Nationalpost: David Bezmozgis’ Natasha is a Greek tragedy in the making

David Bezmozgis’ Natasha is a Greek tragedy in the making

 

I wasn’t the biggest fan of Toronto writer/director David Bezmozgis’ feature debut, 2009’s Victoria Day. But seven years can have a salutary effect on a filmmaker – either that or Bezmozgis chose more wisely in his subject matter, this time adapting the popular short story of the same name that helped launch his literary career.

 

 

Straight.com Wised-up Natasha has bittersweet edge

Wised-up Natasha has bittersweet edge

 

The aspirations and heartbreak of the immigrant experience are captured with bittersweet precision in Natasha, a second adaptation by writer-director David Bezmozgis of his own, award-winning work. The still-young novelist covered some of this territory, more tentatively, in 2009’s Victoria Day. His visual storytelling is only somewhat improved here, but his insightful dialogue and talent for apt casting give the new movie enough sharp edges to make it memorable on most levels.

NYTimes: In the Disturbing ‘Natasha,’ Sex and Manipulation

Review: In the Disturbing ‘Natasha,’ Sex and Manipulation

 

“Natasha” is about as twisted and uncomfortable a coming-of-age film as you’re likely to find, with a startlingly manipulative teenager, the title character, at its center.

The story, written and directed by David Bezmozgis based on his own book, is set among the Russian immigrant population in the suburbs of Toronto, where a 16-year-old, Mark (Alex Ozerov of “The Americans”), delivers drugs for a local dealer while his clueless parents (Deanna Dezmari and Genadijs Dolganovs) nag him to get a job. Mark’s summer is disrupted, to say the least, when an uncle imports a bride (Aya-Tatyana Stolnits) from Russia.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/27/movies/natasha-review.html?_r=0