Cricket Slattery
3/30/2004
Review
of Sideburns
Sideburns is a frightening satire
that relies on two opposing gangs to critique the Soviet state and
Perestroika. The Capellas are a
wild, youthful group who terrorize the town with their irreverent
antics and
shocking sexual displays. The
Bashers are a group of boydbuilders who seek to destroy them. Sasha, the nephew of a local sculptor
returns to town along with his mentor, who has taught him to revere
Pushkin. Soon, the Pushkin-lovers
have converted the Bashers, and form the Pushkin Appreciation Society,
which
succeeds in running the Capellas violently out of town.
The grateful party leaders of the town
give the Pushkin Society an official role, and they soon begin
attacking the townspeople
in the same fashion as they went after the Capellas.
This film
effectively walks the line between absurdist humor and terrifying
political
exposition. This is a very
difficult balance to pull off properly, and there were several scenes
that I
found flawless. For example, the
scene where the Bashers are being precision trained with their canes,
while
wearing the full Pushkin regalia, is both hilariously funny and
supremely
sobering. The simple idea of a
bunch of thugs reciting children's poems while marching around in hats
and
capes is fabulous. But take a
closer look, and it's fascism: exalting nation and race in mechanized
perfection, one leader directing everything, the ultimate goal to
become the
perfect "member."
Too
often films that have a strong political message make the
mistake of overstating their case and end up either glorifying the
system they
wish to critique or villainizing an entire group of people. This is why satire has been such a
powerful political tool from the time of the ancient Greeks. The choice to make Pushkin the center
of a personality cult and examine the ramifications was perfect. Not only did it allow for bizarre costumes--it
was impossible not to laugh at the line "If you can't tell a normal
person from
one of those people, maybe you're in the wrong job"--but it revealed
the insane
levels to which hero worship can occur.
For every situation, there was an appropriate Pushkin quotation. One can't help finding similarities to
all sorts of propaganda--Soviet, American Nationalist, Religious.
The
satire in this film succeeded because of many small touches
that added both depth and humor. My
personal favorite was how easily the bust of
Lenin became a bust of Pushkin. It
was a fantastic way to show that personality cults simply swap one
figure for
another, and it doesn't really matter whom they chose to follow. Another was the replacing of one set of
absurd slogans with another. The
camera angles on the renovated "Pushkin House" were wonderful--long
shots that
clearly showed how absurd such a neat, ornate house looked in the midst
of all
of the urban rubble.
In spite of the fact that I found Sideburns to be an excellent satire, it possesses its share of flaws The most outstanding is pacing. The beginning of the film seems to moves very slowly. By the time we are presented with the formation of the Pushkin Society, an hour has already passed. Because this is the most powerful and entertaining part of the film, it should happen much earlier. Much of the audience could easily become bored with the film and discount its important message. But, with the exception of this rather major flaw, Sideburns, is an excellent political satire.