Review of The Man Who Saved the World (2014) by Tony B — 01 Aug 2015

I am sorry for the man who is the subject of the film, and who apparently really did... save the world from nuclear annihilation. The director thought this "documentary" needed A LOT of dramatised scenes. Well, that doesn't help, on the contrary, the blur created by mixing "reality" with "re-enactment" (even if well staged and played) eliminates the film's credibility almost totally. And with this, it undermines the protagonist, also almost totally.

Take the first ten minutes: they are filmed from within Petrov's apartment in Moscow, the camera is "omniscient" as in a "Homeland" prologue, and narrates the terrible state Petrov is in, until an American film team arrives. He has several monologues does several things - but he seems to be "ignoring" the camera's presence. He actually acknowledges a camera only when the "film team" enters his tiny apartment. So the whole prologue becomes a total "fuckup" (sorry for my French) of narrative perspective: from minute 4 on, I started doubting every frame, and when I reached the credits around minute 10 I was convinced to watch a mockumentary. Peter Anthony, something apparently has backfired here, and quite badly.