeared, all twenty people. The journalist begins her own investigation with a local labor teacher and quickly realizes that the case smells like hell. Thus begins The Mystery of the Lost Village. Welcome beyond the Moscow Ring Road!
Plot: scandals, intrigues, investigations
The series seems to ridicule all the existing cliches of mystical films and detective stories, folk superstitions, fears and conspiracy theories. The first episodes are built according to the same vigorous algorithm — the heroes put forward an insane theory, trying to explain the disappearance of the villagers by the presence of a witch, the walking dead, military bases, NATO invasion.
But each time they get a rational explanation for what is happening — the «witch» has a bipolar disorder, the «NATO member» turns out to be a simple German teacher, the «crazy man» is just happy that he was brought rubble and so on.
However, at the end of each episode, the next version appears, and the heroes happily begin to check it out.
What is happening is reminiscent of a bit of Gogol, a bit of stories on TV and any show with Sergei Druzhko. By the way, he also appears here.
Shooting: a chicken is a creative operator
The series is filmed in a mockumentary genre, a rare genre for Russian cinema, a pseudo-documentary tape. This format is typical for horror («Blair Witch Project»), but it's new for comedy.
Camera tries to be creative and succeeds – shooting with an action camera from the head of the chicken Larisa Ivanovna Petukhova is proof of this.
Humor: the cultural code of Russia
The creators of the series did not derive a formula for good Russian humor, but made noticeable steps in this direction. There are a lot of jokes, they are most often appropriate, almost never slip into outright vulgarity. And they are very Russian.
«Here we have a secret base, everyone knows about it», «I baked bloodsuckers, like in France, with chamomile» — these phrases do not ridicule the Russian mentality, but flirt with it in the spirit of the unforgettable Mikhail Zadornov.
Heroes: in the best traditions of the 90s
«There were no psychos in our village until you arrived,» local Muscovites say.
But the main characters are more like not crazy, but like children who tell each other scary stories around the fire and see every neighbor as a sorceress. They are comical, but do not irritate the viewer with their infantilism, at times reminiscent of the characters of the 90s show — «Town» and «Village of Fools». » media-type=»photo» data-crop-ratio=»0.665367121507472″ data-crop-width=»600″ data-crop-height=»399″ data-source-sid=»» class=»lazyload» lazy= «1» />
Through Tatyana's communication with the locals, the eternal clash between Moscow and the provinces is revealed.
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“Beats means loves,” says a local resident about her husband. "No! It's an abuse!» — the Muscovite answers and begins a home session of psychotherapy.
Can the capital and the village work together? Is there a common language for them, or «Moscow is not Russia»? The series understands this.
Summary
You can't call «The Secret» a breakthrough in Russian cinema, but it does an excellent job with its purpose — to amuse the audience. In fact, this is an anti-horror movie — it reminds that mysticism can and should be explained logically, and in difficult situations the main thing is not to lose your head (otherwise you can lose your finger, like one of the main characters).
However, behind the absurdity and humor, the tragedy of the Russian countryside, the desolation of the provinces and the extinction of villages rises to its full height — it's not for nothing that «Nizhnie Brody» sounds almost like «rogue». But you realize this after watching it. .html» data->