Inspirational Movies and TV for Dark Conspiracy

[ReHerakhte]

Just an update to the playlist for the BBC series "1990" that Linden and Lee were discussing way back on page 23.
I went looking for it and found the playlist that Lee linked to has been discontinued but an alternate playlist can be found here

And yes, I watched the first episode and it has me curious enough to watch further. Coincidentally I'd only just watched "Child 44" a few nights ago and being about the Stalinist Soviet Union, it shares many themes of State control of the populace with "1990".

[Linden]

I always thought 1990 perhaps had more in common with East Germany - the PCD in essence fulfilling the same role as the Stasi. There's a reasonably sophisticated quality to the surveillance that was perhaps lacking in the post war USSR. I've read Tim Robb Smith's Child 44 (and the sequels) but not see the film. I think it's reasonably authentic in its depiction of the post war Soviet Union when Stalin's paranoia reasserted itself and there were wholesale roundups of alleged traitors, often on the flimsiest grounds.

The two series of 1990 are available on DVD now. Not sure if any restoration has been done, but presumably the episodes don't have the timestamp on them that the youtube ones do.

[ReHerakhte]

I agree, definitely more East German style than Russian. So far I've only seen the one episode as I was hoping to find somewhere that had better resolution (the youtube examples are "okay" but coupled with the timestamp, I'd prefer another source).
As for Child 44, after seeing the movie, I was curious about the book so checked a few reviews. One of the more interesting criticisms was that the author seemed to be trying to fit the entire history of the Soviet Union and its secret police into the story. How accurate that is I have no idea as I haven't read the books.

Where I drew the comparison between 1990 and Child 44 (movie) was in the way the state controlled travel and how they treated the workers.
In particular, there's one scene in the movie where the main character and his wife are sent to a backwater town. They are both reassigned to jobs in the same fields that they had before but he as a demoted militia officer and she to a school were she learns that she is no longer employed as a teacher, but as a cleaner.

Thanks for the info about 1990 on DVD, I have no idea if they'll ever be available in Australia but at least I know they exist and so I might be able to see the show without that damned timestamp! (and hopefully better resolution).

[Linden]

Where I drew the comparison between 1990 and Child 44 (movie) was in the way the state controlled travel and how they treated the workers.
In particular, there's one scene in the movie where the main character and his wife are sent to a backwater town. They are both reassigned to jobs in the same fields that they had before but he as a demoted militia officer and she to a school were she learns that she is no longer employed as a teacher, but as a cleaner.

I think that's very much a feature of those kind of societies - the state decrees where you live and what job you have. The Child 44 sequels do even more exploration of Soviet history. The second book is about the gulag system and the third one covers the Afghan invasion. A bit of a left turn after the first book when readers were perhaps legitimately expecting a series of police procedurals.

I'm not sure who's released the 1990 DVDs. It's usually Network (aka Notwork) in the UK but I'm pretty sure it's not them this time. Tempted to get them myself. Have you looked on Ebay? Lot of retail sellers on there now of course. Maybe someone's imported them into Aus?

PS How do you rate the Child 44 film? My mum liked the book and I did promise to get hold of the movie for her at some point. I gather the accents are a bit thick so sub-titles may be required for people whose hearing isn't as good it was? (Myself included these days). I'll bet Tom Hardy mumbles a lot.

[ReHerakhte]

I enjoyed the movie, it appears they paid particular attention to getting the visuals looking right (period & location appropriate vehicles, buildings, clothes etc. etc.) but I have a small fascination with the Soviet Union and I was caught up in the story so I probably missed any bad points.
As for accents, a number of people in the film speak with a "Russian" accent that could be deemed somewhat immersive or just distracting depending on how you feel about people faking accents in movies - I'm firmly on the fence about this part of the movie, some actors did the accent while others didn't put as much into it, there were even a few proper Russian words thrown in at times.
Overall it was kind of okay but I think it was unnecessary, however I don't feel the use of proper Russian words in parts of the conversations would have had as much impact if everyone spoke with their real accents. Like I say, I'm fence sitting on this one...

[Linden]

Thanks for the info - I got the impression it had perhaps been unfairly slighted on its release. I shall look out for a copy.

I love Noomi Rapace, she always gives it 100% even when her films aren't that good (and alas, they're often not).

[ReHerakhte]

I quite enjoyed it so I'm at odds with the reviews that claim it's bad. It had enough mystery to keep me wanting to find out what was going on, it had characters I could like and those I could dislike and it felt "true" enough to the era and location and of course a big conspiracy.
Having since found out the differences between the movie and the novel, I think the final reveal in the novel would have been an awesome surprise but I was happy enough with the alternate version of the movie.
Rapace was definitely a plus and Gary Oldman makes an appearance and I've long thought that he (like you mentioned about Noomi) tends to give a full effort in most of what he does.
I suppose I also had the advantage of being aware of some of the Soviet (and specifically Stalin's) attitudes towards crime and punishment and the claimed utopia of the Worker's Paradise and how the Soviet Union did not have a police force because crime did not happen in the Worker's Paradise, how people deemed unable to conform to Soviet ideals were classified as "outdated elements" and generally removed from society i.e. placed into gulags.
They definitely DID have a police force, but hid it behind the name Militia with all the ambiguity that creates.
So I think the movie probably resonated with me more than it may with some of the critics.

[Linden]

They definitely DID have a police force, but hid it behind the name Militia with all the ambiguity that creates.
So I think the movie probably resonated with me more than it may with some of the critics.

I did a bit of reading up on Soviet era organisations when I was running a short Cold City campaign a few years back. Very noticeable that the security establishment was forever being re-organised before it seemed to more or less stablise with the creation of the KGB.

Read Gorky Park a few months back. It's set at the height of the cold war and the regular cops in that are still referred to as Militia. I think a lot of the communist states had police forces that were paramilitary in nature, and probably for a reason. The East German Volkspolizei springs to mind.

[ReHerakhte]

Although I haven't read anything to specifically support the notion, I have a tendency to believe that the longevity of certain leaders and/or versions of communism directly impacted the longevity of the various security organizations in the USSR (let alone the organization, powers, etc. etc. of those security organizations) - new leader, time for a new security apparatus, time to purge the undesirables from positions of power and so on.

[Linden]

Last night watched Night of the Big Heat (1967) . Remote island off the Engish mainland is invaded by energy loving aliens who raise the temperature, burn people to death and...er...vandalise car batteries. Bit of a Hammer-alike feel to it with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee both making an appearance and direction by Terence Fisher. Interesting premise let down by poor execution, including a truly bathetic dea ex machina ending. Christopher Lee on record as saying the alien effects were rubbish, and he's right. Rather a disappointment all round given the talent involved. However...I reckon it would make a good basis for a DC scenario featuring an incursion by Energy ETs (a monster I've always struggled to do anything with).

[ReHerakhte]

"Sounds like a plan" - I've also found the energy ETs a problematic foe for the same reason.
While I have heard of Night of the Big Heat I don't think I've ever seen it (I watched a lot of 1960s-70s British horror movies in the 1970s-80s but I can't honestly say I remember many of them) so I might have to sit through the 'bad' to pillage the plot from this one.
At the moment my gaming group is doing a CoC adventure and once complete we'll be deciding on the next campaign for which I'm throwing a DC game into the ring. I hadn't planned anything yet but stealing the plot from Night of the Big Heat might make for a good introductory adventure, so thanks for the information/inspiration Linden.

[Linden]

While I have heard of Night of the Big Heat I don't think I've ever seen it (I watched a lot of 1960s-70s British horror movies in the 1970s-80s but I can't honestly say I remember many of them) so I might have to sit through the 'bad' to pillage the plot from this one.

If you've seen Island of Terror it's a bit like that only not as good. I didn't dislke it, just found it a little disappointing. I agree the basic setup would make a good introductory adventure.

[ReHerakhte]

So I started watching Counterpart and I have to say I'm hooked. I've watched three episodes as of tonight and I'm thoroughly intrigued.
I've put off watching other shows to concentrate on Counterpart.

I can see the gaming potential growing as I learn more about the two worlds but while I initially thought of the material as suitable for a DC campaign (because I really didn't know anything much about it) I'm now of the same opinion that Linden expressed when he first mentioned the show - it's simply too much material to be shoehorned in as a proto-dimension or to be used as fodder for some other game world (it deserves to be it's own game world although I do still think that there's room for melding Cold City and Counterpart).

So again, thanks for the recommendation Linden

[Morthrai]

Sad to hear that Rutger Hauer passed away at the age of 75. So many of his movies were inspirational to the Dark Conspiracy world, including of course "Split Second" which really is DC: The Movie! Blade Runner, Crossworlds, The Hitcher, Armageddon (not that one!), Buffy the Vampire Slayer and others confirm his place as pretty much the number one actor in DC's stylistic niche. Farewell sir!

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[ReHerakhte]

Damn.

Farewell Sir.

"... All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain..."