In the range between blackness and hope. How the TV series “Volunteer Playlist” tells about the Russian search squad

On May 18, two episodes of "Volunteer Playlist" premiered on Okko. The series is based on the book of the same name written by Mrshavko Shtapich (Artyom Lyashenko). He also prepared the script for the film adaptation. The director was Maxim Sveshnikov ("Container", "Hack Bloggers").

Starring Ivan Yankovsky (“Fisher”), Shamil Khamatov (“BIHAPPY”), Dmitry Chebotarev (“Eva, give birth!”) And others.

2011 year. 25-year-old Misha Shtapich wakes up on the street after another drinking bout. He learns that a search party is looking for him. Misha decides to join the volunteers, who, after finding Shtapich, go looking for the missing child. From that moment on, he begins to spend all his time on volunteering. For him, this is not only an opportunity to help people, but also an attempt to change himself and his attitude to life.

The series refrains from troubling questions

More than 40,000 children go missing in Russia every year. Volunteers are doing a great job trying to make up for the inaction of public services. It would seem that the series will emphasize this problem, speak out about it, but no - no social criticism has been prepared. There is no answer to the question why children run away from home so often, there are no attempts to state that the problem does not bother anyone.

Involuntarily, comparisons with other works on this topic arise. For example, in "dislike» Andrey Zvyagintsev, the child disappears because of the parents who, with their divorce, turn the life of their son into hell. But in the "Volunteer Playlist" children disappear just like that. Sometimes it seems that now it will turn out what really happened, but all the screen time is devoted to the detective component and swearing at Yankovsky. The tagline “Shit happens” would suit the series – they say, people disappear, it’s a pity for them, but what can you do about it.

Heroes live in a vacuum

Another problem of the series is the lack of connection with reality. This is strange, because the author of the book (and the script) was involved in the search. It would seem that he will be able to bring to the screen a lot of small and important details, but this did not happen. In fact, the characters live in a fictional place and in a fictional time. It seems that the action takes place in the provinces, and then it is said that the detachment works in Moscow and the Moscow region. It is also not clear what volunteers do in their free time from searching. There is no social context.

The impersonality of the detachment itself is also surprising. The original book talks aboutLiseAlert”, but this (and any other) name does not appear in the series. As a result, incomprehensible people in an incomprehensible time and in an incomprehensible place are looking for the missing. Gradually it becomes clear what the point is: it's easier to entertain.

Missing children should entertain the viewer

The two episodes are built the same way, and there is no doubt that the rest of the series will look the same. A person is missing, searches are underway, Misha is arguing with someone or falling in love with someone, the missing person is found (alive or dead), volunteers go home.

For the Volunteer Playlist series, missing children is an easy way to evoke emotions in the viewer, and searching is an opportunity to play a detective scene. All this looks at least ugly. Especially when you consider the conditions under which Russian volunteers work.

Such an attitude to human destinies and reality is reminiscent of Sarik Andreasyan's film In the Sun, Along the Rows of Corn. The story of the pilot who managed to land falling plane in a field of corn, was perverted and defiled by a mediocre director. The Volunteer Playlist is, of course, more talented, but it also speculates on other people's exploits and suffering.

Main character

The script assumes that Misha is a caustic charismatic who arouses both irritation and interest in people. At the same time, the charisma of the protagonist is completely based on Yankovsky. Misha himself is a set of stamps. This is a young alcoholic reading Zizek, a violent intellectual in the spirit of a St. Petersburg communal apartment. He is both the sociopathic Sherlock Holmes, the anti-systemic Rambo, and the sleazy Colombo.

Unfortunately, apart from the charisma of Yankovsky, the hero has nothing. Stamps never add up to personality. When he talks about his divorce from his wife, it becomes clear how empty he and his biography are: she "went to the left", I "drank and also went to the left." As in the case with missing people, in this series it all comes down to the will of fate, fate, just troubles that happen on their own.

The pretentious tagline "In search of others and myself" turns out to be false. Considering that Misha starts helping volunteers the same day he finds out about their existence, he certainly cannot be called an insensitive person. That is, the story of overcoming oneself and changing attitudes towards people does not work - the hero from the very beginning is positive, just spoiled. Throughout the season, he is forced to fight only with alcoholism. But if finding yourself is giving up the bottle, then fine.

“Volunteer Playlist” is a series that takes on an important and difficult task, but fails to do it. Leaving out details destroys believability, and ignoring social context turns each episode into a detective story. In the end, it all comes down to a charming villain around whom the plot is built. If you like it, then the series will be watchable. For a story about volunteers, such a condition looks like a sentence.