Just weeks before its release in its native country of Russia, Empire V got banned. The Russian government was not happy with the film’s not-so-subtle commentary on the modern day workings of their society. Without a home, Empire V spent months adrift until Fantasia International Film Festival decided to take a chance on it and play host to the world premiere.
Based on the novel of the same name, written by Victor Pelevin, Empire V follows a 19-year-old Moscow nobody, Roman (Pavel Tabakov), who receives an invitation to join an elite and powerful echelon of society, only to discover the bloody secrets of a vampiric dictatorship who have controlled humanity since time immemorial. Empire V does not occupy its time in setting up Roman or the world before it dives into the vampiric side of the story. Director Victor Ginzburg instead throws the viewer immediately into the fray, opening with Roman’s transformation. It’s an intriguing scene that quickly announces that the vampires of Empire V are unlike anything seen before…
Adding something new to vampire lore is nigh impossible. The creatures of the night have been a staple of films pretty much since movies began. Over the years there have been all manner of vampires, from sparkly ones to decrepit ones, and everything in between. The vampires presented in Empire V are an interesting version. The newly-turned Roman discovers a special ‘tongue’ on the roof of his mouth; it is this appendage that must be fed and which facilitates turning someone into a vampire. Or rather transferring one’s own vampiric nature to another – the tongue inside retains the memories of all those before. Similarly, rather than blood, it is a special red liquid that quenches the thirst, the fluid also coming with memories of the blood donor. It’s an interesting shake-up to the lore and by being so removed from ‘traditional’ rules, allows it to skirt the usual vampire film prejudices.
Told via narration, Empire V follows the formula of Anne Rice’s Interview with a Vampire, chronicling the second life of Roman who, upon transition, becomes Rama II. The modern setting pushes out the period stuffiness of Interview with a Vampire, and yet despite its updated setting, still feels of the old world. The realm of these vampires is akin to the aristocracy. Roman/Rama finds himself subjected to an overbearing amount of rules and traditions. These vampires are driven by status and politics and are a clear analysis of Russian Oligarchs. It is quickly easy to understand why Empire V was banned in Russia as Ginzburg goes hard with its damning of the institution.
Alongside this pomp and ceremony are some wild visuals. Drinking the red liquid conjures up trippy visuals. These images are generated for the film via CG and their artificial creation feeds into their otherworldly feeling. The sequences are rich and ethereal in appearance and have been beautifully rendered. Despite the organic root of their manifestations, there is a mechanical quality to the visions that stirs similar feelings to watching Neo awaken from The Matrix for the first time.
The Matrix shares a lot of similarities with Empire V with Roman/Rama ‘awakening’ into a new world and having to learn and accept his place in it. Empire V too has sumptuous cinematography that sells this fictitious world as real. Unfortunately Empire V does not push the boundaries in the same way that the Wachowski’s did. It also suffers from a sluggish pace. The film takes a while to seemingly not progress very far. This is likely a result of it having been adapted from a novel and Ginzburg wanting to retain its grandiose, sweeping nature. A marriage of Russian politics, Interview with the Vampire, and The Matrix is one that sounds odd on paper, and is too strange to see projected on screen. Certainly original, Empire V shakes up the vampire genre, but falls short of being the country’s new answer to Timur Bekmambetov’s Night Watch.
Empire V
Summary
A back-biting social commentary on modern Russia and the ‘vampires’ who run it, Empire V has some progressive ideas for the vampire genre, but ultimately gets a little stuck in its attempts at reinvention.
Empire V was reviewed at Fantasia International Film Festival.
