THE ROAD MOVIE (DOROGA)

(director: Dimitrii Kalashnikov; editor: Dimitrii Kalashnikov; music: Aukcion, Troitsa, Red Snapper; Runtime: 96; MPAA Rating: NR; producer: Volia Chajkouskaya; OscilloscopeLaboratories; 2016-Russia-in Russian with English subtitles)

“It was never as good as it could have been, but it held my interest briefly.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

A curio documentary entirely of footage from dashboard cameras from Russian cars that was posted online. It’s directed by Russian filmmaker Dimitrii Kalashnikov. It follows the Russian roads during various seasons where accidents are either narrowly avoided or happen with fender benders or fatalities. We witness such things as road rage fist fights and one with a guy wielding a sledge-hammer, a drunk driver alluding police while riding on to an oncoming traffic lane, several wipeouts and head-ons, semis skidding off the road in the snow, a forest fire by the side of the road, reckless speeding drivers, a crazy man who climbs onto a frightened young woman’s hood to bang his fists on her windshield, a comet streaking across the sky, a duck hitting a windshield to be on the dinner menu and a bear taking a dump on a night road.The Americans do this kind of reality stuff better on their reality TV shows. It was never as good as it could have been, but it held my interest briefly in its keen observations of the human condition. Besides offering the viewer a chance to rubberneck, it offers them a biting peek into Russian society, which is not a good look for Putin’s people.

REVIEWED ON 1/1/2019 GRADE: B-   https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/