Why Eterna is neither a new Game of Thrones nor an interesting fantasy
Miscellaneous / / January 19, 2022
On January 20, Eterna: Part One is released on KinoPoisk. This is an episode of the series (length as a full-length film), which should start the whole saga. The plot of the project is based on the series of books by Vera Kamshi "Reflections of Eterna", which began to be published back in 2004.
The series is positioned as the Russian answer to the Game of Thrones: it is also a large-scale fantasy about an alternative world where political intrigues unfold. And the idea seems to be really intriguing. But after watching the first part leaves only bewilderment and disappointment. The authors tried to show a huge number of events and characters in one tape. And as a result, they turned the story into a set of disparate scenes with incomprehensible references.
A stream of messy information
The action takes place in a world called Kertiana, in the kingdom of Talig. Once it was ruled by the Rakan dynasty, but then the Ollars seized power. Exiled Crown Prince Aldo (Anar Khalilov) dreams of regaining his throne with the support of his faithful comrade Robert Epinay (Pavel Krainov). But they will have to face the insidious Roque Alva (Yuri Chursin), who maintains power. Once it was he who suppressed the uprisings and helped the Ollars.
At the same time, young Richard Oakdell (Denis Nurulin), the son of one of the rebels, is sent to a school where squires are trained from the nobles. So the young man plans to approach the high society and take revenge on the same Alva. After all, he once killed his father in a duel.
The synopsis above shows only a small part of the characters and events that await viewers in just 1 hour and 20 minutes. And this is not to mention the fact that right in the screensaver, the authors tell the whole prehistory of the world in two minutes Kertiana: its creation, rebellions, transition of power, four main houses around which it will revolve plot.
After about half an hour, many will surely have a strange feeling. Imagine that you came to visit, and the 134th episode of a series is on TV. At the beginning, the events of the previous five seasons are briefly recounted, and then endless namedropping begins: literally every two minutes a new name, title or position sounds. And in the case of Eterna, all these words are unusual for the Russian ear, so it is almost impossible to remember them the first time. At the same time, when the head of the Gogan community, the Glorious Enniol, first appears in the frame, everyone pretends that there is no need to explain anything.
Although the main problem is elsewhere. If all the mentioned characters, events and places played some role in the plot, one could simply remember or write down each of them, and accuse all those who are confused (and the author of this article) of a lack mindfulness. However, more than half of the names and locations do not affect what is happening at all. Some characters will enter the frame for a couple of minutes, say a few phrases and disappear forever. Moreover, just 10 minutes before the final, the mystical component is put into action.
All this will certainly prove important in the following episodes. And if the project were released according to the usual serial scheme, for example, once a week (or at least a month), such randomness could be forgiven. But for a feature-length film without a backstory, Eterna is too incomprehensible. And for a series, waiting a year for the release of the second series is somehow strange.
Yes, quite recently, viewers have already seen a similar example - “Dune» Denis Villeneuve. But in that case, an army of fans of the original book, fans of Timothée Chalamet, Oscar Isaac and other stars, went to the film. And just those who love large-scale cinema on big screens. Alas, the authors of "Eterna" will have to admit that Kamshi's works have an order of magnitude fewer fans.
The only thing that can be advised to those who decide to watch Eterna is to try re-enabling the introductory video somewhere in the middle of watching. Then the information will settle down better. Otherwise, there is a chance to feel like a participant in a stupid famous sceneUral dumplings - Zhizha / YouTube with a game of "Gizhu" and phrases in the style of "The North does not cut gold."
Compilation from all familiar plots
In the announcements, Eterna was often called "the Russian analogue of the Game of Thrones." It’s hard to blame journalists for this: after the end of the famous saga, any major series in the genre fantasy involuntarily compared with the legend. But in the case of Eterna, such analogies are meaningless, if only because the tape is generally difficult to consider as an independent project. It seems that the authors almost randomly collected elements from various popular stories and tied them into a new plot.
There seems to be nothing wrong with this approach. For instance, George Lucas back in the 1970s, he created his Star Wars in this way: he took films about samurai, westerns, Herbert's Dune, a dozen other works and successfully compiled them. The problem is that in the Russian series, the individual components do not stick together well.
The fundamentals really seem close to the "Game of Thrones": they mention scattered provinces, warring states and the struggle for power. And the action revolves around several clans, each of which has its own symbols and slogans in the style of "Hard and unshakable". Almost like the "Relentless, Unbending, Unyielding" Martells from George Martin's books.
But visually, the aesthetics of the musketeers are added to this, which never let go of Russian cinema: clothes, hats and weapons of the fantasy world clearly refer to the 16th-17th centuries. As if proof of this refrain to the finale, the eternal Athos Veniamin Smekhov will appear in the frame. Here we must pay tribute: the costumes are sewn very interestingly and believably (approved byEterna: fantasy of the New Age / YouTube even Klim Zhukov), and weapons and armor were madeArmor, sabers, and horses manually.
And in the scenes of the training of the nobles, it is easy to notice some strange mix of "Midshipmen" and "Harry Potter". The heroes will even play a very simplified version of Quidditch. At the same time, they will be given signals by a horn, as if taken from a trailer for any film. Christopher Nolan. You can continue to bring associations with other well-known works. But in fact, looking for references can be one of the most fun parts of browsing.
Here it is even difficult to say whether the author of the original is to blame for such a heap. After all, it's not even that there are too many parallels. It's just that each part is given little time. So, during the training, Richard will have time to find true friends, to confront the arrogant representative of a different kind, be bullied by a teacher, see ghosts and graduate. All in all, half of Harry Potter in about 20 minutes of screen time.
Poor and inexpressive staging
Another reason why "Eterna" should not be compared with "Game of Thrones”: the series has a completely different scale of filming. Of course, the HBO project also had simpler visuals in the first seasons than in the final, and big battles were more often talked about than shown.
But in Eterna, the approach sometimes even resembles classic Soviet TV shows. The battle, fragments of which flash in the trailer, is the only one in the entire first part and lasts about five minutes. And then the authors rarely shoot even just in the open air. There won't be a single really beautiful panorama in the spirit of The Lord of the Rings, or at least "Wheels of time»
Most of the action is staged in the pavilions of Lenfilm: in a limited space, several actors are walking or sitting, who are just talking. Moreover, the dialogues are mainly filmed with traditional "eights", switching cameras one by one behind the characters' backs.
The unusual choreography is also unlikely to be appreciated: the only real duel will last about 20 seconds, and the students' training will immediately turn into a mass brawl. Unless the hero of Khalilov will show some acrobatics, forcing you to remember the exercises of Paul Atreides in the new Dune. But again, just for fun.
It is difficult to talk about the quality of the superimposed special effects, the press copies indicate that the color and sound have not yet been finalized (this is the norm for previews). But already now it can be noted for sure: in the series you should not expect a special scope and an impressive visual range.
Each of these problems in itself does not make Eterna a failure. So, in "The Witcher" also overloaded the plot with lines and details, in the first seasons of "Space" the budget of the SyFy channel did not allow create good special effects, and the film "Ready Player One" built all the twists on references to others works. However, in sum, all these elements turn "Eterna" into a chaotic chaotic work. Yes, and without a sequel. Perhaps too many shortcomings for one movie.
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