★ 6 / 10
A fragmented portrait of a provocative life
Giuseppe_Silecchia
Limonov: The Ballad of Eddie, directed by Kirill Serebrennikov, tackles the turbulent life of Eduard Limonov, the Soviet poet turned political antihero. From…
Limonov: The Ballad of Eddie, directed by Kirill Serebrennikov, tackles the turbulent life of Eduard Limonov, the Soviet poet turned political antihero. From the streets of New York to the salons of Paris and the turmoil of Russian politics, the film ambitiously spans decades of Limonov's provocative journey. However, while visually striking and anchored by a strong lead performance, the film struggles to cohesively tie its many threads together.Ben Whishaw delivers a magnetic portrayal of Limonov, capturing his contradictions: the poet, the rebel, and the controversial political figure. Viktoria Miroshnichenko and Tomas Arana provide solid support, though their characters often feel secondary to Limonov's sprawling narrative.Serebrennikov's direction is bold, with moments of surrealism and striking visuals that reflect Limonov's chaotic and larger-than-life existence. Yet, the pacing is uneven, with certain segments feeling overly long or disjointed. The screenplay, co-written by Emmanuel Carrère, Pawel Pawlikowski, and Ben Hopkins, is packed with fascinating details but lacks a clear focus, leaving the audience to piece together Limonov's story without a strong emotional anchor.Despite its flaws, *Limonov: The Ballad of Eddie* is a fascinating exploration of an enigmatic figure. It's not a straightforward biopic but a kaleidoscopic look at a man who defied easy categorization. While the film may not resonate with all viewers, it succeeds in capturing the audacity and contradictions of its subject.6/10 - an ambitious but uneven portrait of a controversial icon.
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★ 6 / 10
As Uneven and Weird as Limonov Himself
AlKok
This movie is a rare instance when a film gets better the longer you watch it. I'd say that if you manage to suffer through the first 20 minutes of it's…
This movie is a rare instance when a film gets better the longer you watch it. I'd say that if you manage to suffer through the first 20 minutes of it's runtime you will start to appreciate it's strong sides.The main cast does a good job at painting complex characters, although they are clearly confined by the weak writing.Visually, the film sometimes looks amazing with longshots and expressive camera choices. But next second the movie looks like the editor was checking out all of the buttons in Adobe Premiere and decided to forget about any sense of taste or moderation.Music-wise its strong, with some bangers, especially when they try to include some Russian soul in the music choices.It's fair to say that the goal of making a believable portrait of Edward Limonov is a rather difficult one. And the movie, with all it's questionable choices and subpart writing, managed to catch at least a little bit of magic that it should have had.
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1080 and 720 BluRay are the same, 720. And the 1080 WEBDL are too 720, worse quality... What the...?