Generation P (film)

Generation P is the first feature-length screen adaptation of the eponymous novel by the Russian author Victor Pelevin. Work on the film begun at the end of 2006, and it was released in Russian cinemas on April 14, 2011. 
Like the novel, the film has a complex structure and many intertwined storylines. During work on the film, the plot was subjected to a major reworking: in contrast to the novel, the story of which ends at the end of the 1990s, the film is brought into the present day and even extended slightly into the future. The film is also in many respects built on hallucinations, including a speech by Che Guevara concerning how and why television is destroying humankind.

The film follows Vavilen Tatarsky as he struggles to work and adapt to life in Moscow in the newly independent Russia. Vavilen is a very skilled writer of advertisements, and so he begins working in an advertising agency which promotes Western brands, adapting their advertising campaigns to the "Russian mentality."

Confessions

Despite having already read the book and knowing fully well what was coming, I was still shocked. Confessions is a disturbing film, a morbid film and what happens is mind-blowing. It is disheartening, scary even, to see middle school students who are close to demented, with no heartfelt mercy or sympathy, who can kill freely for baffling reasons. At the same time, the adult characters are just as heartless. The teacher, Yuko Moriguchi (played by Takako Matsu) is intimidating – her only purpose in life after the death of her daughter is revenge; far from the typical adult mentor and role model that we are so used to seeing.

But the reason why I gave a higher rating to the film than the novel was because the director, Testuya Nakashima, did a marvelous job at taking a mediocre book with stagnant flow and transforming it into an intelligently crafted suspenseful film that maintains realism and proper flow. The 'blue' look (most obvious in the classroom scenes) and the ominous, monotonous soundtrack just adds to the film's darkness. Though the initial confession by Ms. Moriguchi is rather long winded, the rest of the film will consistently confuse, startle and even upset audiences. You will see children involved in relentless bullying and even cold-blooded murder – the middle school students' performances are astonishingly convincing. By the end of the film, you may feel cheated at such a disgusting and horrifying ending. You will be astounded and maybe even depressed at mankind's depravity – if that was the intention of both the author and director, they succeeded in playing a cruel joke on us all.