5 reasons to watch the series “Stream” with Denis Vlasenko

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One of the first roles of Denis Vlasenko

Actor Denis Vlasenko appeared in the Russian film industry thanks to Ivan I. Tverdovsky’s drama “Throws”, released in 2018, but he really became famous after the release of the provocative series Happy End about the world of webcam. In an interview, Denis says that when choosing roles, he has three criteria: a great script, a great director, a great character. And he adds that the shooting of the pilot episode of “Stream” was so long ago that, perhaps, the experience of these shootings was at the origins of the formation of criteria. Now Denis is 25 years old, but he still convincingly and subtly plays wounded teenagers who have their own truth. Zhora is exactly that: he puts on a helmet not for the sake of hype, but because he really believes that publicity can help solve problems.

Important topics and social experiment

The authors of the series define its genre as a social comedy, which, like Gogol’s “Inspector General”, reveals the real and extremely serious problems of society, without breaking out of a light, entertaining intonation. Stream raises themes of school bullying, negligence, indifference of teachers and other school workers, and most importantly, it shows how people, having learned that their behavior is being broadcast, suddenly begin to deny all problems and behave differently. Moreover, during the filming of “Stream” there was a real social experiment: once the film crew could not accommodate in their usual location in the yard, as they began to urgently repair the road with a pit. It turned out that the residents had been complaining about this pit for a long time, but the administration took action only when they found out that a series was being filmed in this courtyard, which would be shown on television.

Unusual shooting method

For the creators of the series, it was important to make the shooting as realistic and lively as possible, so that the audience would believe in the effect of the stream. Initially, it was planned to equip Denis Vlasenko’s helmet with a real camera, but at the stage of filming the pilot it turned out that such a helmet weighs 9 kg, and it is insanely difficult to wear it at the same time as acting. Then comfortable empty helmets were made for Denis, and the helmets with the camera were given to the understudy and cameraman Andrei Luninsky.

The director of the series, Rustam Ilyasov, worked on the hit youth project “Difficult Teens”, while he deliberately looked for new techniques for “Stream” so as not to repeat the experience of “Difficult Teens” even at certain moments, and as a result he found a film language with unusual visual solutions and unexpected personnel. Luninsky and screenwriter Rishat Mukhtarov helped him in this. The feature of “Stream” was not only “stormy” shootings on GoPro, but also touching moments of teenage life – for example, a beautiful scene on a dilapidated pier.

Superheroes in social comedy

The series is not positioned as a superhero, but contains many references and allusions to the genre loved by billions of children and adults around the world. Yes, and Denis Vlasenko himself emphasizes that Zhora is a 100% superhero who has both a suit (his helmet), and superpowers (courage and constant shooting), and the superhero name Stream, and even a beautiful girl nearby (she was played by actress Alexandra Drozdova) , which is fascinated either by Zhora himself, or by Strim. And at home, Zhora draws comics, in which he childishly imagines himself a superhero. All this looks all the more curious that the environment around is primordially Russian, regional, as if unsuitable for a large-scale superhero.

School life and adolescent problems

Teenage cinema has always and always will excite the planet, on which the longer we spin, the more questions arise, and doubt is exactly what is at the forefront in such a movie. The action of “Stream” takes place in a school, a place that we all know very well – someone loved her, someone hated her, but few were indifferent. In addition to social problems, “Stream” also tells about the ordinary life of schoolchildren who make friends, fall in love, take offense, reconcile – in general, they act according to the classics of teenage cinema. Young viewers will appreciate the exploration of these themes and superhero references, while adults will remember themselves and relive those moments that could happen in their lives.