Before I give the review of Sunday's film, let's go back to Saturday. I was supposed to take in "What the Bleep Do We Know" with Uber, but manage to sleep late enough to hit the road a bit later than intended ... oh, and also to end up at the wrong location with not enough time to get to the correct place. Sucks, don't it.
So Sunday would have to serve as my WorldFest lead-in. Anastasya Slutskaya is the story of the woman who fended off a Tartar invasion of modern-day Belarus. Having previously seen an historical epic at WorldFest last year, this one has a bit too good of a point of comparison. As such, this doesn't quite match "Chopin, Desire of Love." The acting is a bit too empty, the storyline is a bit too bland. The movie, it seems, is not quite as good as the story itself. Chopin (I felt) had the opposite effect, which is a good combination.
Two things this movie did have going for it were the lead actress (IMDB fails on this movie) and a few scenic shots of the Russian woods. The movie did also give a good portrayal of the cultural differences that coexisted between the Christian rulers and pagans who lived in the woods.
The highlight of the entire film's action is in the ending, which I only spoil as the film will not be in wide release (as few Russian films are). Basically, you see at the beginning, that the princess (Anistasiya) is taking lessons from an assistant on how to throw a knife. She's failing miserably while the helper is noting that this may save her life some day. A bit forced, naturally. And you know right there how the movie ends.
Cut to the big showdown at the end, and Anistasiya (now the queen) decides to take battle into her own hand as the battle looks bleak. She exchanges swords with the Tartar leader, she loses, gets kicked off her horse, and then is told to become a concubine. She faces her own dejected troops, reaches to her side, pulls a knife, turns, and the next thing you see is a grisly knife through the eye.
Nice, huh?
With that, you get a feel-good ending as the queen's ex-husband and pagan lover are both dead. The narrator leaves us with the story that followed the battle, and you leave the theater uplifted.
If only it weren't such a boring movie ...
Next up .... Miss Castaway!
