Part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival
When an alien spaceship is caught in the path a passing meteor shower, the Russian Air Force mistake the ship for one of the meteors and shoot at it, causing it to crash-land in the centre of Moscow, killing hundreds of people and damaging a significant number of buildings. Colonel Lebedev (Oleg Menshikov) is placed in charge of guarding the ship’s landing area and monitoring any activity nearby, whilst the rest of Moscow is placed under a curfew. However, Lebedev’s daughter Yulia (Irina Starshenbaum), along with her boyfriend Artyom (Alexander Petrov) and his friends sneak into the military area and discover Haakon, a living humanoid alien (Rinal Mukhametov) among the wreckage.
This RUB350m production features CGI effects worthy of any Hollywood film, which is impressive considering that Russian sci-fi cinema is typically associated with more cerebral works such as Tarkovsky’s Solaris and Stalker instead of more commercial fare. Particular examples include the alien ship, the interiors of which bear more than a passing resemblance to similar spacecraft in Man of Steel; and the alien exo-skeletal armour which Artyom and his gang steal, that one of the members compares to the titular devices in Avatar. The film’s large-scale action sequences, including a full-scale war between the armour-clad aliens and human protesters, are also well-designed to show off the considerable production budget.
However, Attraction also mirrors older science fiction films such as The Day The Earth Stood Still in its shared narrative of a visiting alien from an advanced species being misunderstood by the distrustful and violent people of Earth, as well as having a similar message about the dangers of prejudice. This is conveyed through the targeting of Haakon by Artyom when he suspects that he and Yulia are in love, as well as later scenes showing a human uprising against the aliens led by Artyom after Haakon inadvertently causes the death of one of Artyom’s friends during a brief struggle.
While the use of these themes and issues is not particularly original or subtle, Andrey Zolotaryov and Oleg Malovichko‘s screenplay handles these issues adeptly, with the conflict between the humans and aliens never feeling forced or unconvincing. This is partially helped by the focus on the developing relationship between Yulia and Haakon, which starts out from a position of distrust, with Yulia blaming Haakon for the death of her friend when the ship crashed into her apartment, but evolves into a greater understanding of each other as the film progresses. Both Starshenbaum and Mukhametov share a convincing romantic chemistry, particularly during scenes of Yulia introducing Haakon to human activities such as making pancakes and attending a concert.
Attraction is a visually-stunning and thematically strong alien invasion film that easily measures up to the equivalents produced by Hollywood.