House of Fools (2002) User Reviews

Excellent movie; befitting our time

[sunman88 · 8/10 · 15 July 2006]

I watched this movie on 7/14/06 with the Middle east ablaze and the Bush Administration still spouting their tired nonsense about democracy while Palestinians are slaughtered by the scores. Folks, the only language we, homosapiens, understand is force. Northern Ireland, Palestine, Chechnya and on and on. Might makes right and the rest is fluff. The movie is not so much, at least I don't think so, a commentary on the war on Chechnya as much as it is on human follies. For those of us who have known the wrath of a woman the scene after the newly-wed husband leaves and she stabs his pictures with a broken glass is so frontal-lobe. And then the silence when he returns! A master piece indeed! Perhaps the moral of the story is that might IS right and love insane! Enjoy.

Amazing!

[Hicks · 7/10 · 6 February 2003]

WARNING! - People who consider Armageddon the best movie ever made or Pearl Harbor one of the true war movies ever made. PLEASE do not read this comment or watch this movie. Go watch X-men instead or vote for Bush one more time. Thank you.

Ok for the ones who do not categorize themselves to the previous mentioned group. That means a least you know what a great movie is.

And guess what? - This is a great movie whether you Like it or Not. You will be amazed how this movie will make you think and feel after you have watched it.

Let me start from the technical point of view. One of the most impressive things in this picture is cinematography (camera movements, colors, lightning). Starting right from the begging and till the very last minute. Just great.

Acting. If you have seen the movie you definitely know what I am talking about. The storyline of this movie plays in the psychiatric hospital in Chechnya, so most of the leading characters are mentally unstable, so I think you get the picture. Sometimes you can't distinguish real actors from mentally ill and believe me, what you will see on the screen comes very, very close to real life.

The screenplay has no flaws, yes it has none. If you have some trouble understanding something in this movie, that only means three things: 1. You are not Russian and you have trouble understanding some little details of Russian culture, language or war in Chechnya. (I will give you example below) 2. You belong to above-mentioned group of the audience.(see WARNING) 3. You are completely Dump (in this case go read some books, no don't go watch CNN and say `Year I know this' I mean books, talk to people, debate, learn something ect.)

Example.. There is a moment in the movie when a camera tracks over the floor in the hospital and there is a TV set. TV broadcasting an interview with one of the generals of Russian army and a reporter asks him `Don't you think it is insane to go into Grozny first with tanks and then by ground forces' For average western audience no body even understood what it is about.

In the real life this decision caused allot of casualties. It was very stupid move. Even some of the military guys who were there and have seen this shit, admitted to that. Plus the vocabulary (Russian), which is used in this movie, is quiet strong and sometimes funny for Russian speaking though.

There is only one thing that can be a little `to much' and that is the Bryn Adams song. And still this is only for non-Russian audience. Because this is actually shows that this is the only thing in the main characters life and the passion for the western music especially in the beginning of 90s in Russia.

I think that I have written enough. For those who have not seen this picture and actually read till this point of my review I strongly advise to see this motion picture. You definitely will like it. Because, this is one of the best Russian movies of all times.

"Why is man happy when he kills another? What is there to be happy about?"

[JuguAbraham · 8/10 · 26 January 2022]

Deceptive innocent entertainment from Konchalovsky (director and original scriptwriter). On the obvious take--a film on good humans with mental problems incarcerated in a mental asylum, run by an efficient doctor who is dedicated and intelligent. On the not-so-obvious side--it is based on true incidents in Chechnya (Russia) during the Second Chechen War of 1999-2000. For those unfamiliar with Chechnya, it is a constituent republic of Russia with a predominant Muslim population. Russians predominantly follow the Russian Orthodox Church. Konchalovsky has proven his Russian orthodox credentials in all his cinematic works.

In this film, the inmates of the asylum include patients of both faiths living in harmony. Outside the asylum, there is war (between the Muslim Chechens and the Christian Russians). Konchalovsky's script underscores the camaraderie between the warring factions when they fought side by side in Afghanistan saving each other. During the Chechen war soldiers of both sides recall that they were once friends.

When the asylum is bombed by the Russians, many of the inmates cross themselves out of fear of impending death--indicating the majority of the inmates are Christian. Ahmed, a Muslim Chechen and a pacifist incarcerates himself with this motley group of inmates as he finds safety and friendship among the "crazies" who accept him as one of their own.

The participation of rock singer Bryan Adams as an actor and singer in the film is Konchalovsky's masterstroke along with the words of the songs sung by the singer. Other important trivia, the lead actress Yulia Vysotskaya is the director's wife of over 20 years. Her acting capability is showcased in wide variety of roles she has played in her husband's films--most importantly in "Paradise" and "Dear Comrades."

The film is further strengthened on the aural front beyond Bryan Adams by the music of composer Eduard Artemyev. Artemyev is often bypassed by the fans of Tarkovsky (in Solaris, Stalker, Mirror), Konchalovsky (in Siberiade, The Inner Circle, Homer and Eddie), Mikhalkov (The Barber of Siberia, A few days in the life of I. I. Oblomov) etc.

The crux of the film lies in the quotation of Tolstoy "Why is man happy when he kills another? What is there to be happy about?" recalled by a Russian army officer (played by a famous Russian actor, Evginiy Mironov, in the film towards the end.

It's like a poem

[Abadeo · 26 November 2004]

I love this movie. The third time I watched it, it made me laugh and it made me cry. I know that a lot of people are not going to like this movie. It's like a poem.... you get it or you don't. People complain about the Bryan Adams segments. I thought they were too few and not long enough. They were Zhanna's dreams.... her escape. And after you feel Janna's frustration, unhappiness, and pain you welcome the relief and warm colors of the Bryan Adams escape from reality. The movie has some very surreal scenes. One of them is the scene where Zhanna is looking at her wedding pictures in her room while the Chechen sniper is shooting out her window. Yuliya Vysotskaya is wonderful as Zhanna. Her face is so child-like and expressive. She doesn't even need to speak; I can read her mind in her face. She's a really great actor. I love the scene where she discovers Ahmed in front of her in the lunch line. She says nothing, but her face changes several times, showing some strong emotions that you cannot understand unless you've seen the entire movie up to that point. Zhanna has some funny little quirks, like the way she steps over every doorway threshold. But I thought it odd that I didn't laugh or cry until the third viewing. The first time, I was just in awe. I was just wide eyed with amazement.

But by the third time I loved and understood the characters, especially Zhanna, and so I could feel the movie.

NOT the Russian One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

[Anonymous_Maxine · 9/10 · 16 February 2004]

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a great movie that was based on an even greater book, but I wish people wouldn't compare this movie to that one so often. Yes, the similarities are extensive and impossible to miss, but House of Fools, as the title translates into English, is a different film that has it's own weight and it's own meanings. This is not, by any means whatsoever, another vision of Ken Kesey's classic, nor is it a remake in any way of that of Milos Forman.

(spoilers) Yuliya Vysotskaya, who played Janna, the main character, delivers a wonderful performance of this woman who lives in a mental hospital right on the Russian border during the Chechen War (a war about which I admittedly know absolutely nothing). Her ailment is never made clear (nor are any of the others), except for a scene in the middle of the movie where she reveals, through dialogue, some of what are probably many more illusions (I won't count her illusory belief that she can dance). As she is being abandoned by Ahmed, who she thinks is the love of her life, she tells him that she loves him, and asks him to please don't kill her. Then she tells the mud that she loves it, and please don't kill her, etc.

Her mental condition is not important, although her character, while skillfully performed, is so laden with a cloying freight of symbolism that it often becomes difficult to see her as a person rather than a heavily symbolic character in a heavily symbolic movie. There is a common misconception (supported by the movie's very own tagline) that the doctors at the mental hospital around which the story revolved abandoned the patients, leaving them to fend for themselves during the Chechen War during which the movie takes place. I don't really understand this assertion, since the doctor returns at the end of the film, explains what happened to him when he went to find a bus to transfer the patients to a better hospital. Just the fact that he returned should have been enough to show that he didn't simply ditch them all.

I wish I had a better memory for the names of the characters in the movie, because one of the other patients, the one with the wraparound glasses and the backpack full of his poetry, played a significant role in the movie. He and Janna are clearly the mother and father figures for the rest of the patients when they are left to their own devices, seeing over the rest of the cast and, periodically, offering the chance for audience members to question the validity of their respective mental instabilities. I don't know much about mental disorders, but there were certainly scenes in this movie where it seemed to me that they were being treated for more mental instability than they regularly displayed. These were balanced out, however, by scenes where they each displayed rather crippling disabilities, his the complete inability to communicate or assess situations effectively, and hers some dangerous attachment issues and the displacement of emotions onto things like inanimate objects.

As far as the war goes, I won't go into detail about the meaning of the war itself in the film because, like I mentioned above, I know nothing about the war that is going on offscreen, but the movie makes some interesting points about the chaos and destructiveness of war. One of them is the almost-cliché of the man who saves another man's life, only to find himself fighting on the opposite side from him later on. Sort of a cliché by now, yes, but it adds to the movie's later concentration on the chaos and confusion surrounding war in general. There are several scenes in which the mental patients are understandably terrified and utterly lost as to what is going on around them. This is to be expected, but there are also several scenes in which the soldiers and even their commanders are pretty confused as to what is happening. One tense scene has two opposing factions facing each other (notably making an illicit drug deal), when one of the soldiers carelessly stumbles on his gun, making it fire off a few rounds into the air, which leads to the two groups firing machine guns at each other for several seconds before anyone realizes that it was all just a stupid mistake. The soldier who accidentally caused it laughs it off.

The references to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest are everywhere. The patients are left to their own devices (in this case because the doctor left longer than intended because he was delayed by the war, in the other case because McMurphy persuaded them all to escape for a while), which has a healing effect on all of them but not enough to make any of them want to leave the hospital, their home, at the end of the film. There's an interesting element of the movie involving Bryan Adams, who literally colors Janna's life with his music, even though she has a completely delusional relationship with him, which would seem to have a detrimental effect on her mental health. What I see by his occasional entrances into the movie are not some weak effort to provide recognizance by inserting an American pop star, but a layered effect of meaning that reflects the many other layers of meaning in the film. Bryan Adams, while he is not meant to have had a real relationship with this woman who thinks that she is engaged to him, lights up her life with his music (notice how the color fills the screen when it's playing), while she attempts to do the same for the rest of the patients with her own accordion playing. She doesn't always succeed with all of them, but she certainly does much more than she does with the soldiers, who she also plays for on more than one occasion, and is laughed at each time (which may very well signify some kind of juvenile cynicism among the lower ranks of military forces).

I don't pretend to understand every level of symbolism that is portrayed in this movie, but it's important to notice that they're there. It's amazing how much more meaning and importance some little movie from Russia like this has than the typical multi-million dollar blockbuster released here in America, and I really wish that people would pay at least a tiny bit more attention to the few movies released (dare I say the majority of which come from other countries?) that actually mean something. There are a lot of things in this movie that are difficult to comprehend, indeed, many which seem to be in the movie as examples of pure artistic expression, but the movie as a whole, like it's main character, is so laden with meaning and symbolism that it is virtually impossible to see it all on just one viewing. The movie deserves at LEAST that much.

Nice Chechen war movie set in asylum

[faraaj-1 · 7/10 · 9 October 2006]

Andrei Konchalovsky is an interesting director who deals with intelligent themes in commercial movies. I liked an earlier American film he made - Runaway Train. House of Fools is a Russian language film interspersed with two short scenes in which the characters speak Arabic or Chechen. For some reason, the non Russian portion, brief though it is, is not subtitled.

The story concerns a mental hospital in Ingushetia which gets caught up in the crossfire between Russian forces and Chechen rebels. When the only remaining nurse resigns and the ageing doctor goes off to find transport to move the patients but does not return, hell breaks loose. The patients in the violent section are let loose, Chechens occupy the building and Russians shells land nearby. We witness much of the bizarre drama through the eyes of the innocent accordion player Janna, who loves Bryan Adams (he has a nice singing supporting role). She meets a Chechen and decides to leave Bryan and marry him instead.

I won't go into the plot but this film is pretty good because its watchable throughout and doesn't get boring, even though the Bryan Adams thing is slightly overdone. There is an amazing scene involving a dead rebel exchange where the Chechen and Russian commanders talk and the soldiers barter. Apparently such dealings were quite normal during the Chechen war.

Masterpiece!

[ybelov · 10/10 · 25 May 2004]

I saw this film yesterday and I'm still under the impression. It was overwhelming. All is brilliant -- plot, acting, images, music...

Certainly, there are motifs from other films -- "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (for example, the episode when the inmate break out of the asylum), "Dancer in the Dark" (the dreams of Janna) -- but they are organically interwoven in the canvass of Konchalovsky's film.

This oeuvre, like other films by Andrei Konchalovsky, is a result of a happy amalgamation, a synthesis of Western and Russian cinema traditions, which does not happen often.

The film is profoundly artistic and at the same time realistic. This is achieved not least by a careful choice of details. For example, in the background, in the TV screen, you see Boris Yeltsin, the Russian ex-President who started this dirty war, and his corrupt Minister of Defence Pavel Grachov ("Pasha Mercedes").

The verbal language is also true to life. The personages, in particular the Russian military, use quite a few of Russian 'four-letter words', and here the use of such words is fully justified.

I saw the films in a DVD edition (Paramount Classics, 2003) and the only disappointment was the subtitles. The English translation is sometimes too inexact and leaves too much dialogue untranslated. This needs to be corrected in the subsequent edition.

Of course, the best is to see the film in Russian. But even if you do not speak Russian, try to see this film, because it is a masterpiece of a universal value, which transcends the language barriers. Watch it with an open mind.

I wish that all Russians had the chance too see 'The House of Fools'. Then, probably, their perception of the Chechen people would change for the better, and it would also bring them to a reflection about the war in the Caucasus, which is both Russia's crime and illness, and how the country could overcome it.

Thank you Mr. Konchalovsky, thank you all who made this excellent film! 10/10

War - Insane - Love

[enigma16 · 6/10 · 4 January 2003]

Dream and reality Hope and despair Beauty and ugliness Tranquility and horror

These are the things the `Dom durakov' is about. The fundamental notions of the human being, of the life itself. Therefore, the film is more philosophical rather than commercial. A signature of Konchalovsky.

The film strikes one with the continual drastic change of conception of the plot. And the way, in which it's made is very interesting: not only the colour spectrum changes, but the character structure, too. I think it was a great idea to include Bryan Adams and his song `Have You Ever Loved a Woman' into the film as an aggregate of dream, hope, beauty and tranquility...

The whole film is taken in the pallid, miserly colours. With the ruins of Chechnya. With real mentally ill people. With real Bryan Adams. An interesting gathering, isn't it?That's the point, where the film attracts ones attention. But no more...

Some critics envision a nomination for the Oscar and even an Oscar itself for this film. I can't agree with them. What ruins the whole sense is the impossibility of the film to summarize all the ideas, put forward in it. By the end one feels incompleteness, something unsaid. And the story of each character stays also incomplete. Sure, you can make up the End by yourself, but it's not the place and time for this. You need a specific, having-a-single-meaning end of each story individually and in the whole.

All in all, a worth to watch, still very controversial and can leave you either completely unsatisfied or very pleased with itself.

Russians still can do it!

[trile · 9/10 · 21 July 2007]

Elementary basics in film art school - old Russian movies. Maybe not something for ordinary man, but this is the picture on both sides. It's amazing how amongst everyday blockbuster clones this brilliant piece slipped in. Get everybody's attention and make them watch it.

The only thing I want to concentrate here is the difference between American and Russian mind. U.S. had lost the war in 'Nam but there are billion movies about successes and victories; today after the 9/11 patriotic element is in every, but every movie, whether it is political or not, and on the other side you have guys like Clooney who create opposite thing like in Syriana. They call it 'the truth' but many claim he is traitor. But this is not a political disscusion. The thing I want to point out is that Konchalovsky stays in the middle. Checheny is big thing for Russia, but he is political in a way it becomes apolitical movie, because common man is after all apolitical - too small to apprehend borders, power, money and war! Bravo!

Would you believe that I see a connection to a Porky Pig cartoon?

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 20 November 2007]

Set in a mental institution near Chechnya, Andrei Konchalovsky's "Dom durakov" - "House of Fools" in English - indirectly poses the question of whether the real insanity lies inside or outside the mental institution. It does have a plot fairly similar to "King of Hearts" (the staff flees and leaves the patients, who then have to deal with the surrounding war). By the time that this came out, I don't know how long it had been since Konchalovsky had directed a movie in his native Russia - in the United States, he had directed "Runaway Train" and "Shy People" - but this was an OK return for him (though far from the best Russian movie that I've ever seen).

And the Porky Pig cartoon? It was 1947's "Little Orphan Airedale", the first appearance of Charlie Dog (the pushy canine who always tries to get Porky to adopt him as a pet). At the end of the cartoon, Charlie's other friend decides that life is screwy on the outside, and so the final scene shows him trying to get back into the dog pound! Maybe that's a little more like "King of Hearts", but they all question where the real insanity lies (I guess that "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest" also does).

Does anybody know whether or not Yulia Vysotskaya is related to Vladimir Vysotsky?

King of Hearts meets Dancer in the Dark meets Fellini ... but why?

[paroles2000 · 1/10 · 5 January 2006]

A soldier chased by the enemy while on a military mission finds himself in an insane asylum, meets a slightly insane but charming girl and by the end of the film decides to join the ranks of the asylum patients, to escape the insane world at war. I am not describing the plot of House of Fools, but of a 1966 French film Le Roi de Coeur (King of Hearts).

A kind and loving and slightly crazy girl falls in love with someone who deceives her, but despite the bitter disappointment, smiles at people through her tears. I am not describing House of Fools", but Nights of Cabiria.

A kind and loving girl lives in terrible conditions, but music and singing help her to escape from reality. During her escape sessions from the most tragic moments of her life she imagines people around her singing and smiling. And yet again, I am not talking about House of Fools, I am talking about Dancer in the Dark.

A colorful gang of crazy characters of every possible kind, of which the most colorful one is a Rubenesque lady with a strong personality was not invented by A. Konchalovsky, either. (I am sorry, but this idea belongs to the late Maestro Fellini.)

Even the song that is used to make a statement throughout the film was borrowed from Don Juan de Marco. The Spanish dancers just had to come along with the song, too.

One is surprised at the amount of allusions. In fact there are so many "allusions" (or shall we call them "borrowings"?) that nothing original is left when you peel this "onion". It is a bad film despite strong cinematography and acting.

I love this beautiful film.

[clayevk · 10/10 · 19 May 2009]

i love this film for all it's beauty, madness, romance, harsh gritty-reality, poetry, music, courage, and heart. i'm saddened to hear this film is no longer being distributed because it is a masterpiece which most anyone can enjoy and be enriched from...regardless of age or nationality. the story translates on numerous levels and the characters are acted with supreme respect for their condition....be that condition primarily political or one having to do mental-illness.

the actors sparkle in their depiction of the asylum-population.... we come to understand many of them for their individuality. what we see is how quirks can be gifts and fantasies are what keeps us going sometimes. love is symbolized as a train and war arrives when the train doesn't. war is between enemies but enemies are not always what they seem.

this movie danced across my eyes and now it dances in my consciousness. i'm in search of copies of this to share with my friends and family!!!

This film takes you through the eyes of a patient (Vysotskaya) at a mental a hospital during a boarder skirmish between Russia & Chechnya.

[rehan-yunus · 7/10 · 5 January 2008]

Although this was a French-Russian conglomeration, it was blatantly more French than Russian. In fact, the only element Russian in this film was the stamp from the ministry. Central to the story was the life and dream of a young and pretty patient who can play the accordion and dreams of meeting her lover, Brian Adams. One can not criticise to much of how insane people are, as that is completely on another level of consciousness. However, the times where the dream sequences involved Brian Adams, the director must have been told to eat both cheese and sugar, leaving you not disgusted but certainly leaving confusion on the senses. All the other times how she coped of what disasters where happening around her, balanced the film out. The film was based on a true story and it did portray effectively a breakdown in relations between the ex-soviet states and imperialist Russia and its detrimental consequences of which were given, albeit in a light hearted fashion. The acting overall was very good and I was greatly amused, as well as touched of how the characters related to each other.

To conclude, it really does give the impression that those that are insane can see more sense that those that are sane. God help us all.

Blah

[andron217 · 3/10 · 1 August 2003]

I really don't understand what all the hype is about. The fact that this movie is weird, i can handle, but the fact that it carries absolutely no point is what bothers me. The whole nuthouse concept is grosely overplayed, and the acting is spotty at best. Camerawork is too shifty and annoying, and the philosophical discussions in the movie are rather pointless, plus the movie is extremely pro-Chechen, which i found rather weird, seeing as it is the work of a Russian director. And it isnt like i might have missed something in translation - i know russian, so i didnt even bother reading the english subtitles. Overall, it just looks more like a work of a sophomore film student, than something that should be getting screen time in the theaters. 3/10

thought provoking and overlooked

[Pookie-10 · 24 May 2003]

For some I can't stop thinking about this little gem of a movie, it has more heart and soul than most of an entire decade of mainstream films combined. Konchalovsky is an interesting director, certainly when you think at the wide range of his work (Runaway Train, Shy People). I was somewhat fascinated and semi-perplexed when I first saw this, but the more I tried to peg it down ("ok this is the Russian Cookoo's Nest--with some 'I Never Promised you a Rose Garden' mixed in") the less it became so. This is an original one of a kind film, highly underrated, highly overlooked, especially in this country. Which is too bad, the rest of the sleepwalking brainwashed masses can flock to see their "Bruce Almighty's or Matrix Reloaded's every week, I'm glad I'm aware of films like this.

Absolutely Brilliant and Beautiful

[nero5684 · 10/10 · 6 January 2005]

This movie was excellent, and really I cannot see how anyone who doesn't have ADD or any humanity cannot sit down and watch this movie.

The only thing I disliked was Bryan Adams (he's just a horrible singer in my opinion) and the first scene where he comes up, I was actually thinking "what the hell is this?" because it seemed more like a music video spliced in, before I got the point. Also some of the "action" shots which looked a little amateurish/choppy. Otherwise, this was a fascinating look at a time and a place which is very different from our own.

The actors and actresses are all wonderfully played, and I'd even say better than many American actors.

It really gives you a feel for an asylum

As for comparisons to One Flew over the cuckoos nest, while I must say I love that movie as well, I think this one has much more depth and raw humanity

Disturbing Break From Reality

[psbarlo-1 · 7/10 · 9 December 2007]

To hear the scenario of "House of Fools" one might think of other movies that deal with mental institutions ("One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", "Girl Interrupted", etc), but these comparisons would be too easy. Far closer to the actual style and mood of the picture would be comparisons to fantasies like "The Purple Rose of Cairo" or "Pan's Labrynth" where characters are able to escape from the pain of World Crisis through the aid of imagination. As the character Janna disappears from the chaos around her, from the conditions of the asylum to the threat of death from the Czech army, we see a woman who is far from lucid and weaving in and out of independence. She is at times conscious of what goes on around her, while playing into her craziness as a means of escaping the pain of life. The movie is bold to portray this beautiful woman as someone who is not altogether sane. The style of the movie changes with the state of Janna's mind. Some scenes are shot with incredible depth of field camera work, such as the helicopter crashing behind Janna in a shot that was no doubt inspired by the silent comedians. Other scenes are filmed with glossy, soft lighting, such as the train scenes with Bryan Adams, to create a wonderful dream feeling. When the movie does come crashing back into reality, the grim nature of it all is very painful, so we the audience, like Janna, long for the next accordion solo.

great movie, but ugh bryan adams

[Jeffreybar · 8/10 · 13 November 2004]

Quite frankly, this movie deserves a 10/10 for its wonderful portrayal of life in a mental institution caught in the crossfire between Russian and Chechen forces. But why oh why oh why did the (clearly intelligent and artful) director have to make such extensive use of Bryan Adams? I could have dealt with it if there was just one fantasy with him, or if most of the fantasies had been silent (rather than plagued with his sugary awful romance-pop), or even if (God forbid) they had used MORE THAN ONE BRYAN ADAMS SONG for these sequences. It's the same song over and over again. Ugh.

That said, this movie is a great treatise on the new imperialism that is threatening to destroy the world (not just in Russia, Americans might take note here). There's clearly a lot of Fellini to be found if you go looking for it -- the accordion-playing heroine, the colorful characters, and particularly the circus music which shows up from time to time. Also, I was very strongly reminded of Begnini's "Life Is Beautiful", another film which managed to find humanity and quirky warmth in the midst of a truly awful conflict and situation.

Even with Bryan Adams this movie gets an easy 8/10.

So what can you do as an individual?

[HoppingBunny · 7/10 · 21 January 2004]

It's another one of those war movies. One of what you say? One of those: Saving Private Ryan, Prisoner of the mountains, Battle of Algiers, and Apocalypses now redux. I don't know what's wrong with me lately, but I have watched too many anti-war movies. What's the point of all these conflicts? They give good materials for other people to write and shoot films. And they give good materials to have nice conversations with your friends over beers and wines. I hate men. I hate human beings. Can we ever wash blood on our hands? I hate this movie and movies like this. And yet.my soul wouldn't stop breathing in the stench. It's an interesting war flick. I found it mostly satisfying except the repeated appearance of Bryan Adams. Yes, I understand his scenes. Yes, it does make the movie a bit more star-power. However, the messages have been conveyed clearly without dragging him in every so often. I recommend this movie if you wanna bath in messages of pointlessness of war and blah. What can we do to stop the vicious cycle of human tragedy and stupidity? Is there a hope?

the movie is awesome for russians

[Carmachino · 10/10 · 23 January 2003]

Good directing, good acting and deep sense of present situation. I went to see the film with my girlfriend, but she disliked the movie, called it 'just another russian movie with lots of negative'. I disagree, this movie worth seeing.

Light-hearted even though such a large heart

[SILENCEikillyou · 9/10 · 2 August 2005]

I found this movie to be quite enjoyable. It was really quirky in several places, but since I knew it was about an asylum for mental patients in Russia, I already imagined it was going to be strange. However, the strangeness of this piece never over-powered the plot. It never detracted from my enjoyment of it.

Neither did having to read subtitles (again, since I knew it was Russian). There was a large volume of rapid dialogue, so it was easy enough to read along with the story. Call me a naive or arrogant, but I had no idea Russia made such good movies. If this film is indicative of the other display of mainstream Russian movies, I'd watch them all.

The main character (and actress) was a joy to watch. She had a big heart and a smile to go with it. She was able to take away moments of tension or strife (if only, possibly in her mind) when she'd play the accordian. She was helpful to all the patients and the Chechans that came to their 'home'. This story makes you wonder of some "mental patients" really belong out here with the rest of us "normal" people. And many of us out here, probably more belong in an asylum.

All in all, I say this movie is worth watching, if you have an open mind. Her love and obsession for her "fiance" Bryan Adams just endeared me to her character even more. I was under the impression that she only knew one of his songs, as it was the only Bryan Adams song that would play at many intervals. More of his music would have been nice, but didn't bother the story, at all.

Good quality entertainment with a large, light heart.

Put Me On That Train!

[CharlesInCal · 16 June 2003]

What beautiful imagery capturing the essence of a cold dark night where the silence is suddenly broken by a view of a most enigmatic train - like a Christmas tree decked out in its finest. War as seen through the eyes of Janna, a beautiful woman who is madly in love. And we do mean madly! You see, Janna is a Chechen inmate at an isolated psychiatric hospital, where her only peace lies in her accordian and her dreams of being rescued by her imaginary fiance, Canadian superstar Bryan Adams at the controls of that train. What is that train? And who is that man with the apple? Is he God speaking to mankind? Is that train the Train of Redemption taking every child, man, and woman who has suffered and leaving behind others in a world full of all the things we detest?

The Russian and Chechen forces converge on psychiatric hospital

[kingcasey_iii · 10/10 · 6 January 2023]

The Russian forces and Chechen rebels unknowgly converge on a psychiatric hospital where the head Psychiatrist and staff has gone to seek humanitarian aid when communications has been cut off from the fighting. The patients are left to fend for themselves.

Delusional patient, Zhanna tries to care for her fellow patients in crisis as the soldiers are unsure how to proceed upon making the discovery of the facility and it's emergency surpasses.

Interesting black comedy, Canadian rocker Bryan Adams makes cameo as Zhanna's delusional fantasy of being her fianance who will take her away from the madness once his concert tour is over.

to see main character

[jimorris · 8/10 · 1 May 2003]

"House of Fools" is a quirky drama from Russia by a director who has done films in America. Set in a mental hospital, the main character (Yuliya Vysotskaya and the main reason for seeing this) believes she is engaged to Canadian Bryan Adams (a motion picture composer and singer -- who appears in the film). Even though a patient, she ministers to, entertains, and protects the patients. As war breaks out, the hospital is in the middle of things and the staff disappears. There is a mixture of harsh reality and dreamy serenity. Sub-titled. GRADE = "B-"

A Russian 'Cuckoo's Nest'

[Ospidillo · 8/10 · 28 January 2008]

This picture is a French-Russian collaboration but I saw little French influence here -- in any event, it's a simple story but a spectacular film.

I'm not all that keen on contemporary films but this one caught my attention due to the Russian angle, which I have come to enjoy in both literature and film. It's a cute love story with a Chechnyn War battle as the backdrop.

The staff and inmates of a marginally budgeted mental institution on the Russia-Chechnyn border come under fire, finding themselves betwixt the Russian Army and the Muslim Rebel Guerillas. The staff is forced to vacate the precesses to try to get some buses to evacuate their patients but they are compelled, due to the hot battle, to stay away for a few days. In the meantime, the patients are free to roam.

The Muslim Rebels take over the asylum as a base, pretty much ignoring all the inmates, (who think it's all great fun as the walls explode from tank shelling!), except for one very pretty female accordion-playing nut. She's not quite as looney as her peers until she receives a kidding marriage proposal from one of the Muslim Rebels, Ahmed, the ugliest of the lot -- and then she's head over heels in love with the guy.

There's a bit of a sub-plot in that the girl is also obsessed with a fantasy of singer Bryan Adams (who "shows up" periodically, singing love songs to her in English!), with whom she believes that she's engaged to. Still, she's willing to marry the Chechnyn since he's right there all the time, so to speak.

A second male inmate is also somewhat sane, (his foible is his backpack which he never takes off), and he realizes that there is no real engagement for his nutty friend so he tries to retreive her from the nearby Rebel camp, after the girl follows Ahmed into actual battle.

It's difficult to understand how the cuteness of the main theme can be combined with a killing war so successfully, but they've done it here. This is really a fine, well-made film.

If you can at all tolerate English subtitles of the Russian verbiage, (which are also well-done and very readable without much distraction), then don't pass this one by. It's a real sleeper that you won't hear much about in the West.