Synopsis and Report of Luna Park

Luna Park

* Love * Hate * Attitude * Nationalism * Learning * Deceit *

The Director

Pavel Lungin is the son of Semyon Lungin. Luna Park is his second endeavor as a director (his first was Taxi-Blues), though he has many other writing credits under his belt. Since Luna Park he has written and directed several more films, including Tycoon and The Wedding. He has been hailed as Russia's first auteur director.

The Film

Summary: Andrei, the second-in-command of a gang of anti-Semitic skinheads clinging to old communist ideals in post-communist Moscow, discovers that he has a Jewish father. The bulk of the film consists of Andrei tracking down and coming to terms with the man who he believes is his father. Eventually, a mutual love develops between Kheifitz (Andrei's father) and Andrei, and is tested by the vengeful schemes of Andrei's leader, Alyona.

Techniques: The visual portion of the film consists largely of dull colors and dim lighting, giving the whole film something of a dark feel. Often times, there are cut-scenes of Andrei riding a roller coaster, which symbolizes the turmoil of his emotions despite the oddly out of place calm look on his face. My favorite scene in the film is at the climax, when Andrei blows up the roller coaster, thus symbolizing the destruction of the foundation of hatred that he had built, prior to meeting his father.

The Characters

Andrei: Andrei is little more than a confused young man, who is more a product of his environment than any true malice. Hs mother died when he was still young, leaving him as an easy target to join a gang. At the beginning of the film he is denouncing many of the capitalist comforts such as Coca-cola. After learning from a drunken confession by Alyona that he is, in fact, half Jewish, he goes on a whirlwind spree trying to first confirm this, and later find out who his father really is (he was always under the impression that his father died during the war). After finding his father, Kheifitz, Andrei slowly begins to appreciate him for the man he is, instead of the Jews he has always hated, and with that, he begins to break down the conditioning he has received for the larger part of his life. The fact that he discovers Kheifitz isn't his father