I first heard
about Viy
2: Journey to China (2019) while watching a Looper video listing
movies not to look forward to that year. Despite the warning, being a fan of
Jackie Chan—who stars in Viy
2—I was determined to see it when it came out. But first, I wanted to
understand what led to Viy
2, so I decided to watch the original Viy. I can tell you for
free, this movie is not one of those the world is missing out because they never
got to see it, it is not that great.
Viy is a
Russian movie based on Nikolai Gogol’s horror story of the same name. The film
pushes the limits of your imagination, taking you on a journey through a
mystical, dark fantasy world. It follows the life of a fictional 18th-century
British cartographer, Jonathan Green (Jason Flemyng), as he sets out to map
parts of Europe.
Throughout his
journey, Green sends love notes to his pregnant girlfriend back home via
carrier pigeon. We watch her grow bigger, give birth, and care for their child,
as Green’s voyage stretches on for months.
The movie places you at a crossroads: you must decide whether everything
happening is a figment of imagination or if the mysterious events are tied to
witches and supernatural creatures.
Green’s path
leads him to a town plagued by what the locals believe are witch attacks. The
town is filled with stories of strange happenings, and I was eager to see how
everything would come together.
Before Green’s
arrival, a young girl in the town died under mysterious circumstances, and her
body was kept in a tower.
A man is sent to pray over her body, but the movie depicts his experience
through the perspective of others, suggesting the dead girl is at the center of
some dark plot. The man never returns from the tower, leaving the town in a
state of fear and suspicion.
The dead girl’s
father is skeptical of the supernatural explanations and approaches Green, the
scientist, to map the town using the hill grave site as the center.
Green takes on the task for the money, but it proves to be a heavy burden. With
so many subplots unfolding, he’s left wondering if everything is real or if the
townspeople are simply losing their minds.
Viy is an
okay movie, one you might enjoy if you take the time to watch it. It’s a mix of
dark fantasy and mystery that keeps you guessing until the end.
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