The film about the romance of the emperor and the ballerina will be released on October 26, 2017. The passions around the picture, which almost no one has yet seen, have not subsided for a year now.
How the film came about
In April 2012, at a press conference in Moscow, director Alexei Uchitel spoke for the first time about plans to shoot the film "Matilda Kshesinskaya" about the romance of the future Emperor Nicholas II and a Russian prima ballerina. The ballerina Diana Vishneva was considered for the main role, but in the end she was played Polish actress Michalina Olshanska.
Other roles:
Lars Eidinger- Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich
Louise Wolfram- Princess Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt
Danila Kozlovsky- Count Vorontsov
Ingeborga Dapkunaite- Empress Maria Feodorovna
Sergey Garmash- Emperor Alexander III
Evgeny Mironov- Director of the Imperial Theaters Ivan Karlovich
It was reported that the American Paul Schroeder would write the script, but as a result, the author was Alexander Terekhov, winner of the Big Book and National Bestseller awards.
RUB 814.3 million
including 280 million rubles. state subsidies, will be the total budget of the tape (what part of this amount is non-refundable subsidies, is not disclosed).
In August 2013, the Board of Trustees of the Cinema Fund included "Matilda" in the list of projects that should be provided with financial support.
In June 2014, Alexei Uchitel's Rock Studio began filming. The music for the film was recorded by the Mariinsky Theater Symphony Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev.
What started the conflict
In October 2016, activists of the public movement "Royal Cross" turned to the deputy Natalya Poklonskaya with a request to check the film in which they saw "anti-Russian and anti-religious provocation". Upon learning of this, Alexey Uchitel said: “The fact that they are applying is impossible, because no one has seen a single frame, the film is still being made, it is in the works.”
November 2 Mrs. Poklonskaya sent the Prosecutor General of Russia Yuri Chaika a request to check the film, explaining that she was approached by "a decent number of citizens - over a hundred signatures were collected." According to her, citizens complain that "this film offends their religious feelings."
How did the dispute develop?
For all the time, deputy Poklonskaya and director Uchitel barely exchanged a few words. Despite this, their dispute in absentia was actively developing on the pages of the media and in social networks.
“Russia is presented in the film as a country of gallows, drunkenness and fornication. It is impossible to allow a film that is a deliberate anti-historical fake, aimed at discrediting, mocking and slandering one of the most revered Saints of our Church - Tsar Passion-Bearer Nicholas II and members of His Family, to be released for mass distribution. (from a request addressed to Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika)
“In fact, there the heroes drink one glass of champagne, there are no gallows and no fornication. How do figures who are considered statesmen allow themselves to utter such nonsense? The film is “not about a love affair. A film about a man who painfully chose between love and duty ... Neither in history nor in real life are there initially saints: they are not born, they become " (in an interview with Kommersant on February 2, 2017)
“The film desecrates shrines, offends the religious feelings of believers, incites discord. This is the position of people who value, respect and protect their dignity, our common great and beautiful history, which should be proud of, and not trampled and distorted taking into account personal fantasies, which, as you know, everyone has their own "
“I already offered Mrs. Poklonskaya to at least watch the film, but she refused. What then can we talk about when a deputy, without seeing the picture, starts a campaign, urging people to sign some petitions?” (in an interview with Kommersant-FM on August 9, 2017)
“We see how before our eyes a new terrorist organization is being formed under the guise of a religious one. It has nothing to do with either Russian traditions or true Orthodoxy. They are only interested in destabilization in society, violence, war.” The deputy “does not hide that he supports these organizations and provides them with a cover” (September 4, 2017 in a press release commenting on the attempted arson attack on a cinema in Yekaterinburg)
“Accusations of me of terrorism and other mortal sins are not new. In Ukraine, among other articles of the Criminal Code, I am already charged with organizing a terrorist act.” “I strongly condemn any manifestation of violence, especially presented under the guise of extremist activity in the religious sphere” (on his Facebook page on September 5 and 11, 2017)
Characters
Chronicle of protests
Spring 2017 Opponents of the film went into action. They made calls to burn cinemas, attacked the office of Alexei Uchitel, staged thousands of protests and religious processions, burned two cars near the office of Mr. Uchitel’s lawyer Konstantin Dobrynin, scattering leaflets “Burn for Matilda” in the same place. How events developed - in the chronicle "Kommersant".
Opinions of opponents of the film
Opponents of the film "Matilda" accuse him of insulting the feelings of believers, recalling the canonization of Emperor Nicholas II. The harshest statements were made by activists of Orthodox social movements and representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church.
“We evaluate the film based on publicly available trailers posted on the Internet ... In Matilda, our holy emperor appears as a fornicator, and Empress Alexandra as a sorceress. This is a lie that offends the feelings of believers.” (coordinator of the Orthodox public movement "Forty Sorokov" Andrey Kormukhin).
“He (the film “Matilda” - “Kommersant”) carries both an anti-Russian provocation and a threat to national security. It is absolutely pseudo-historical and blasphemous for Orthodox believers.” (coordinator of the public movement "Royal Cross" Alexander Porozhnyakov).
“What is this - the author's vision? No - slander real people... Do the authors really not understand that all these vulgar falsifications will inevitably be exposed, the film will not be helped either by masterfully filmed spectacular scenes, or expensive scenery and costumes, or foreign actors ” (Vicar of Patriarch Kirill, Bishop Tikhon (Shevkunov) of Yegoryevsk).
“The film “Matilda” must be banned without fail. After all, if it is shown, Russia will perish. And it will be fair in God's eyes. It will not be evil, but good, because through this the Lord will show by his instruction, by his punishment, which should never be done. (Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin July 2, 2017 in circulation on his YouTube channel).
Film support speeches
Supporters of the release of the film declare the inadmissibility of censorship and recall the separation of church and state enshrined in the Constitution. They urge critics to first look at the picture, and then draw conclusions.
“We do not want our culture to fall under the pressure of a new censorship, no matter what influential forces initiate it. We want to live in a secular democratic country, where not only according to the Constitution, but also in practice, censorship is prohibited.” (from an open letter in support of Alexei Uchitel, signed by more than 50 filmmakers and published on the Meduza portal).
“What is happening, this is just an encroachment, first of all, on the legislation, because according to the Constitution, the church is separated from the state, censorship is not acceptable, and so on” (director Vitaly Mansky in a comment to Kommersant FM on February 11, 2017).
“I can’t imagine what claims the Orthodox community can have about feature films. Is it possible, for example, in the Louvre to approach any painting with nudes and say that it offends someone's morality? Why is it that every time an artist paints a picture, or a theater director puts on a performance, one must think about who might be offended? (historian and journalist Nikolai Svanidze in a comment to Kommersant FM).
“I am unfortunately not trained to judge a work of art by its trailer, unlike many people who are just waiting for a reason to be outraged. The painting cannot be approved by the church. But why on earth should all films released on the screens be approved by the ROC?” (director, chairman of the Kinosoyuz Andrey Proshkin in a commentary to Kommersant FM on February 11, 2017).
What the authorities say
Representatives of the authorities did not comment on the dispute in absentia for a long time. One of the first to speak was on June 15, 2017, President Vladimir Putin, who said that no one has yet banned the film. The most emotional was the comment of the Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky. On September 13, he reproached Mrs. Poklonskaya for inciting and maintaining the "hustle" around the film "Matilda." (June 15, 2017 during the "straight line")
Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky:“I don’t know what considerations the respected Mrs. Poklonskaya is guided by, starting and supporting this hubbub. Maybe from the bottom of their hearts... Doubly absurd is the position of citizens who "have not seen the film, but angrily condemn" - and even flaunt it. Personally, I saw the film ... There is nothing offensive in it either for the memory of Nicholas II, or for the history of the Russian monarchy " (from an appeal published on the website of the Ministry of Culture on September 13, 2017).
State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin:“I watched (“Matilda” - “b”). I don't comment... The deputy has the right to his position, everything that does not violate the law is the right of the deputy. And if a deputy breaks the law, then this is the prerogative of law enforcement agencies.” (September 13, 2017 in a TASS comment.
LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky:“I would do as I did in the place of either the president, or the prime minister, or the minister of culture, I would say: “Citizens, stop discussing the film: show - do not show, shoot - do not shoot. We have complete creative freedom, and I forbid everyone to discuss the fate of director Teacher” (September 6, 2017 on the air of "Echo of Moscow").
Evgeny Kozichev, Artem Kosenok, Mikhail Malaev, Evgeny Fedunenko, Olga Shkurenko
The scandal surrounding the new painting by Alexei Uchitel "Matilda" is gaining momentum. In connection with the recent initiative of the members of the public movement "Royal Cross", the historical drama, which has not yet been released on the screens, has become the object of close attention of all leading critics, deputies and even the Prosecutor General's Office. Dni.Ru decided to find out: in connection with which there was such a strong hype around the love interest of the Emperor.
It is known that not only members of several Orthodox organizations have already repeatedly stated about "inadmissible lies" and "slander" in the film. The director of the office of the Russian imperial house, Alexander Zakatov, has already explained in several interviews that, in his opinion, it is possible to talk about the personal lives of tsars and even saints, but one question remains: for what purpose? According to Zakatov, the story presented in the Teacher's film is nothing but a "perversion".
First of all, we note: although the new creation of the famous director is a historical drama, this does not stop it from being a feature film. It is necessary to distinguish a biopic from cinematography: after all, if in the first everything must be sustained within the strict framework of a historical plot, then in the second, the director can safely allow himself some "liberties". For example, to tell a love story that in reality could definitely be, but did not happen.
Ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya, as she herself stated, was the mistress and favorite of Nicholas II before his engagement to Alisa Gnessinskaya. This is confirmed by the memoirs of the famous prima, which were published in Paris in 1960. The Teacher himself, defending his position, refers precisely to historical events, which he probably studied very thoroughly.
Kshesinskaya, at the age of 20, won the heart of Tsarevich Nicholas and for two and a half years was in love with him. Judging by the diaries and memoirs of his contemporaries, Nikolai did not hide his more than reverent attitude towards the prima of the Mariinsky Theater.
In fact, public outrage was caused not by the historical film itself (which, by the way, no one has seen today), but by the very hint that such an iconic historical figure as Nicholas II could have had a personal life. At all times there are critics who consider it inadmissible to touch on the topic of any personal passions of people who have become a kind of "icons" of an entire era.
To date, the Prosecutor General's Office has not found any violations in the film, according to the TASS news agency. Or rather, in that part of it that they were able to see. It is known that the film is not completely ready, its premiere is scheduled for March 2017.
Before the premiere of the new film by Alexei Uchitel even more three months, but he has already managed to earn the title of perhaps the most scandalous Russian picture of recent decades. Why did the film, which tells about the first love of Emperor Nicholas II, so outraged the public
Shot from the film "Matilda"
At the center of the story love relationship Tsarevich Nikolai Romanov, the future of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II and ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya. However, their relationship did not last long - namely, before his coronation with his future wife Alexandra Federovna. Rumor has it that the ballerina and Nicholas II even had a daughter.
After a relationship with Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, Matilda was the mistress of another Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, and later married another representative of the royal house - Grand Duke Andrei Romanov. All this time she successfully raised an illegitimate son. After the revolution of 1917, she left Russia forever.
Young Nicholas II with Matilda Kshesinskaya The fate of Kshesinskaya, like her biography, is very rich and curious. Born in St. Petersburg, she was the prima ballerina of the imperial theaters and simply an influential person, with whom powerful men from noble families easily fell in love. Aleksey Uchitel invited the Polish actress Mikhalina Olshanskaya to play the role of the main character, the German theater and film actor Lars Eidinger played Emperor Nicholas II. Among the star names familiar to the ear of the Russian audience: Ingeborga Dapkunaite, Evgeny Mironov, Sergey Garmash, Danila Kozlovsky and Grigory Dobrygin.
The picture was originally conceived and positioned by the Teacher as a large-scale historical reconstruction: the Assumption Cathedral of that time, the Palace on the River Pontoon and the interiors of the Imperial train cars were painstakingly recreated especially for filming. Filming for the most part took place at the Mariinsky Theater, in the Catherine, Alexander, Yusupov and Elaginoostrovsky palaces. The film's budget is $25 million, which is simply a huge amount for Russian cinema.
What (or who) started the protests against the painting
Alexey Uchitel started filming the historical drama back in 2014, and then everyone was waiting only for details about the new creation of the eminent director. When the production of the film came to its logical conclusion, the public was suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of aggressive objections and demands for a ban on the film's screening and even the end of its production. Perhaps the first trailer for the film, which could have seemed somewhat provocative, was to blame for everything - it was from the moment of its appearance that complaints rained down.
Among the main dissatisfied were members of the public movement "Royal Cross", who actively spoke out with accusations of the Teacher and his painting of slandering Tsar Nicholas II and his royal family. It was with them that a large-scale “flash mob” began against the release of the film. The "Royal Cross" turned to State Duma deputy Natalya Poklonskaya for support, and then the scandal received really wide publicity.
“In the film“ Matilda ”, Tsar Nicholas II is depicted not as he really was. The love between Matilda Kshesinskaya and Tsar Nicholas II was platonic, not lustful. Also, under the reign of Tsar Nicholas II, the economic and social situation was better compared to the current situation in Russia,” the public activists said in an official statement.
Natalya Poklonskaya. Photo: lenta.ru Natalya Poklonskaya, in turn, quite expectedly sided with the "Royal Cross" and twice sent a request to the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation to check "Matilda" for extremism. However, in both cases, the audit found no violations. In 2016, Runet also joined the protests - a petition appeared on the Change.org website to ban the film in Russia.
Shot from the film "Matilda" However, Poklonskaya did not stop there either - at the end of January 2017, she was sent a deputy request to Prosecutor General's Office in order to verify the legality of spending the funds allocated by the Cinema Fund for the creation of the picture. It is obvious that Poklonskaya wanted to withdraw the film from the rental in other ways - and the fact that dozens of frankly disastrous second-rate blockbuster parodies financed by the Cinema Fund are released annually in Russia does not seem to bother the deputy.
But this was not the end of the epic - already in April, a letter was sent to an expert commission to evaluate the script and trailer of the film. The members of the commission, quite expectedly, saw in them a lot of criticisms: from the moral character of the king to the ugly and “dishonest” appearance of his beloved. The commission's verdict was not long in coming: the film depicts a false image of St. Nicholas II, and also offends the feelings of believers. The results were again sent to the Prosecutor General's Office.
Shot from the film "Matilda" Discontent is growing to this day - so, just yesterday, there were reports in the media that the head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, sent an appeal to the Russian Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky with a request not to show the film by Alexei Uchitel "Matilda" in the republic. The text of the appeal notes that such a decision was made after reading the information received from Natalia Poklonskaya about thousands of statements by Orthodox and Muslims about insulting the religious feelings of believers storyline movie.
Who supported the rental of "Matilda"
Of course, such a scandal attracts public attention, especially when it comes to the film. Many film critics and Uchitel's fans say it's premature to pass judgment on a film that hasn't been released yet. Cultural figures considered it their duty to come out in support of the film: film director Stanislav Govorukhin, chairman of the Duma Committee on Culture, criticized the idea of checking the film, adding that such initiatives should be interrupted in the bud.
In response to numerous attacks, more than forty Russian filmmakers wrote an open letter, including Pavel Lungin, Alexander Proshkin, Alexander Gelman, Vitaly Mansky, Andrey Smirnov and others. It is noteworthy that the Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky, who personally visited the shooting of the picture several times, also supported Matilda.
Shot from the film "Matilda" What does Alexey Uchitel think?
The director of "Matilda" called the discussion around his new picture useless and unnecessary.
“Honestly, I'm already tired of Mrs. Poklonskaya's war with me and the entire film crew. Instead of calmly finishing the film, I am forced to be distracted by nonsense, nonsense and insults, ”said the director. “A film will come out, everyone will watch it, and only then will it be possible to discuss it.”
The producer of the film, Alexander Dostman, also believes: “People who have not seen the film, and no one has seen it, except working group, cannot draw any conclusions - this is ridiculous, some kind of comedy, amazing stupidity. And it’s even more surprising that everyone follows Natalia Poklonskaya’s lead, reckon with her opinion, I have already ceased to be surprised by her. This is a movie about beautiful love. Regardless of whether Tsar Nicholas is or not, he is a man, and a man, what, cannot love?
By the way, Konstantin Dobrynin, the lawyer of director Alexei Uchitel, appealed to the ethics commission of the State Duma of Russia with a response complaint against the activities of deputy Natalia Poklonskaya. He claims Poklonskaya's "unfounded accusations" against the Teacher, as well as the "use of deliberately false information and calls for illegal actions" against the creators of the film "Matilda". Thus, a real civil war broke out between Poklonskaya and the Teacher. Only one thing remains clear in this situation - despite all the scandals around the picture, the film will premiere on the scheduled date.
When will the movie be released in theaters
The premiere is scheduled for October 26, 2017, it will be held at the Mariinsky Theater - where at the beginning of the 20th century she performed main character movie Matilda Kshesinskaya. The musical producer of the film was Valery Gergiev, artistic director and general director of the Mariinsky Theatre.
The Matilda project appeared back in 2010 at the initiative of the Vladimir Vinokur Foundation in support of culture and art. The first shots of the film were made public in 2015, but close public attention was drawn to it only in November 2016, when State Duma deputy and former Prosecutor General of Crimea Natalya Poklonskaya, at the request of the Tsar's Cross public movement, turned to the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Yuri Chaika with a demand check the film for insulting the feelings of believers. At the same time, a petition was created on Change.org to ban the film, which gathered nearly 19,000 signatures.
In January 2017, the Prosecutor General's Office reported on the inspection of the film and stated that nothing reprehensible was found in the video that the authors of the film posted online. Poklonskaya sent a new request to the Prosecutor General, this time with a proposal to entrust the review of the film to an expert commission. “Dear Yuri Yakovlevich, I ask you to organize a thorough check, in terms of conducting a study of the script for the film “Matilda” approved for filming, as well as to check the legality of spending budget funds allocated by the Cinema Fund for the creation of this film,” the deputy’s request said. According to Poklonskaya, in three months she received more than 10 thousand appeals from citizens with a request to "solve the problem of anti-Russian and anti-religious provocation." The greatest indignation of those who applied was caused by the fact that the picture is dedicated to the novel of a canonized (albeit posthumously) saint and a “depraved woman”. At the insistence of the deputy, the commission was formed. It included lawyers, culturologists, psychologists and linguists.
Almost simultaneously with this, in early February, a certain social organization entitled "Christian State - Holy Russia" sent a letter to Russian cinemas demanding to refuse to show the film "Matilda". In the text of the letter, the film is called "satanic mud" and if the film is released, the activists promised that "cinemas will burn, maybe even people will suffer." Natalya Poklonskaya wrote an appeal to the Main Directorate for Combating Extremism of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia - this time with a demand to check the "Christian State" for extremism.
The decisiveness of the “Christians” alerted Aleksey Uchitel, and the director himself turned to the Prosecutor General’s Office: in one statement, he asked “to protect the film staff, employees of distribution organizations from further threats, other illegal actions of extremist persons, as well as from publicly disseminated slanderous fabrications of Mrs. Poklonskaya herself” , in another - to check the Orthodox organization for extremism after the threats made against the creators of the picture and future viewers. On the same day, when the media became aware of the Teacher's appeals, the Kremlin reacted to the situation. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the Ministry of Justice has no information about the registration of the Christian State - Holy Russia movement and, in fact, its representatives act as anonymous extremists.
Matilda: what do the experts say?
On April 17, Natalya Poklonskaya published a PDF document with the results of the examination. The 39-page text is submitted by a commission that already has experience in such cases: the same experts have previously given an opinion on the Pussy Riot concert and the Tannhäuser opera. A printout of the script and two trailers of the film were used as materials for the examination. This turned out to be enough. The members of the commission agreed that the image of Emperor Nicholas II in the film The Teacher offends religious feelings and humiliates the human dignity of Orthodox Christians, and this was done deliberately, because the filmmakers should be aware of the “historical truth”. The authors of the text are not shy about expressing themselves and write, for example, that “the negative image of Nicholas II is reinforced by the choice attributed to him in favor of disgusting, completely ugly (from the point of view of classical European and, in particular, Russian ideas about female beauty) in appearance and other physical according to Matilda Kshesinskaya (in her well-known photographs one can clearly see: protruding crooked teeth, an elongated face shape that makes her outwardly similar to a mouse or a rat, an awkward figure) in contrast to Alexandra Fedorovna, who objectively possesses bright classical European beauty.
Another insult, according to experts, the filmmakers inflicted on believers when choosing actors. The role of the last Russian tsar is played by the German actor Lars Eidinger, who in 2012 played the "vulgar pornographic role" of the printer Amos Quadfri in Greenway's "pornographic film" Goltzius and the Pelican Company. “With this technique, the creators of the film “Matilda” save themselves from the need to include fully pornographic scenes directly in the film “Matilda”, in fact using in this film a metonymic reference to the images contained in the above-mentioned pornographic film starring actor Lars Eidinger,” experts say, as - something ignoring the fact that in the filmography of Aidinger there are 50 more roles in the cinema and almost the same number in the theater.
The experts' verdict is unequivocal and disappointing: "The film is aimed at forming a quite definite - pejoratively and dysphorically degenerate (blackened), devalued and lithotized - false image Russian Emperor Nicholas II as an inadequate and morally corrupt person, who does not have internal moral restrictions, who puts momentary personal interests of sexual satisfaction in extremely dubious and socially morally reprehensible circumstances above the interests of the Russian state and the reputation of the ruling House of Romanov.
Based on two trailers and the script of the film, experts defined Alexandra Feodorovna as “a mentally unstable and inadequate person, a morally vicious woman, exalted and mired in vulgar and socially condemned occult-religious prejudices and practices, including those associated with bloody rituals attributed to religious Satanism ".
In order to convey their point of view to atheists and agnostics, the authors of the examination give an example, suggesting that someone accuses their parents of pedophilia and bestiality - something like this, according to experts, an Orthodox person will feel while watching the film "Matilda".
“Public demonstration of the film “Matilda”, given the deliberate use by its creators of techniques through which the grossest humiliation of the human dignity of the believers of the Russian Orthodox Church and an extremely painful insult to their religious feelings, is completely unacceptable,” experts conclude.
The future of the film "Matilda"
On April 17, Natalya Poklonskaya submitted the results of the examination to the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation. There has been no response yet. The premiere of the film is still scheduled for October 6, the screening will take place at the Mariinsky Theatre. The film will be released in Russian and foreign rentals on October 26.
Meanwhile, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he finds it strange to try to evaluate a film that is not yet ready. The Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation Vladimir Medinsky agreed with him. “This is an orgy of democracy. How can you judge a film that no one has seen yet? - the minister answered the question of journalists about his opinion about the current situation.
year: 2017
country: Russia
tagline:"The Secret of the Romanov House"
producer: Alexey Uchitel
scenario: illiterate and mediocre journalist Alexander Alexandrov
producer: Alexey Uchitel, Alexander Dostman, Vladimir Vinokur
budget: $25 000 000
Starring: Michalina Olshanska, Lars Eidinger, Louise Wolfram, Danila Kozlovsky, Ingeborga Dapkunaite, Sergey Garmash, Evgeny Mironov
As everyone knows, modern Russian cinema can only be watched with such a face.
And so when the trailer for "Matilda" came out, in which the film was called "MATIDDA" ...
Moreover, from the author of the arthouse shiza about Stalinism "The Edge" - it became clear that the most epic trash awaits us. However, then no one even guessed how turbulent events would follow the announcement of the premiere. It is difficult to retell all the events associated with the film - here are the stormy protests of the crazy fanatic Poklonskaya, who demanded that the film be banned for insulting the feelings of believers; and Orthodox terrorists who suddenly appeared in the country, who tried to blow up a cinema in Yekaterinburg, burned the car of the director's lawyer, then threatened local cinemas; and demonstrations against the film's release; and the pseudo-documentary pseudo-film "Matilda's Lie"; and even the Light of Russian Cinema, Nikita Mikhalkov, did not stand aside and actually accused the Cinema Fund of arson of cinemas. And even the scandal that went completely unnoticed against the background of this scandal - after all, if it were not for Poklonskaya, the Teacher would have to make excuses for the fact that the film was filmed with money withdrawn from an offshore controlled by Gazprombank in exchange for a bribe to the presidential affairs manager with the help of a jester close to the court Vladimir Vinokur, who formally was the original customer of the picture, and part, as usual, was stolen - but how else, this is the most expensive domestic film, 25 MILLION DOLLARS: how can it be without theft? Moreover, the failure of the film at the box office was originally planned in official documents, which in no way prevents the authors from preparing a four-episode version for Channel One.
But let's put all that aside for a moment and try to focus on the film itself. After all, you need to find out what this scandal is worth, which has not been equaled since the days of Burnt by the Sun-2. For the sake of this, I even heroically found a bad screen on the net - to save the souls of the uninitiated. And I would highly recommend bringing this post to the top, because even the screen was enough for me to understand how bad everything is. The fate of vision and mental health of thousands of people is in your hands!
ATTENTION - THIS REVIEW OFFENSES THE FEELINGS OF BELIEVERS!
At the beginning we are shown the prologue. As it becomes clear later, this is the next end of the story, set before its beginning. The wedding ceremony of Nicholas II in the Assumption Cathedral. Rich chambers, crowds of the first persons of the state, chants, all things. Matilda Kshesinskaya is also standing in the crowd. Suddenly she notices an officer walking towards her and runs away in a panic. The one behind her. They rush through the dark corridors and back streets of the church, like the characters of Assassin's Creed, finally, Matilda manages to slam the door and shout from the crowd of singers to Nikolai: "Nicky! I'm yours forever!" Nicky, seeing her, immediately loses consciousness from shock and falls, dropping crown. The crown freezes. Symbols-and-and-and-change...
INSTALLATION! Theatre. Beautiful gentle ballerinas spin for a long time around mirrors and other glasses for the camera, which symbolizes something there. Ivan Karlovich, played by the curly-haired Yevgeny Mironov, at the theater manager, praises the ballerinas for a long time to some important prince. He is especially impressed with the busty red-haired Italian and gets to know her over wine, complimenting her about her beauty. If you have vulgar suspicions, perverts, then ... not in vain - in the next scene, Ivan Karlovich catches up with Kshesinskaya walking along the corridor and demands to quickly run outside to act in porn. Outside, the entire troupe of ballerinas fills the theater's rather big staircase and is filmed smiling like they are on the covers of Hugh Hefner. Who is it for? Matilda says angrily. Why is this? We are not a brothel! Ivan Karlovich reasonably says: We are better than a brothel! He does not receive state subsidies.
So, from the very beginning we are told that the state theater in Russia is a brothel with pimps-directors. I willingly believe Mr. Teacher, he knows better. But, as you can see, everyone there was a slut, except for Matilda - after all, they didn’t show her over wine with the general!
INSTALLATION! Concert. Everything in the hall the best people cities, including the heiress. The Italian makes a great fuete, and everyone applauds her. Immediately after that, she hugs Matilda, who is going on stage (zis - is - MONTAAAAAZH !!!) and surreptitiously unties the strap behind her back, like a villain in cartoons about Tom and Jerry. Matilda, without noticing this, begins to dance to the most beautiful music and slowmo, writing out brilliant pirouettes - and so on until her bra strap falls off and her breasts are exposed !!! Hall in the theater shock. The hall in the cinema is also in shock. Poklonskaya is indignant The teacher did reveal the topic!
I wonder if this offends the feelings of moralists?
Everyone is staring at their chest in amazement, including the holy heir, who is especially amazed - they say, a naked boob! God! So this is what she looks like! Ivan Karlovich demands a curtain, but for some reason they never give it. Kozlovsky in the hall, jumping up, runs away somewhere. Slowmo is pushed to the limit. Matilda first covers herself with her hand, and then, having made up her mind, she shows the naked truth to the people and dances like this for a long time, delighting Nikolai ...
Giiiiipnotic siiiiiiila SWAN!!!
INSTALLATION! After the summer filming, winter has come, where everything is already wrapped in snow. A painted royal train rides along the tracks, hung for some reason state flags. Who said "cranberry"? Cranberry? What cranberry?
In the carriage, Alexander III, performed by Garmash, unlike him, because of which the operator carefully hides his height, says Nicky that, they say, nice couple would be to him with Matilda, and not with this German woman. Yes, father, as you can see, honors the high traditions of aristocratic marriage. But the heir-koshkodav insists on Alix. I will either get married or leave you for a monastery,” he says in the dining car with his family. But then SUDDENLY! ... the train runs into a car loaded with brushwood, which was carrying a little man with a marigold, stuck in the middle of the tracks, as in bad disaster films! Achtung! Achtung! Alarm! And the train pathetically and noisily leaves the tracks as in Duma-3!
Nothing surprising. We still know from the "Edge" that the Teacher has ... in the sense, a fetish for big mighty locomotives. Not as cool as Mikhalkov's Freudian steamboat pistons in Sunstroke, but it will do.
Then begins an unprecedented hysteria katavasia. All the survivors yell, run in panic, Alexander holds the roof on himself and squeals to save the family! Some security officer runs up, as the credits assure, the head of the detective police Vlasov. That he then traveled with the king is not clear, really. But he is played by the Special Officer from the "White Tiger", Purishkevich from "Grigory R." and the Captain from "Sunstroke", which means that the actor is perfect for the role of the bastard who is always yelling at everyone. He hits the little man with a marigold in the face, pulls out a revolver and punishes ... his wounded horse. True, thanks to the flickering camera and the ragged editing that the lawn mower did, the fact that the horse was shot, and not the peasant, becomes clear only somewhere from the fifth scroll of the scene. Everyone screams, everyone squeals, everyone runs around the wreckage to the tragic music, something flickers in the frame, Alexander, having stopped squealing, says in a pathetic bass: "Save and save!" Finally, the family is saved, and the emperor is pulled out by the Cossacks. That's it, the end of this extremely necessary scene for the plot.
I have long been interested in what directors are guided by when filming real historical events. Okay, Puffier was too lazy to explain that the train went off the tracks due to speed and weight, and he replaced it with a stuck horseradish knows why cart. But why change October near Kharkov for some kind of snowy winter in the middle of the spruce taiga? For a foreign audience, from Russia viz love, mazefaka?
INSTALLATION! Summer again! Year unknown to science. The audience gathered at the hippodrome, where there will be some kind of strange game, but more on that later. Nicky and Matilda smile at each other in different boxes, while on the hippodrome, realizing the director's extraordinary fantasies, officers in tutus are dancing to warm up the director's audience.
Yes, and you thought the Teacher only had a fetish for steam locomotives? Envy, Mikhalkov, this is not a junker on roller skates! At the same time, Prince Andrei laid eyes on Matilda, who tells Nicky about this. Mneee ... - he draws indifferently - yes, not bad. And so that Andrei does not outrun him, Nicky goes to invite the lady to his house, to the tent. At the hippodrome, in the meantime, there is just some kind of hell of directorial bacchanalia, from which Mikhalkov would be stunned. Officers in brown Darth Vader masks on horses covered in white Klan Klan robes gallop at full speed through burning barriers to get the crown of the Russian Empire in some kind of competition. Damn it, you won't even see this at the Big Races! Why did you have to set fire to cinemas, Teacher himself added a spark!
A circus with burning horses in a vacuum!
After the passage, the burning horses fall on the sand and are pumped out by firefighters. But not a single animal, except for Danila Kozlovsky, was harmed - Danilka with a burning back, because of which the flame closes his angelic wings, runs back to the scenery and still takes out the crown! He joyfully takes off his mask and yells from the fire on his back, in amazement, he sees that his ideal Matilda does not see this, because Nicky dragged the field ballerina into his field tent. There Nikolai, like an aristocrat, like a man of the Puritan era of the late nineteenth century, like the heir to the throne, finally begins, without a word, busily unbuttoning her sailor's jacket. In the name of the moon-sh!
Geniuses think alike...
Show me... siiiiiiss!
But no. Staring at the corset, the passionate man says that he wants to give her a gift in the form of a necklace - after all, he does not pretend to be more. However, having put on the necklace, he immediately busily reaches for the neck of the balerette. lips. And both. Matilda, in response, leaves the kiss, modestly sits on her knees - the same Nikolai - and tells him that he will never be able to forget her, and she doesn’t need anything else - and leaves. Nicky takes a breath and wonders if he should wince alone, but then Matilda returns with a squeal and hides behind him. The insane prince Kozlovsky bursts in, who, in fierce princely anger, like Viking, hysterically squeals and beats the heir on his German slurp because he stole his woman. Apparently, Rogneda has not yet recovered from the rudeness. Guards rush in, grab Kozlovsky by the princely patles and lead him away.
He is carried out by dark stone casemates behind the scenes under the light of torches, where Vlasov cynically tells him: if you admit that you attempted on the heir, we will hang him, but only jealousy - we will have mercy. Stupid Kozlovsky says in response, "Tokmo jealousy, now let go!" that he wanted to kill Nicky, and then Vlasov has no choice but to punish him. Therefore, while somewhere Matilda is dancing beautifully and in slowmo, Kozlovsky is taken to the scaffold without any stupid delays such as a trial and other nonsense, a plastic bag is pulled on and immediately lowered on a rope! Farewell, Danilka, you were not needed for this film.
After the concert, Nicky comes to the dressing room to his passion, who is not quite dressed - but, as you understand, this is not an obstacle to a friendly conversation. To start a conversation, the heir to the throne jokingly tries to twist the fouette, and the ballerina helps him with a laugh, for which she takes him by his holy legs (Poklonskaya faints in the hall). Nikolai invites a night ballerina to his ball and asks to call him simply - Nicky. But you have a bride, she chirps. I have time to think - he answers - before Christmas New Year. So, gluing a woman after grinding is, as it were, uncountable for Nikolashka. And what happened to Danila Kozlovsky, Prince Lieutenant Vorontsov? she asks. I pardoned him - the king answers. Yes, pardoned. Therefore, Vlasov gives Kozlovsky to some typical hero of modern comics - an evil psychotherapist with a German accent, who keeps him in a glass aquarium to put him into a trance. Vlasov says in the tone of Agent Smith: for the first time in my life I dared to disobey, Mr. Anderson, Herr Fischel. This is so that Fischel at any cost finds out from Kozlovsky why he attempted on the life of the heir, and at the same time found dirt on Matilda!
Amazing. I was expecting everything but the plagiarism "Spider-Man. High voltage"! Bravo, Teacher!
After that, a concentrated sugary vulgarity begins in the film, reminiscent of a video from the shooting of Ksenia Sobchak's wedding with Nikolai Baskov. Nicky and Matilda ride on a huge hot-air balloon with the coat of arms against the background of fountains. With laughter, they run after each other along the palace corridors in chains and latex suits. And then they fuck for a very long time in slowmo in bed close-up like in "Nine and a half weeks", causing Poklonskaya to have epileptic seizures from envy. And they say that Nicky only loved Russia!
At the most inopportune moment, maman, performed by our well-deserved Russian cinema Dapkunaite, happily enters the bedroom and finds someone else's girl in bed with her son - just like in "American Pie" or something like that. To see her only on stage! she says and leaves. But Nicky is not a fool - having dressed himself and the lady in latex suits, he takes her out to the hall, where absolutely the whole court has gathered, including the king on a gurney. The king, admiring the shock, says that, they say, shock is our way, and the heir should be congratulated - and everyone welcomes the heir, who publicly walks among the women after the engagement. God, only "Burnt by the Sun-2" can argue with the historicity of this movie!
In parting, the tsar tells his son that Russia must be kept like this - and shows a weakened fist. Very smart - to demand discipline from a person who cannot even restrain love fidelity. After that, Dapkunaite, to the sounds of an orchestra, takes the king on a gurney into a dark corridor. Forever and ever. Because it. Symbolizes. After that, Nikolai goes out again into the hall with a folder in his hands, and the ministers run after them, discussing state affairs. Finally, Nikolai gets fed up with this and he just runs away from them, whispering off-screen - I'm not ready ... Pobedonostsev just shakes his head at this and says: we raised you wrong - and introduces a new piano for Alix, because he has more important ones in this film , obviously not. In the next scene, the not-king meets Alix at the train station, kissing her cheeks, under another snotty little tongue. Yes, it's Alix. What do you mean, unlike? Do you think there is anything like the original in the film?
INSTALLATION! Dapkunaite goes with Nikolai and says to him with displeasure - it doesn’t matter what you want and what not: not one, not one king can marry for love! So she takes Nikolai's eggs into her own hands. The theater is going to the coronation in Moscow, and Ivan Karlovich takes with him ... an Italian. And Kshesinskaya? And you, the dove, - Ivan Karlovich tells her - lacks the depth of the image. Matilda, of course, is furious, who, except for the heir, can evaluate what she has with depth? Then a bearded theatrical anecdote comes into play, how a woman proved her talent in an exam by pretending to have fainted, and Ivan Karlovich displeasedly promises to think. Joyful Matilda returns home, but SUDDENLY finds Vlasov there, who is actively eating from her refrigerator from her table. Having devoured the house, he first offers her a deal - she gives him the letters of the heir, and he will not touch her for all sorts of places not so remote. Matilda lies in bed for a long time, thinking about this proposal, and then asks Nicky to fasten her dress - she is going to the coronation, which Nicky did not tell her about! How, they say, you dare secretly from me, your mistress, marry your bride? I was going to tell you, - the heir hesitates. Yes, to talk about what the whole country knows about. I will make you my bride! - promises the Tsar-rag. I suspect the ending is a bit predictable - Matilda will most likely not marry Nicky. Let's see if I'm right.
INSTALLATION! Dr. Fishel, Nicky and Alix are having a seance of spiritualism.
Oh, not like that, this is some kind of horror movie ... And not the MOST EXPENSIVE DOMESTIC FILM! Okay, never mind. Alix asks the spirit of her dead ancestors if she should accept Orthodoxy. Perhaps the believers will ask, it is not insulting that the Orthodox queen asks this advice through the intermediary of a spiritualist, whom Orthodox Church considers the vessels of the devil?
No, everything is fine, in life, for some reason, Orthodox people very often fuck before the wedding, they believe in psychics, and the fanatic Alix was no exception. Another thing is that she had no choice at all - who would take a Catholic to the throne? The farce SUDDENLY disperses Dapkunaite, but still Alix rides off with Fishel, like ensign Polishchuk, on a motorcycle to work out with him ... spiritualism ...
Hmm, a woman on a motorcycle - doesn't this offend the feelings of believers?
Nikolay and Andrey play billiards. Nikolai needs proof that Matilda has grounds for the royal and Polish throne, which shows that he has finally gone crazy. Andrei agrees, and he and Matilda scour the archives for this game of thrones until the papers crumble and the fools fall on each other in intimacy. Notice how original the movie is, right? They are inspired by the moment and fuck right on the papers chatting about love. But Matilda finally says that she does not need earthly kingdoms, golden mountains, emerald palaces, the Turkish coast, and she will not look for anything. Fischel, meanwhile, brainwashes Alix that she has a rival and shows her the glitches on the windows (don't ask). To stop her, he is going to turn on the magic and therefore he needs Matilda's blood. And if you are waiting for the scenes where Alix runs after Matilda with a knife and yells in a bad voice: "Give me your blood" - then do not worry, the film immediately forgets about the blood.
INSTALLATION! Kshesinskaya is resting in the mansion, in the bathroom, but then the phone rings, she goes out - and sees the rout. Yeah, someone ransacked her entire apartment while she was in the bathroom, and it doesn't sound like Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade. In general, Matilda did not hear the search. Unlike a phone call. She grabs the phone and shouts, they say, Winnie, Winnie ... pah, you are Nicky, Nicky! Help, save! But on the other end of the wire is actually a gloomy Dapkunaite, who ominously hangs up.
Alix comes home to the groom, who deals with the film projector, a gift from Wilhelm II for the wedding, but then the phone rang, who's talking? Elephant. In ballet slippers. Nikolai is forced to promise a meeting, pretending to be the minister of the sea. But Alix understands everything perfectly and, out of jealousy, begins to parody Count Dracula Matilda.
All this time, Kozlovsky is kept in an aquarium, like an octopus, and interrogated - but to no avail. Do not even ask how he breathes there and through what place. However, at some point, the amphibian Kozlovsky, sticking out in the water, strains all his muscles, completely not atrophied from constant sitting, tears the fetters on his hands and jumps out on Fishel, who has come running from the bedroom, like a shark out of the water !!!
"The new action-packed thriller" Jaws-18 ". Danila Kozlovsky is in the main role of a shark"!
While Matilda is dancing somewhere in tension again, trying in the spirit of Rocky to break the world record in fouette, Akulina Kozlovsky, to inhumanly high music, successfully drowns Fischel and escapes. Alix comes to Kshesinskaya, who has fallen from inhuman training. Further, an undisguised parody of the "Black Swan" is played out, a German woman, baring her teeth, threatens a Polish woman for a peasant. Threatening, Alix runs to Fischel for advice to suspense music and sees how the maniac Kozlovsky put his corpse in his chair under water in order to finally prove the plagiarism of "Spider-Man".
INSTALLATION! It is not immediately clear, but Matilda wants to go to Moscow for the coronation. The music kicks in again, jerky editing, Matilda runs after Nikolai through the rain, he yells something unintelligible, close-ups on the faces of the participants, all the cases. And then she goes to Las Vegas Moscow herself. By car with Raoul Duke Prince Andrey. Apparently, for some reason, they don't sell tickets to her at the station. Alix, on the other hand, looks out the train window at the gathered crowds of Simple Russian People who have gathered to greet the future royal couple on Khodynka. Among them, the bearded fugitive Kozlovsky unobtrusively shines, who gets to Moscow without documents, like an illegal migrant.
INSTALLATION! Nikolasha shoots crows from the balcony, and the Cossacks from the guards run after them with nets - and you thought this the most important fact his life will remain unrecorded? In vain, in vain ... It's a pity that it's not for cats, but it will do. And at the same time he is listening to Pobedonostsev about the distribution of gifts on Khodynka. In fact, Nicholas does not pay attention to Pobedonostsev, because he is staring through binoculars, as Andrei and Matilda are walking along the river in a boat. Without even changing from the car for this !!!
Matilda tells Andrei about how many men she, a modest noble maiden, had. And she had no less of them than all of Tver, and Andrei, who is far from Lieutenant Rzhevsky, shouts: "Enough!" Finally, he takes her to Nike's palace, the woman breaks down there and hugs her lover. While Dapkunaite is looking for them, these two aristocratic acrobats go down the spiral staircase to the underground ballet hall, where Matilda will secretly want to live with him. But he is still tormented by doubts - how can one refuse the crown, from fate ... You will destroy everyone you love! Matilda whispers back. Or I will disown you! - She screams and runs away into the sudden rain. Alix, who is somewhere in another scene, is moping and she demonstratively pours thick venous blood from an unsuccessful movement with a hairpin. Matilda runs away to the car and waves to Nicky Andrey, and the heir is freaking out because he has no one else to build his love with.
INSTALLATION! Dapkunaite instructs his son that he will wear the Great Imperial Crown at the coronation, and Alix insists on the Cap of Monomakh. The heir gets tired of this woman's chatter about clothes, he hysterically scatters the robes and runs away in anger. That's what I understand, Game of Thrones! Dapkunaite is trying to reason with him - they say, if you do not agree, "they" (who "they" - does not say) will kill you, and your happiness is the tenth thing here. So Niki is once again fucking, and Alix is learning Orthodox prayers with a German accent in order to become Russian.
INSTALLATION! Nikolai shows the court a rotating cinema to promote it in Russia. And while everyone is staring at the screen, Matilda and Andrey come in. Matilda gives the letters to the heir. Nicky continues to play the movie in shock, then Alix comes in and freaks out when he sees a bear on the screen. Dapkunaite says with a laugh - do not be afraid of the Russian bear, touch it! What? "Cranberry"? What cranberry? Where? And while stupid Alix paws the screen, Nikolasha still catches up with Matilda and kisses her passionately on the hat area. SUDDENLY there is a noise from above and a shout of "Nicky!" Naslednik stares up in astonishment. Matilda immediately shows a vile woman's essence: "You yourself do not know what you want" - she squeaks angrily and runs away. It turns out that this was just some general in a bear costume (sis - is - RAAAASHAAAAA !!!) who brought everyone a crown on a tray of vodka. The crown, as you can see, doesn’t mean much here at all and they treat it like a copper goblet for a wedding - they put it as a prize in horse races, discuss it like a hat, bring it to banquets ...
What a business Matilda! Because of her, there is an agronomic scandal, mon cher - right on the street, the vile Vlasov grabs her, stuffs her into a motor vehicle and demands letters. And having learned that they are no longer there, she says that she will not dance at the coronation anyway. Then she goes to desperate measures - penetrates into the theater. And while, by a TERRIBLY LUCKY COINCIDENCE, the general fucks an Italian ballerina in the dressing room, which is time to perform, but the overwhelmed general is not afraid of problems with the heir, Matilda takes her place, puts on a mask and runs out onto the stage. But - she tried in vain, the ubiquitous Vlasov managed to intercept her along with Ivan Karlovich. However, Karlovich's conscience spoke at the last minute and he let the woman leave - and Mother breaks onto the stage with the Italian! Both swans, black and white, are dancing with LEDs in dresses!
There were like ballerous whores in Russia, one in black, the other in white, both sluts!
In front of the amazed audience, Matilda still does fuete-huete, but suddenly stumbles and falls into slowmo to the sound in the ears of the sound engineer. According to the scenario, the Italian woman takes the crown! Nicky, after the end of the concert, comes to the stage, from where the ballerinas run away - and cries with her love about their unhappy life. Baba joyfully shows him 32 fouettes, which she could not show before, and Alix, who has come, applauds her.
INSTALLATION! Nicholas walks through the dark palace corridors at night, not listening to his mother. He is helped by Andrey for the sake of Matilda, who takes Nikolai to the ballerina in her estate. Yes, here Matilda lives in a palace outside the city, and not in some mansion in the middle of St. Petersburg. However, Matilda at her house has already been captured by the infernal psychopath FreddyKrueger-Joker-Spider-Man Kozlovsky, who is trying to portray a madman and demands a kiss, for which he puts a veil on her and rejoices that now they will not part. According to the laws of the genre, the maniac must be extinguished with scissors that have turned up under the arm or something like that - but no, Kozlovsky runs away with the woman tied up by him on the ferry and takes him to him, somewhere in a cave, most likely. But Kozlovsky still does not know the MOST TERRIBLE! The ubiquitous Vlasov, having learned from somewhere about Kozlovsky, secretly doused the steam with kerosene and set it on fire with the help of a fickford cord. And now the ferry is burning in the middle of the river ... I'll take a look, this film burns no worse than its opponents?
It is not clear what Vlasov's plan was based on. On the fact that Kozlovsky and Matilda do not know how to swim, or what? In any case, the ferry does not burn very much, so Kozlovsky is not even going to unleash the love of his life. Fortunately, a car with Nicky arrives, and the unfinished king of thrones throws himself into the water. You think it can't be dumber? Yeah, fuck it! The woman in the fight against the maniac falls into the lake, and the maniac himself dies, because the ferry EXPLODES!!! Yeah. Like my fart from watching this game. Not because the ferry is on gasoline - from the fifth viewing it becomes clear that dynamite was also attached to it for reliability. Yes, it's not for you in a car full of gas cylinders, blowing up is a qualification!
Matilda still survives (that's strange, I wouldn't be surprised at her death), Vlasov saves her with the help of editing magic and takes her to the shore in a boat. But with the condition - to hide his salvation until the coronation. Nicky is homesick, crying and... confesses her love to Alix, immediately forgetting about some polka. Applause. This is what I understand - Love of the Aristocrat.
And here comes Judgment Day. Nikolai and Alice in festive costumes in slowmo are walking to the coronation. And then at home in the same slow-mo, in the style of videos about striptease, they snobbishly and glamorously tear off their clothes - but they don’t fuck, because the movie is highly spiritual - and right there, without transition, they are already going to the altar to ascend to the kingdom. ZIS! IP! INSTALLATION!!! And while they slowly, in this fucking slow-mo, are walking up the stairs, behind the scenes we are shown a rather pathetic crush on Khodynka. Festive costumes and solid boots of all those gathered draw attention - well, yes, of course, what barefoot beggars in tatters can be like in 1896?
Vlasov is urgently informed about the stampede and he hastily leaves directly from the ceremony. But then Kshesinskaya comes in and pompously baptizes in the Orthodox way on the icons. Matilda Kshesinskaya - we now also have Orthodox, yes. But then - the same piece from the beginning of the film.
So, the heir is lying unconscious on the floor along with the crown. Hall is shocked. Cinema in shock. However, IN THE SAME SCENE, the non-king runs down the corridor from the audience past the illuminated faces of those who have gathered for their Love and kisses her against the backdrop of the sun, like on a weakened icon. In the next scene, we realize that these were glitches from the impact. The king calmly gets up and puts on the crown with a poker face. The singers are singing, pretending that nothing happened.
INSTALLATION! Dark night. Only Vlasov and Niki... No, it's Tsar already! - walk along Khodynka. Vlasov makes excuses that more people came than expected, so that a few serfs choked. Nikolai says with fury - no mass graves, bury everyone at my expense, and give the families of the dead 500 rubles each. And, taking a torch, he ascends to the festive platform, where, under a very long salute, he kneels and silently crosses himself. Yes, you can say that in fact the crush was four days later, and the bodies were simply taken away so as not to interrupt the celebrations and work continued even when festivities and parades with the sovereign began again on Khodynka, and the newly-made tsar did not even cancel the visit to comply with the regulations to a ball with a French count, and that although he promised a thousand to each family of the victims, no one in the end ever really heard about this money ...
Together with Alix, the tsar then crosses himself in front of the icons and asks for mercy, purity and goodness for their home. I love you - says Alix. The king does not say anything, which is interesting, but simply kisses his love to the grave. Titles - the family lived happily ever after with their children, until they all died in one day from a mass execution. End.
CONCLUSION
To begin with, I want to turn to the numerous shit critics from YouTube, who promised me personally that the film would be a great comedy of idiocy with untapped potential and VGIK canons of directing. You fucking bastards, raised on stupid shit comics and superhero movies, have not even finished your stupid brains HOW bad this is! Look out for another Batman, you stupid monkeys!!!
And now to the point. The money that was not stolen was not in vain - the film has beautiful costumes, scenery and props. It worked out well. Although 25 million point blank is not visible. But everything else is a stereotyped and stupid pseudo-historical melodrama in half with selective trash of serial miscarriages and an appropriate level of acting. The monarchists had every reason to panic and yell about their insult. Indeed, the film completely and completely denies not only the Orthodox legend of the holy marriage of two morally and spiritually pure kings, but also in general real story and real faces to replace them with your fictional story. Matilda, the king, princess Alice are just prototypes, from which the heroes of the film go extremely far. In reality, Nikolai only hesitated for some time between Alice and Matilda, whom he had known for about four years - in 1890-1894, but he spent most of this period in other matters, and the active phase of their relationship took only a few months. After that, the king came to his senses, lost interest in her, married Alice and became an exemplary family man, and Matilda started an affair with his brothers, sucking money out of them. Here we have a downright heartbreaking drama, the tragedy of the fate of the empire, in which the heir is forced to decide between love and duty to the country. The drama of history, compared with which the fate of Edward VIII is only a weak anecdote, oh yes! The main plot, atmosphere and characters are a complete tracing-paper from old films of the 1930s such as "Queen Christina", "Bloody Empress" or Ruritanian melodramas. The problem is the same - the monarch, who finds himself in conflict between duty to the state and personal love; the same style with an emphasis on action in palaces, parks and royal residences, creating at the same time a feeling of intimacy and royal splendor.
But even those films were not made so stupid and fantastic. "Matilda" is a celebration of vulgarity, stupidity, trash and mediocrity. Excuses that a feature film doesn't have to be historical are undermined by its appallingly poor quality. As in a bad love story, the roles here are clearly divided into good and bad. The tsar, tormented by his duality, turns out to be a faceless nonentity and an empty place, moving from hysteria to innocence, Matilda is the designated victim of confrontation, while Alix is a stupid, terrible, caricature German woman; Vlasov - an infernal villain to create a conflict; and Kozlovsky is just the fifth wheel in the cart, which is completely unnecessary within the framework of the main idea of the film. The possibility of the reality of this story is finally possible, all this is heavily seasoned with trash from modern action films and melodramas and anachronistic behavior of characters taken from miserable television series - after all, no monarch in the 19th century, brought up in the strictest rules of feudal etiquette, would dare to walk in public with his mistress, tear for the sake of her with the throne and fight with rivals like a drunken man. With the clumsiness of the script with the simultaneous apology of Nikolai, the already poorly filmed, poorly edited, absurdly stupid movie finally collapses due to contradictions, destroying the last remnants of logic. Why does the king sympathize with the monstrously terrible Alice and even fall in love with her for no reason at the end of the curtain? Where is that very Russia, because of which the sovereign allegedly suffers - do not think that you can slap the Khodynka scene and replace the entire height of the characters with it. WHY - NEED - KOZLOVSKY!!! Ultimately, Matilda is another millions thrown down the drain, given to trying to make another movie "like in the West" with a complete inability to do it. And if it were not for the tyranny of the crazy reactionaries of our country, which is plunging into the Middle Ages, that goes beyond all boundaries, the film would not be worth discussing at all.
With the upcoming anniversary of the centenary of the revolution, the most striking events of which were the scandal of fanatic monarchists, the awakening of Orthodox terrorism and the swelling of money for monuments to victims of repression.
