One-third "Citizen Kane," one-third "Godfather" and one-third police thriller, Pavel Lounguine's "Tycoon: A New Russian" is a movie that takes its cue from a great number of classic films to tell the true story of the richest man in Russia. In keeping with this year's Money theme, "Tycoon" intensely explores issues of political corruption, the bizarre luxury and over-consumption of the upper classes, ruthless (frequently criminal) business practices and the question of where the moral line is to be drawn by those who are creating the rules of the game as they go.
The film's strength lies not only in its appropriately subtle camerawork and understated cast of characters, but especially in its unique narrative structure. In a film that could have been a conventional series of events beginning in 1988 and ending in 2003, the viewer finds incredibly active cutting between scenes of the more recent Russian events and the memories of how the various plot points were established. The film flushes out at a fast pace, beginning as a detective story before delving into the realms of the hi-tech action flick and social drama. Viewers join Russian police in gradually piecing together the story following the assassination of the movie's protagonist.
Boris Berezovsky (Vladimir Mashkov) is a contemporary Russian businessman whose genius at trading in a time of political upheaval allowed him to quickly rise financially by making a long series of semi-legal financial deals. Now worth billions, his attempts to take on the Russian government as an adversary have become nothing short of legendary. Berezovsky and his four friends who rise to power with him are not the gangsters we typically envision when thinking of corruption in business. They actually started out as University professors running a side business writing people's theses for them for one thousand rubles apiece. As change started sweeping through Gorbachev's Russia, inspiration hit, and the four realized that the economy would be unable to defend itself against their aggressive plans.
Parallels between "Tycoon" and "Citizen Kane" are abundant. Both begin with the death of the protagonist, both narratives are told from the viewpoint of a series of people who knew him and both deal with the enormous and eventually debilitating frustrations that accompany genius and power. The dialogue is one of "Tycoon's" primary points of departure from "Kane." A great majority of the characters have scenes in which they show the depth of their character in impassioned speeches about the ideology of their friendship, their businesses and their country. Of course, the majority of the witty dialogue comes from Berezovsky himself, who can write his success off to his skill in the art of surprise more than anything else. His monologues continue to keep the viewing experience fresh as he spouts off a series of unexpectedly humorous statements in what was otherwise a very serious situation.
The indulgence in wealth is explored with increased ferocity as the film progresses. At a party, we see Berezovsky ride in with a roar of applause on an elephant. Jumping off and walking past several llamas, he jumps limberly onto a large stage just in time to start up his hired full orchestra to the crowd's delight. Later, as his state of mind is becoming more brooding, we witness him watch a commercial for a South American vacation spot with a waterfall. As the commercial runs, he immediately calls a cohort and tells him to buy him a waterfall like that one.
His residences in Russia and France provide us with plenty of varying scenery -- large expanses of green spreading out before ancient stone balconies contrast the frequent enclosed spaces of cars and small Moscow apartments. This can be somewhat of a roller coaster ride at times -- the viewer can get a cramped sort of feeling with all the interior shots -- so by the time a more expansive outside shot comes up, one almost breathes a sigh of relief from being stifled inside.
Soon enough, however, the desire to go back inside arises, as the filmmaker's realism is so intense that the snow floating all around seems to blow straight through the screen. Audience members may notice they can see their breath during these scenes until they are let back into the warmth of one of Berezovsky's mansions.
A twist at the end fills out this film as an excellent modern installation in a tradition of epic films concerned with power and wealth. A truly thoughtful piece for the filmgoer interested in expanding his or her perspective a few more degrees, "Tycoon" is brought together by an ensemble of professionals whose commitment and love for the project is undeniable. It is a story that shows how one man can be a worthy rival ofan entire country.
Colin Whitlow is the publicity intern for the Virginia Film Festival.
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