User reviews

Having watched this movie on a flight I am going to steer clear of commenting on what appeared to be some amazing cinematography.

With a sparse cast and a sparse setting this films works hard on the subtleties and isolation of the main characters. The monotony, the boredom, the sense of duty and the age old story of the older experienced man and the younger upstart who doesn't appreciate the ways of old.

Grigoriy Dobrygin as Pasha is incredible in delivering the essence and fundamentals of the story. What makes this movie thrilling and scary at the same time is that, in such isolation, everything that could possibly scare you in such a situation is explored or alluded to so you never know what could happen because anything could happen. Within this context an important message is received Without spoiling the movie, one could say that we cannot control how people react to things anymore than we can control nature itself. And sometimes to try and prevent bad things happening can be the worst choice but it is always the human choice.

The script is extremely tight and though the dialogue is somewhat monosyllabic and sparse it all adds to the tension, (and makes it easier if you are not watching it in Russian and dislike subtitles) I cannot imagine how a movie as good as this could ever be made in Hollywood. Where, for example, someones expressions alone could take up 5 minutes of film and still have you on the edge of your seat. Even Hitchcock would have learned a lot from the art of suspense after watching this movie.

It is a small travesty that more films like this from across the pond don't get a wider audience (I think the only reason this has managed to get a UK release was the fact that it won Best Film at the BFI London Film Festival). But this small gem has managed to escape obscurity and has now been given a cinema release so that everyone can enjoy this small gem.

First, may I state the following: this is not a thriller! Please do not start watching this film expecting Russia's interpretation of Hitchcock - you will be sorely disappointed! The film itself has relatively little in terms of plot - a fact that another reviewer has (unfairly) criticised it for. Instead, what we receive as viewers is a quietly poignant, at times almost meditative exploration of isolation and the tensions that arise between the two leading characters in the vast, sparse, beautiful terrain of the Arctic in which they work.

As the film develops, the suspense certainly mounts, and at one point, a tense cat and mouse chase does develop. Indeed, it is not only themselves, but their surroundings which they have to tread carefully around - sinister hints about a deserted house on a cliff top and the danger posed by polar bears play their role. But don't try and second guess the film, because above all, this is a truly understated, moving exploration of human fragility rather than an action flick. The ending made me smile in surprise, and I felt ashamed at how cynically I had felt that I knew where the film was going. You will never see an ending as mature as this coming from Hollywood.

I won't bother with a plot summary - the one provided by IMDb is more than sufficient. What I will say is that both the acting and the cinematography are superb. The two leads both do wonderful jobs in which the performances require far more than the confines of the dialogue - so much of this film takes place in silence, and both men tackle their parts with great success. Then there is the cinematography - it has been a while since I have seen such beautiful images come together to create such an atmosphere of isolation and buried tension. The vast, beautiful landscape, the pale blue skies, the gentle lull of the sea, the calm glassy lakes, the dark, imposing cliffs, and then the intermittent fog... postcards could be made using some of these images. The effect is perfect.

In short, this is definitely worth the watch, and it's one to look out for in 2011!

"Kak ya provyol etim letom" (Russian title contains intentional misspell-pin and should be read "How I Cheated (somebody) Last Summer", not just this school-like "How I Spent Last Summer", chosen for foreign version) is a Russian psychological drama about two meteorologists, the old, Sergei, and the young, Pavel, who get stuck on an isolated polar station for a regular season work and have to deal with each other ...and the information, that arrives from the "big earth".

Visually and stylistically film is flawless. Cinematography with it's slow-pacing, static long shots and scenic wild nature shots is adorable. Atmosphere, when time seems ticking slower and cold wind awaits for you from another side of the door, is on the good level too. And as a native-speaker, I can say that dialogue-lines are also pretty decent. Polar station as a place is just a cause for examination of human communication (so-called "chemistry") in isolated space. Subject deals with responsibility, instinct of self-preservation, influence of isolated space to human psychics and importance of experience. I don't want to spoil your first-time-watching, so I won't go into plot any further...

Can't name any similarities. Maybe the closest will be: "Breaking the Waves" meets "Gerry" and "Shutter Island" (no delusions here, similarity is geographical) along with Russian "Dikoe Pole" (2008) and maybe even "Kukushka" (2002). Plus some Michael Haneke's style (like from most recently - though black and white - "Das Weisse Band" with it's distant human behavior examination). In my opinion, "Kak ya provyol etim letom" is one of the best Russian movies of the decade (2000-2010) along with Alexei Balabanov's "Gruz 200", "Morfiy" and above-mentioned Alexander Rogozhkin's "Kukushka". And yes, it is way better than Zvyagintsev's pretentious force-fed Tarkovsky-styled issues "Vozvraschenie" & "Izgnanie".

Don't know how soon those of you who don't speak Russian will be available to watch this with subtitles or voice-over...

So, if you're often bored with 2-hour non-action movies - don't bother watching this. Try something more entertaining. But if you're into slow-paced minimalistic psychological dramas, give it a try. You'll be aesthetically rewarded.

8-8,5\10.

How i ended this summer was the winner of the 2010 London film festival award and it also won many other awards from around the world and quite rightly so in my opinion.

Two men of different generations , who work on a an Arctic weather station , come to blows when the younger man has to tell his colleague of a family tragedy but fears the consequences of telling him.

This film will not appeal to everyone. It's a Russian film directed by Aleksei Popogrebsky and although subtitled , does not really depend on a large amount of dialogue to tell the story.

It starts of at a slow pace and as the film progresses , the tension builds to the point that it gets the viewer angry as to the decisions that are being made. Why doesn't the young man tell his elder the news? Is he really that scared of him? What will happen when he finds out?

This is a film about human relationships and vulnerability .

Apart from the tense story , it looks superb too and i only hope lots of people give this film a chance because they wont regret it.

As some reviewers have pointed out, the title of the film is irrelevant to the story being told. That's problem number one. The other problem I have is the story based on the interaction of two men from two generations is just not very credible. Why would Pavel choose to create all the problems for himself?

Apart from these faults, it is a watchable film. You are treated to some unusual Arctic landscape, and given a taste of what life would be like living in that part of the world, in total isolation from the rest of civilization and conducting repetitive tasks. Even in summer, that part of Arctic can still be harsh and dangerous. The acting by the two actors was pretty solid and camera work good.

So don't get me wrong. This film is still a good example of contemporary Russian cinema, cinema not based on sex, killings, CGI or a fat budget. The difference between the generations - one of duty and devotion to work, and the other less so and distracted by video games and loud music - was well explored. It just could have been a much better human drama if the storyline was more credible.

This film is a must watch for any film enthusiast.Shows the power of camera.The near perfect acting by all the cast(even if the number is just 2) makes this one a memorable experience.

A stunning drama on human emotions,relation and communication shot with breathtaking visuals. The plot is simple and the development happens in almost seamless manner through powerful visual story telling, dialogues and voice acting.You will struggle to find any other film which captures the stunning beauty of Arctic like this film does.

Another thing to note is the awesome use of sound in this film.Whether the radio, or nature or the sound of water or boat,the sound department has done more than what many expects out of it.

Except for sexual relations, almost all human character/emotions/expression can be seen in this film- fear, lies, friendship, boss, freedom, celebration, learning, longing, tension, enmity, guilt, grief, childish, lazy, discipline, compassion, forgiveness and much more. And to imagine all these have been achieved by just 2 characters alone is a majestic achievement in itself.

One of the best films of 2010.Truly original.

Unsatisfying. Inexplicable characters and plot. Watch it for the scenery only.

Two men man an isolated weather station in the Arctic circle. Sergei is older and experienced with a wife and son at home. Pavel is young and bored, resentful of Sergei's dominance yet dependent on it. Into this already tense environment comes the news that Sergei's wife and son were badly injured in an accident. Pavel receives the message while Sergei is out fishing. Because of the way things play out, Pavel doesn't deliver the message right away; as the opportune moment passes him by, it becomes harder and harder to tell Sergei even while the direness of his screw up becomes more and more obvious. Eventually, hostilities boil over and Pavel's paranoia reaches such a crescendo that he takes off into the wilderness on a self-imposed cat and mouse chase, convinced that Sergei wants to kill him.

It's almost ludicrous that something that really is at heart pretty banal (failing to deliver a message, even if that message is very serious) could trigger events that reach the conclusion they do (I won't spoil it, but the end to this movie is grim, folks). But the movie is so well made and acted that everything is entirely plausible, and it's easy to see how distrust can so easily grow when given the right conditions.

My understanding is that both actors won German film prizes for their work, and no wonder. Until the final scene, not another human being appears, and it falls to the two of them to hold our attention with nothing more than a stark if beautiful landscape to act against.

Well hold it they do.

Grade: A

"A Trainer and A Trainee alone in the polar station checking the readouts and things get complicated dramatically"

Started like a good movie and ended horribly.

Only best part in the movie is when they show how to cut the fish

And also that white bear.

Very slow movie.

I hate this movie only because they complicated the situation deliberately without any necessity.

Really horrible although the end is little good.

Better stay away.

Pavel Danilov is a college student spending the summer at an isolated polar weather station on a deserted Arctic island. Sergei Gulybin is the gruff, unfriendly, seasoned meteorologist operating the station. Pavel spends his time playing video games. The work is monotonous. While Sergei is away on a fishing trip, Pavel receives a message on the radio. Sergei's wife and son have been hospitalized from an accident. The situation unfolds where Pavel becomes more and more unwilling to relay the message to Sergei.

I just can't understand why Danilov doesn't tell Gulybin the news. As the situation spirals out of control, the less I believe in the story. It's literally a 3's Company sitcom misunderstand turning into the most dire Hitchcockian thriller. I don't understand slacker Pavel and I don't find him appealing. The movie is too long anyways.

Perhaps the most stunning feature of How I Ended This Summer is its Arctic setting, the glorious wilderness presenting a grand, yet harsh spectacle every bit as sparse as the film's dialogue. It's a two-hander between Grigoriy Dobrygin's callow youth and the seasoned meteorologist played by Sergey Puskepalis. Writer/director Aleksey Popogrebskiy does an excellent job of conveying the pair's isolation and the monotony of their existence, and there is a convincing tension created by the gap in their ages and experience, although Dobrygin's young adult antics, which highlight the disparity, are a bit 'on-the-nose'. These strands form a solid tripod for the conflict that follows, however it's the catalyst for that conflict that introduces a wobble which, for some, might topple the whole construct, one decision that some viewers might struggle to reconcile with previous events or any kind of sensible human instinct. At this juncture it seems that nothing more complicated than a moral compass is needed to keep their mission on track, but its lack, along with the absence of an actual compass later on, causes no end of ructions. Despite common sense saying that their difficulties could have been avoided by a straightforward conversation, the end result is a convincing escalation and a compelling third act. If you can accept the single, arguably inexplicable (and certainly unexplained) failure to communicate, How I Ended This Summer is a highly satisfying watch and, either way, these three are ones to look out for in the future.

Interesting film. Excellent cinematography and beautiful setting. The main characters narrative seems completely false, and throughout the film I found myself being more and more angered and disgusted with him. I can imagine many boys who would act like this though.

I have never watched a Russian film before and I was not sure what I was going to be in for with this film, but I was pleasantly surprised! The story line is fresh, simple but very effective, it is filmed well and the music/sound is very well done to really give this particular feel to my first watched Russian film.

Hollywood could pick this film up, change a few things to the story line, add a few well known actors in the mix and they would have a winner on their hands, Hollywood has been doing it for years, but damn I hope they don't do it with this film, as I think it is great the way it is.

Give it a go, no special effects, no blood and guts, just a good solid drama, with great decor to boot! 8 out of 10

This film geniusly reflects the complex of difficulties existed in the relationship "humans-nature". Kamchatka is amazing place to be in Russia, Kamchatka in this movie is twice amazing. Dobrygin perfectly transfers quite common for contemporary Russia typical Russian guy image in the age of 22-27 - a bit disoriented in the space, introverted, frustrated, oriented to the pleasures of life more than on the help to other people. His acting is perfect and hi is hot. The other character is made also successfully. There are a lot of such men in the age of 40-45 who are much stronger than Dobrygin's generation because they experienced the market transformations in early 90s. Thus they think they know everything and often use authoritative way of behavior. The conflict of generations, isolation issue, nature and humans..These is not full list of topics highlighted by the movie.

Russian director Alexei Popogrebsky's "How I Ended This Summer" is a tense, stunning and often frustrating marathon of film. This is an award winning film having claimed the Golden Bear at The Berlin International Film Festival and best film at the London Film Festival Awards, and certainly provides a unique cinematic experience with its stunning landscapes and minimal use of dialogue and soundtrack.

The film follows the stark lives of two Russian meteorologists, working on an inhospitable and isolated wasteland on the Siberian coast. College student Pavel is on a work placement, attempting to work alongside experienced and intimidating Sergei. The environment itself is the source of much of the cinematic beauty but also deadly hazards: polar bears, radioactivity, sheer cliffs, and wild weather. These hazards, and the abhorrent isolation takes its toll on immature Pavel who becomes unable to communicate with Sergei. The tension reaches breaking point when Pavel loses Sergei's trust and is unable to bring himself to tell him the news that his family has died in a car accident.

Where this film excels is in scene depiction, with every view a stunning image symbolic of Pavel's temperament. Almost every image in this film could be a photograph worthy of framing. The landscape is stark, the soundtrack is almost nonexistent, as is the dialogue, and it forces the viewer to experience Pavel's toxic isolation.

But to be perfectly honest, I have never been more frustrated watching a film than when I endured the two hours of silence that is "How I Ended This Summer". Several times throughout the film you are forced to spend over a minute watching a character walk off into the distance, and all this with no music, no dialogue, not even anything to think about. For a while I even played music in the background just to maintain sanity. To add to this frustration, our main character Pavel is an irritating young man who constantly makes mistakes, is completely devoid of any courage, seems to have no interests and makes every wrong decision he possibly can.

Perhaps it is this very frustration that makes this film award winningly unique. Popogrebski outstandingly succeeds in communicating the feelings of young Pavel, even if it at times this process is excruciatingly painful. "How I Ended This Summer" is a film for film buffs. To anyone else wanting to endure this marathon I would suggest multitasking with some knitting or doing some pushups, otherwise you could expect to be footing the bill for the screen you just threw your drink at.

When deciding whether or not to purchase or even see a film, I do a IMDb search to see how the top 1000 reviewers rated it. Usually, you can figure that if the film was rated 7.0 or higher by the top 1000, then it is worth both seeing and buying, so I bought this one sight unseen. This was a big mistake. While the cinematography is stunning. The storyline is all over the place, and the plot details fail to follow common sense and fall apart completely. It's got more holes than a slice of Swiss cheese. The acting job by Sergei Puskepalis is consistent and believable, but the acting job by Grigory Dobrygin just doesn't hold water. It's all over the place. If you going to see the movie for the cinematography, great; but don't expect to get any grins over the plot. It's just not there. On a scale of 10, I would have to rate it a 4. It the plot didn't get in the way so much, I would be tempted to rate it higher. My recommendation is to see this film only if you have seen every other film you want to see first. I can only figure that it got rated 7.3 by the top 1000 because someone wanted to ramp it up to improve viewership.

The award winning film, including the prestigious 'Best Film' award in the 2010 London Film Festival, hosted by BFI, has received recognition globally for its cold, yet cosy, atmosphere in a bleak island in the Arctic Ocean as a recent graduate plans to write his essay uin the baron polar research base.

As it delves further into the story, it can be blatantly seen that Sergei, a professional at his job at the deserted meteorological station is contrasted against a young college graduate, Pavel, whilst he resorts to his MP3 player and video games as he attempts to avoid the manipulation and intimidation of Sergei's presence.

I suggest some of the reviewers I have read here should read some Russian classics. A lot of irrational behaviour happens in Dostoyevsky for example, and deep down we could all behave out of the character we believe we are. Grigoriy Dobrygin plays a young man who is a meteorologist in the wilds of the Arctic, and with him there is an older man equally well played by Sergey Puskepalis who is now deceased. I have come to this film late and it is a quiet but frightening masterpiece. If anyone who is in physical or mental pain I suggest avoidance because the extremes of both forms of suffering are almost relentless from the start. The two men are the only characters in this scenario, and the hellishly beautiful Arctic background only accentuates their pain and inward horror. The younger man irrationally does not tell the older man of a tragedy in his family, for reasons not really explained. The two men do not get on, and after a beating in a sauna from the older to the younger an unconscious keeping back of information could be a reason. Fear ? Revenge ? As in Russian literature and also in films ( think Tarkovsky or Sokurov ) explanations are obscure. But guilt festers in the youth as well and fear drives him to frantic ways of escape, and I will not spoil what the consequences are. I also have not heard of the director Alexei Popugrebsky but judging by the masterly way he directs he has made a great film about the limits of human endurance, and I would give it a full ten if it had been just ten minutes or so shorter. I think the agony of the situation could at times have been just that little shortened, but I may well have just been tired and in pain myself when I watched it. A must see for anyone who has lost faith in our current cinema of sound and fury signifying nothing. It is now 14 years old, and I sincerely hope it has not been lost or put to one side.

"How I Ended This Summer" by Aleksey Popogrebskiy is the main Russian festival hit of year. A drama about the difficult relationships of weather station employees amid the stunning silence of the wild nature of polar Chukotka.