Sputnik plus Short Takes on suggestions for TCM cable offerings and other cinematic topics
“Illegal Alien”: Worst-Case Scenario
Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke
I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the CCAL (Collective Critics at Large) when they’re supportive or the OCCU (Often Cranky Critics Universe) when they go negative.
Opening Chatter (no spoilers): Heres' another week where I chose only 1 option to write about because of other logistics last Friday and Saturday (due to ongoing plans I usually do my review-intended-viewing on weekends [helps me retain some semblance of the public-cinema-experience before the pandemic curse]): Friday was devoted to the first official 2020 baseball games between my beloved Oakland Athletics vs. those much-more-financially-well-endowed (but not necessarily more talented) San Francisco Giants, just across the bay; so, beer in hand, I cheered on the A’s.* Saturday nights lately have become the designated time to watch 3-hour-cinematic-stories that have accumulated for me and my wife, Nina, either from cablecasts or Netflix DVD (eating takeout leftovers from Friday allows us to get to viewing earlier than usual), so last weekend it was Ingmar Bergman’s final masterpiece, Fanny and Alexander (1982—Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film), which is fascinating (somewhat autobiographical), even as I admit I kept dozing, trying to keep up with the huge cast’s exploits because of the unusual heat wave in our area right now with the fans in our non-air-conditioned-condo working overtime to deal with 100o+ temperatures while deadly wildfires spring up all around us (yes, I spent decades in the Texas blast furnace so I should be used to such heat [wildfires were rare there due to regular rain]; however, after living in northern CA for just as many decades I’ve lost my taste for such heat when 75o usually defines a hot summer day now). Still, it was nice to rewatch (what I can recall of) this Bergman classic. This week it’ll be Reds (Warren Beatty, 1981), continuing our Russian theme in this posting.
*Watching all 3hrs. 23 min. was worth it as the A’s trailed 7-2, top of the 9th inning, until a well-timed solo homer soon followed by a grand slam tied the game, which they won in the 10th. More joy came in another come-from-behind, home-run-fueled victory on Saturday, followed by a 15-3 Sunday rout, sweeping this mini-series. Nina and I were so pleased we spent a generous sum (all goes to charity) to send in our photos to be made into large cardboard “fans” for the stadium seats in lieu of actual attendees during this coronavirus-dictated-MLB season. Hers is from the one above, taken at a Scottsdale AZ bar we frequented when attending 2014 Spring Training in Phoenix (the photo I used is no big deal, but at least you can see my face; for this shot above I was showing off the autographs I’d just gotten from some famous 1970s players). So, if you’re ever watching a 2020 A’s game from the Oakland Coliseum look for us in the stands; she’ll likely be the only one holding a cocktail. Sadly, once the A’s returned to Arizona this week their magic ran out as they lost 2 in a row.
Sputnik (Egor Abramenko) Not Rated
Nevertheless, this isn’t likely the sort of beginning you’d expect in a film review blog (although maybe it helped take your mind off politics and other natural disasters for a bit) so in an attempt to shake off my heat stroke and get to the matter at hand let’s turn to a fascinating Russian film,* Sputnik, set in 1983 when 2 cosmonauts come back to Earth with one of them acting strangely so an unorthodox doctor’s brought in to help steer this seeming-U.S.S.R.-hero into more presentable publicity-shape despite his denials anything’s wrong; what we quickly learn, though (no spoiler, I swear) is he’s somehow been taken over by an ugly alien creature who slithers out of his mouth every night to feed on inmates in this research facility/prison while the officials in charge have brought the doctor in to help them break the symbiotic connection between man and monster while learning to control this beast as a military weapon (you can’t be faulted for seeing parallels here with Alien [Ridley Scott, 1979], but this story goes into other directions entirely in a compelling drama that keeps the on-screen-gore to a minimum while exploring the kind of fright Outer Space Sci-Fi movies often haunt us with concerning malevolent invaders attacking Earth). This one’s available on several platforms; I chose an Amazon Prime rental for $6.99 (gave me some presentational problems I detail later in this review). Also, in the Short Takes section I’ll offer suggestions for some choices on the Turner Classic Movies channel (but too much extra text for line-justified-layout like you see here [Related Links stuff at each posting’s end is similarly-ragged], at least to be done by this burned-out-BlogSpot-drone—oh, ye tedious software!) along with my standard dose of industry-related-trivia.
*Another reason I chose Sputnik is to honor our Two Guys Russian readers (almost 5,000 2 weeks ago [see the very end of our last posting], then 1K last week), consistently part of our readership for quite awhile; so, fellow travelers, I hope you enjoy my attention to this marvelous product of your industry (Just please leave our elections alone, even though I know you never have to wonder who’ll win yours). But, before the review, my thoughts about the heat I’m now baking in reminded me of sweat-drenched days in Texas, bringing back memories of a 1978 slide show using my photos to accompany a Michael Murphy song, "Alleys of Austin" (on his 1973 Cosmic Cowboy Souvenir album). Then a serendipitous email arrived from an old friend in Texas, Rick Ansell, alerting me to a recent Michael Martin Murphy album, Austinololgy: Alleys of Austin (2018), celebrating 1970s Texas music (which I actively devoured in Austin at the time), done in collaboration with lots of Texas musicians, so here’s "Alleys ..." again with Mr. Murphy joined by Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, and others in my tribute to a couple of guys I appreciate even more than those Russian readers, my long-connection (since Ball High School, Galveston TX, 1963) with Rick and my appreciation for another Texan I’ve never met but who’s been invaluable in giving me feedback (and help) to improve this blog, Richard Parker. Happy listening, y’all! Now (finally, thank God!) we move onward to the review.
Here’s the trailer for Sputnik:
(Use the full screen button in the image’s lower right to enlarge it; activate
that same button or use the “esc” keyboard key to return to normal size.)
If you can abide plot spoilers read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $. To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters like this:
⇒The first and last words will be noted with arrows and red.⇐ OK, now continue on if you prefer.
What Happens: In 1983, during the last decade of the Soviet Union and its Cold War with the West, 2 cosmonauts, mission commander Konstantin Veshnyakov (Pyotr Fyodorov) and Kirill Averchenko (Aleksey Demidov), are returning from an orbital mission (although contact with the ground mysteriously cut off for part of a day preceding their return drop). When the ground crew locates them they find Averchenko dead with his head partially gone, Veshnyakov somewhat bloody, unconscious. Then we shift to another location where psychiatrist/neurophysiologist Tatyana Klimova (Oskana Akinshina) appears before a stern Health Ministry board chastising her for using unorthodox procedures on a 17-year-old-boy; the kid survived, but she’s about to be censured when she taken aside by Col. Semiradov (Fedor Bondarchuk), head of a remove science/military/prison facility, who clears her of any problems, takes her to his site where she’s to help get disturbed (yet denying of any problems, claims he can’t be hypnotized, surprisingly fit after his ordeal) Konstantin back into better shape to be put on public display as a hero of the U.S.S.R. (Semiradov’s sending out false press releases about Konstantin’s recuperation, not admitting his comrade’s death.) What she finds is an arrogant man, insisting he’s in tip-top-shape, even coming on to her until she tries to shock him loose from his confidence, accusing him of abandoning a son he fathered with a lover (a woman now dead), letting the child essentially disappear into an orphanage while Dad keeps up his public image, focused on his space career. Soon, though, Tatyana’s shown footage of Konstantin’s nightly sleep (in what’s like a prison cell with one thick glass wall) where an extraterrestrial creature slithers out of his mouth, extends itself into a roughly 2-ft. standing position with a bat-like-head and long extremities, which it usually uses to crawl along rather than walking. Semiradov admits Tatyana’s purpose there is to find a way to separate creature from human because this monstrous being’s already established a symbiotic relationship with Konstantin (who knows nothing of its existence), lives during the day in his stomach and esophagus, essentially using its human as a sort of space suit while seemingly endowing its host with enhanced physical prowess, mental confidence.
(After learning of his true motives, Tatyana confronts Semiradov about Konstantin.)
She soon is told of even more horrifying truths: (1) the creature doesn’t nourish itself from what Konstantin eats (as she was led to believe) but instead is nightly allowed to slither through a series of doors (while his host is apparently unconscious after being given a nightly-knock-out-pill) into a cage where it feeds on bound inmates, responding to their fear before killing them, feasting on their flesh containing the terrified-response-hormone cortisol; (2) Semiradov’s true mission is to get the creature unconnected from Konstantin, in the process learning how to control it for military-weapon-purposes, but her attempts to befriend the creature lead nowhere as it attacks her in Konstantin’s cell, later jumps away from her soothing attempts in the cage to gorge on another inmate. To make matters worse, Konstantin reveals to her he’s aware of the creature’s nightly sojourns as these mismatched species have achieved a strong bond, although he wants to escape from it, find his son.
⇒With the help of disillusioned doctor Yan Rigel (Anton Vasiliev), Tatyana concocts a complex plan involving: Konstantin not swallowing his pill one night; a tactic involving a magnet to distract a guard watching the surveillance cameras; pushing through soldiers, commandeering a truck to plow through the main gate in an attempt to get to Moscow where she thinks she can help him recover (other guards and Semiradov catch them on the way out, but Tatyana gives Konstantin a syringe with drugs to simulate Addison’s disease to force the creature out of his host, hopefully to die from extended exposure—she’d realized through morgue work that however this beast entered their space capsule it chose Konstantin rather than Averchenko because it knew the other possible host had previously-undetected-cancer—so in the ensuing gunfight the creature kills the several guards but is wounded itself); however, before they get far Konstantin collapses, needing the connection with the creature. Tatyana stops their truck, allows Semiradov and his squad to catch up with them. The colonel has the weakened creature with him, wants to unite it again with Konstantin, but he directs the creature to kill all their adversaries after which it re-enters Konstantin’s body as he shoots himself to rid Earth of himself and his alien occupant. As the film ends, Tatyana goes to the orphanage—she found out from Konstantin he originally knew nothing about the kid, having broken up with his lover before the baby was born—to adopt the crippled boy (Vitaliya Kornienko, whose character we’d seen earlier show his determination to get a box belonging to him from a storeroom; it contained some sneakers which he was overjoyed to have after having been denied by the staff).⇐
So What? While I don’t think my viewing conditions impaired my appreciation for Sputnik the situation wasn’t as ideal as it might have been, so if you choose to stream this film (well worth it if you do, I'd say) maybe you’ll get the more-intended-experience; I chose Amazon Prime ($6.99 for HD rental) for convenience (my wife’s already got an account with them—she’s probably on a first-name-basis with Jeff Bezos by now—although it’s also available otherwise); however, I not only got the requested subtitles (useful for a film in unknown-to-me-Russian, given I probably couldn’t follow 2 sentences in Spanish even though I’ve attempted twice to study that language [not as diligently as needed, I'll confess]) but I also got ongoing-narration in English (makes the film accessible for blind audiences) explaining the activities in each scene along with reading those subtitles; I tried to click out of this option but no luck (same situation I had before with another film on Prime* [sounds like it should be a steakhouse rather than a movie channel]), not even with an attempt to switch over to Russian for the dialogue (although that might have been worse if the subtitles were in Russian too; I do have a friend who can read it fairly well [he studied more intensely than I did with Spanish, making him a godsend when he traveled to St. Petersburg with me and Nina—now, there’s a good Russian name, but her mother didn’t choose it for that reason, she just liked it, as do I, but I’d like my wife no matter what her name might be {you know: Shakespeare, names, roses, etc.}—a few years ago or who knows where we might have ended up when we chanced to ride the subway]; however, I doubt he’d be available on the spur of the moment on a Sunday night to rush over for translations). At least all that audio redundancy made it easy for me to take notes because even as I’m looking down at my pad, scribbling away, that cinema-voice continues to inform me what I could be missing.
*My occasional problems with viewing something on Amazon Prime are minimal, though—except trying to use their rewind or fast-forward functions which move at almost the speed of light so it’s difficult to quickly go back to check something or then return to what you were previously watching so I rarely use that option—compared to another friend of mine who’s now gone a few months into the pandemic without being able to access the subtitles function at all, despite extensive trouble-shooting-sessions with both Amazon and Samsung (her TV, mine’s an LG) which can be useful when dialogue delivery isn’t as clear as some of us aging-viewers would prefer (Nina and I solved that problem by getting hearing aids—although now we’ve gotten so used to the subtitles we continue to use them with movies anyway), so all I can say is Amazon Prime does a lot of intriguing content (even when you have to rent it), but their viewing conditions aren’t always ideal, especially when I’m nostalgically remembering what it was like to actually watch a film in a big-screen-theater, surrounded by other patrons snacking away (see the Other Cinema-Related Stuff section farther below for updates on how that theatrical experience is slowly coming back, but not yet in California).
As much as I admire overall what I see in Sputnik, I can’t help noticing notable similarities to Alien, both in the concept of an invasive species commandeering a human host and the purpose of the corporation (or government in Sputnik’s case) wanting to command this deadly organism as a brutal military weapon. Of course, the similarities end with the Alien franchise taking place in a faraway-future and distance, the monsters in that series simply use the human body for an incubation site to be discarded when approaching maturity, and the situation (so far, at least; I don’t put further sequels past Ridley Scott’s plan once he’s finished with those prequels taking us from Prometheus [2012; review in our June 14, 2012 posting] to the events of Alien [so far we’ve only had Alien: Covenant 2017; review in our June 1, 2017 posting], but supposedly there are more to come) of Scott’s creatures so far not making their way to Earth (at least in that specific franchise, although in Alien vs. Predator [Paul W.S. Anderson, 2004]—and a 2007 sequel—we find these creatures were long ago brought to our planet as combatants for the Predator aliens, toughening them up for their own purposes). Despite the stabilizing presence of Sigourney Weaver in those Alien movies, the ones past Scott’s original (even with high-production values by James Cameron [1986], David Fincher [1992], Jean-Pierre Jeunet [1997]) devolve further and further into Outer Space-monster-stories while Sputnik allows us to see directly how victory-at-all-costs-attitudes are driving a major terrestrial government (an interesting critique by current Russian filmmakers of their Soviet past, although I have no doubt there are American military men—probably some Presidents [I think you know who I mean]—who would jump at such a devious opportunity also) to (hopefully) unthinkable levels of action, all for the glory of conquest (or even scientific recognition, as Tatyana keeps taunting Rigel about his desire to win a Nobel Prize for his attempts at understanding/controlling this vicious creature). I'll admit I’m not fully aware of the meaning of the title in this context because in Russian the word simply refers to a satellite when used in an astronomical context (but no satellites fly around in this story) so maybe it’s an allusion to the whole space-race-concept between the USA and USSR in the 1960s, driving humanity further into unknown realms where unknown—potentially disastrous—results await. Yet, I also find this word means "traveling companion" in Russian, so now I think this title’s probably a sly reference to how an extraterrestrial being becomes linked to Konstantin, essentially forming a new joint-entity although with little mutual control on his part. If nothing else, the title’s another interesting aspect of this film to consider, long after you’ve completed your intense viewing (in whatever mode you might encounter beyond that original Russian dialogue).
Bottom Line Final Comments: Unlike much of what I’ve reviewed since the plague settled in, Sputnik has had some theatrical release (maybe including—or mostly—drive-ins) so that in addition to whatever streaming revenue it may be generating it’s also most recently played in 32 domestic (U.S.-Canada) venues bringing in a wee total of about $11,000 (check my link at the beginning of the Suggestions for TCM cablecasts section to see results for the relatively-successful The Rental [Dave Franco; review in our August 6, 2020 posting] and the decently-performing Made in Italy [James D’Arcy; review in our August 13, 2020 posting]) so maybe you can actually see Sputnik on some big screen near you. Along with me, the CCAL mostly encourages you to do so, on whatever screen’s available, with the Rotten Tomatoes reviews running at an 89% positive level while Metacritic’s average score is a hesitant 61%, but that’s not so unusual for a site normally-noticeably-lower than RT (more info on both these critics-accumulation-sites in the Related Links section farther below). I had an easy time responding positively to this film (even with my odd viewing situation) but had a much harder task of coming up with a choice for my usual review-concluding-tactic of a Musical Metaphor which would somehow speak about aliens, conflicting human response to the presence of such on our planet, the age-old-Sci-Fi-problem of scientists vs. military in terms of dealing with these creatures, etc., along with not wanting to get silly (in regard to a thoughtful film, not a cheap monster story) with something like “The Purple People Eater” (a 1958 #1 hit by Sheb Wooley); once again, insightful Nina came to my rescue with a Google search helping me locate Pink Floyd’s “Childhood’s End” (from the 1972 album Obscured by Clouds*) at https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYG0vA07XwU (a video extending this posting’s Russia connection by pairing this song with a Russian short film, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man [Aleksandr Petrov, 1992] about a suicidal guy who regains his will to live after an encounter with a young girl [calm down; nothing sexual], based on a short story of the same name by Fyodor Dostoyevsky [1877]) with lyrics noting “You awake with a start To just the beating of your heart Just one man beneath the sky Just two ears, just two eyes […] All the fears never voiced Say you have to make your final choice Who are you and who am I To say we know the reason why? Some are born; some men die Beneath one infinite sky […] And so all things, time will mend So this song will end.” Just as implications continue.
*This title’s also connected to grander-concept-Sci-Fi-allusions as it parallels an Arthur C. Clarke novel (1953) about benign aliens, Overlords (looking like traditional Christian-depictions of devils) who take over Earth, leading to a utopia but a corresponding loss of human identity/culture, as the Overlords serve the non-corporal Overmind leading people to evolve toward group consciousness merging with the Overmind as Earth disappears. This all reminds me of another thematically-related Metaphor, Neil Young’s "After the Gold Rush" (on his 1970 same-named-album), but this video’s shaky at times so here’s also the original recording (lyrics below the YouTube screen; sing along).
However, you may think this posting will never end because instead of just leaving you with a strong recommendation to seek out Sputnik (which I do) I’m actually closing out by returning to my rambling ways at the beginning of this (ever-sideways) review by giving you a completely-unrelated song (not even an attempt at justifying it as another official Metaphor) from Neil Young (see the footnote above if you haven’t already) that also comes from his magnificent set at the second weekend of Desert Trip (10/15/2016), most memorable to me because Nina and I were there, so in thanks to her for leading me to “Childhood’s End” I’ve packed in music from one of her favorites (Young) including one of mine (along with “Harvest Moon” for other reasons, found at almost the very end of every Two Guys posting), "Cowgirl in the Sand" (also from Desert Trip; song originally on the 1969 album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere), a 19:07 marathon done with Promise of the Real (featuring 2 of Willie Nelson’s sons, so now we’re somewhat full circle back to Austinology …), the kind of performance Nina calls “loadie” music (but which just gets me high without needing any additional substances). So, that’s it for this week; hopefully, the heat wave will have passed by next time, possibly allowing me to offer better focus, less extraneous wanderings … or maybe not, who knows?
SHORT TAKES
Suggestions for TCM cablecasts
At least until the pandemic subsides Two Guys also want to encourage you to consider movies you might be interested in that don’t require subscriptions to Netflix, Amazon Prime, similar Internet platforms (we may well be stuck inside for longer than those 30-day-free-initial-offers), or premium-tier-cable-TV-fees. While there are a good number of video networks offering movies of various sorts (mostly broken up by commercials), one dependable source of fine cinematic programming is Turner Classic Movies (available in lots of basic-cable-packages) so I’ll be offering suggestions of possible choices for you running from Thursday afternoon of the current week (I usually get this blog posted by early Thursday mornings) on through Thursday morning of the following week. All times are U.S. Eastern Daylight so if you see something of interest please verify actual show time in your area for the day listed. These recommendations are my particular favorites (no matter when they’re on, although some of those early-day-ones might need to be recorded, watched later), but there’s considerably more to pick from you might like better; feel free to explore their entire schedule here. You can also click on that + sign at the right of each listing to get additional, useful info.
Thursday August 20, 2020
12:00 PM The Thin Man (W.S. Van Dyke, 1934) Noted more for historical value (curiosity?) than significance but a pleasure to watch (also spawns 5 sequels, including one immediately today) as socialites Nick and Nora Charles (William Powell, Myrna Loy) enjoy being detectives (in Sherlock Holmes “sleuth” tradition, not The Maltese Falcon-hardboiled tradition, although Nick, Nora, and
Sam all come from Dashiell Hammett novels) while downing numerous cocktails in the process.
Saturday August 22, 2020
1:30 PM Rebel Without a Cause (Nicholas Ray, 1955) Iconic James Dean role, a strong contender for best of his 3 powerful cinematic appearances (before his untimely death), as he plays a troubled teen whose independent streak just brings more difficulties from adults (including his parents) and a local gang, even as he tries to distance himself from his problems, escape from all of this hostility into a new life with his new friends (Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo), but further crises swirl around them.
8:00 PM The Searchers (John Ford, 1956) Widely-regarded as one of the best westerns as well as part of the long deconstruction of the genre, this focuses on a Civil War Rebel vet (John Wayne) with a hatred for Indians especially because they kidnapped his niece as a child, killed other relatives; he’s on a quest to bring her home but adolescent Debbie (Natalie Wood) wants to stay with Chief Scar (Jeffrey Hunter): further trouble, intolerance, and deaths as neither side can tolerate each other.
Sunday August 23, 2020
8:00 PM Gone with Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939) I may lose readers for mentioning this movie with its despicable, sappy presentation of slavery (even with this racism it gained a crucial Oscar for Hattie McDaniel, first for a Black actor) but from a production-values-perspective for its time it’s a triumph of the old studio system (even as it glorifies the “Lost Cause” of the Confederacy). Famous for romance of scheming Scarlett O’Hara (Vivian Leigh), dashing Rhett Butler (Clark Gable); last prominent cast member, Olivia de Havilland (Melanie Hamilton Wilkes), recently died. Oscars for Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay (Sidney Howard), Actress (Leigh), Supporting Actress (McDaniel), Color Cinematography, Film Editing, Art Direction plus a Special Award to Production Designer William Cameron Menzies for use of color, and a Technical Achievement Honorary Award. Still box-office champ, adjusted for inflation; will TCM address it regarding recent Black Lives Matter protests?
Monday August 24, 2020
5:45 PM Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959) Marvelous; big hit then now ranked as one of the best, if not the actual top comedy of all time, with Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis disguised as women in a nightclub band in Florida trying to escape gangsters after they witness the St. Valentine’s Day massacre in Chicago; also stars Marilyn Monroe, George Raft, and Pat O’Brien (won an Oscar for Best B&W Costume Design). Joe E. Brown’s final line was terrific for its time, now it’s immortal.
Wednesday August 26, 2020
2:45 PM Henry V (Laurence Olivier, 1944) Adapted from the Shakespeare play (included at the beginning and end of film), focused on the Battle of Agincourt, 1415, starring Olivier as King Henry invading France, claiming its throne as rightfully his; made primarily as a means of stirring homefront morale as WW II continued to drag on after the Allied invasion of France. Olivier won an Honorary Oscar for his “Outstanding achievement” as producer, director, actor (plus 4 competitive noms).
5:15 PM Hamlet (Laurence Olivier, 1948) Masterful but slimmed-down version of Shakespeare’s masterpiece ((no Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, or Fortinbras; still runs 155 min.—only Kenneth Branagh used the entire play [1996], his version runs 242 min.), Oscar winner for Best Picture, Actor (Olivier), B&W Art Direction-Set Decoration, B&W Costume Design. “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” for sure; what’s our conflicted prince going to do about it (you might repeatedly ask)?
If you’d like your own PDF of the rating/summary of this week's review, suggestions for TCM cablecasts, links to Two Guys info click this link to access then save, print, or whatever you need.
Other Cinema-Related Stuff: In quick fashion, here are some other items you might be interested in: (1) Theaters slowly reopen to small audiences; (2) AMC Theaters opening some venues with limited seating capacity; (3) While there's still interest in seeing blockbusters in a theater most potential audience members are OK with waiting for home streaming. As usual for now I’ll close out this section with Joni Mitchell’s "Big Yellow Taxi" (from her 1970 Ladies of the Canyon album)—because “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘till it’s gone”—and a reminder you can search for so many streaming/rental/purchase movie options at JustWatch.
Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:
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Here’s more information about Sputnik:
http://vodorodfilm.ru/en/sputnik (here’s another official site at
http://studio.art-pictures.ru/proekty/sputnik.html—text is in Russian but, on Chrome,
Google translates it to English [option doesn't come up on Safari or Firefox, at least for me])
I couldn’t find any interview video for this film so here are a couple of short clips from it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEsmBxvJTcc (how the creature feeds on human sacrifices
[very dark; minimize your light distractions]) and the other one at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vJi5C3HnkM (this is the actual end scene; obviously a SPOILER so decide for yourself if you want to watch it now before seeing the whole film because this might ruin it for you)
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sputnik_2020
https://www.metacritic.com/movie/sputnik
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If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here please use my email address of kenburke409@gmail.com—type it directly if the link doesn’t work. (But if you truly have too much time on your hands you might want to explore some even-longer-and-more-obtuse-than-my-film-reviews-academic-articles about various cinematic topics at my website, https://kenburke.academia.edu, which could really give you something to talk to me about.)
If we did talk, though, you’d easily see how my early-70s-age informs my references, Musical Metaphors, etc. in these reviews because I’m clearly a guy of the later 20th century, not so much the contemporary world. I’ve come to accept my ongoing situation, though, realizing we all (if fate allows) keep getting older, we just have to embrace it, as Joni Mitchell did so well in "The Circle Game" offering sage advice even when she was quite young herself.
By the way, if you’re ever at The Hotel California knock on my door—but you know what the check-out policy is so be prepared to stay for awhile (quite an eternal while, in fact). Ken
P.S. Just to show that I haven’t fully flushed Texas out of my system here’s an alternative destination for you, Home in a Texas Bar, with Gary P. Nunn and Jerry Jeff Walker. But wherever the rest of my body may be my heart’s always with my longtime-companion, lover, and wife, Nina Kindblad, so here’s our favorite shared song—Neil Young’s "Harvest Moon"
—from the performance we saw at the Desert Trip concerts in Indio, CA on October 15, 2016 (as a full moon was rising over the stadium) because “I’m still in love with you,” my dearest, a never-changing-reality even as the moon waxes and wanes over the months/years to come.
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