As things get more and more out of control in the village, the wet darkness adds the perfect expressionistic landscape of terror; a ton of production value for no cost at all. It is a miracle that Burnashev can make films in this part of the world at all. Many productions get flattened by weather conditions that are nowhere near as impossible as what you get in the Siberian tundra, where Burnashev films. The challenges reach the levels of impossibility that Herzog went through with his Klaus Kinski movies. So, making any movie at all is already impressive, so imagine the impact of a truly magnificent movie like Aita.
Just like Das Boot back in the day, Aita is a foreign movie that crosses over into popcorn-butter territory by being highly entertaining. It has the dramatic hooks to get you stuck, but then Burnashev ratchets it up to thriller level, blasting it up into the stratosphere. Your pulse will pound as hard as the black sheets of rain that never stop. The pacing is excellent, getting down to business and then escalating through each act while keeping it under a tidy 90 minutes. You will forget you are reading subtitles in no time.
“…has the dramatic hooks to get you stuck, but then Burnashev ratchets it up to thriller level, blasting it up into the stratosphere.”
There is also a surprising universality to be found in a story that takes place in the wastelands of Russia. The scenario that occurs in this tiny, remote outpost is a story that could happen anywhere on the planet right now. You could remake this in any country in any language, and easily thrill audiences to pieces despite the cultural switch, just like a lot of classic Kurosawa pictures. What I am trying to get at is this is exactly what you want to see if you just want to see something that will entertain you effortlessly at the end of a long day. Burnashev manages with no visible budget to make a movie more entertaining than a whole year’s worth of big-name money pits put together.
I dare you to find Aita and press play, especially if you are resistant to giving it a try. You will be caught in an excitement flood from which there is no escape.
"…an excitement flood from which there is no escape."
