2022-10-07 00:04:44
The fragile balance in the Urals was disturbed by the Perm prince Yermolai (Alexander Gorbatov from the series “Gloomy River” and “Bad Weather”). The Moscow governor, he wanted to rule himself, without looking back at Moscow. In order to subdue the Voguls (as the Russians called the Mansi), Yermolai sent a detachment of robbers to steal the Golden Woman, the idol of their main goddess Sorni-Nai. In revenge, the Vogul khakan Asyka (Valentin Jing from Arventur) came with a raid. He ruined a Russian city, killed Yermolai – right in front of his young son Mikhail, who miraculously survived in a meat grinder and therefore grew up as a staunch opponent of the war (the adult prince is played by the rising star Alexander Kuznetsov, he can be seen in the Chimera TV series, the films Summer, ” Skif” and the latest “Fantastic Beasts”).
Even if Michael did not have his father’s ambitions, he was not destined to rule peacefully. Moscow demands that the new governor put things in order, because the local tribes do not pay yasak – they give dead mice instead of furs. Moscow demands that Mikhail force the recalcitrant Asyka to swear allegiance to the Grand Duke. As an answer, Khakan sends the carved heart of a Russian messenger. Finally, Bishop Jonah (Evgeny Mironov – Prince Myshkin in The Idiot, Alexei Leonov in The Time of the First) travels around and baptizes the pagans, but they are even ready to kill their children, just to save their souls from the new god. But perhaps the main enemy of Jonah is not these “non-Christs”, but Michael. He himself is Orthodox, but his wife Tiche (the first big role of Elena Erbakova) is a witch. The incarnation of Sorni-Nai on earth.
With the novel “The Heart of Parma” (that’s how the local taiga is called, with a small letter; the ancient name of the Perm lands will be capitalized), almost 20 years ago, Alexei Ivanov burst into Russian literature, one of the brightest post-Soviet writers, who soon became also one of most screened. His books such as “The Geographer Drank His Globe Away”, “Food Block”, “Bad Weather”, “Dormitory-on-Blood”, “Tobol” and so on have already turned into serials or films. Sergei Bodrov (twice Oscar nominee for Prisoner of the Caucasus and Mongol) approached The Heart of Parma at one time, eventually remaining in the credits as a screenwriter, along with Ilya Tilkin (Stalingrad) and debutante Ksenia Dyatnova. The director of the hit “Movement Up” Anton Megerdichev acted as the director. This is a joint production of StarMedia, Profit and the Russia 1 TV channel.
/Profit / Star Media
It would seem – what were they pulling? The epic just asks for the screen. Here is the finished “Game of Thrones”: intrigues, battles. For example, there are no dragons, but there are shamans and lamias (werewolf witches) – in the 15th century, the pagan land still lives according to pagan laws. In fact, it is clear what the difficulty is – such a scale (three generations of a princely family, dozens of heroes, decades of narration) cannot be fit into a series. There is also a special demand from screenwriters who adapt the novel. After all, it’s one thing for eight seasons to push the Starks, Lannisters and Targaryens, who are fighting for power and against a common threat – the White Walkers. And it’s quite another thing to show intelligibly and outwardly effectively how the Christian god has been replacing wooden gods for decades, how peoples have been dissolving their identity in the crucible of the empire.
The problem with an asterisk is solved by the authors not without elegance. The plot outline is similar, but how much closer the main character has become to us today. Mikhail, of course, is a medieval prince, but he does not dream of military glory, but simply wants to live normally. Raise children on your own land with your wife. On the distant frontier, life goes on as usual – Finno-Ugric peoples marry Russians, cultures peacefully grow into each other, even Christianity mutates in contact with another faith. But everyone is waiting for some decisive action from Mikhail. Friends, enemies, wife, bishop. And most importantly, Moscow, gaining strength. Having won in feudal strife, Ivan III (Fyodor Bondarchuk has only one stage, but what a scene!) builds the “Third Rome” – one, indivisible. No more freemen. God is one, and the sovereign is one.
/Profit / Star Media
According to the old tradition, “Heart of Parma” was filmed in two versions at once – a movie and a TV series. This practice is in most cases vicious – the film often looks like a teaser for a future TV premiere (the latest precedent is the Russian South comedy 2021, ugly glued together from pieces of the pretty series Perfect Summer). But Megerdichev managed to assemble a completely independent film for two hours and forty minutes during editing. The story in the rhythm of rap is the ultimate concentration of information per unit of time. It is better to watch as carefully as to listen to the texts of Oksimiron (rapper Miron Fedorov, recognized in Russia as a foreign agent. – Vedomosti). But absent-mindedness has no fatal consequences – everything will be explained, they will lead to a denouement. “Flow” like in Christopher Nolan or in the same “Move Up” – a sharp acceleration and a gradual slowdown to the third act.
The casting is excellent. Kuznetsov gave one of the best performances in his career. Beautiful debut of Elena Erbakova. Mironov’s father Jonah came out funny and creepy. And the role of governor Polyuda was one of the last for Sergei Puskepalis (“Metro”, “Simple Things”) – in September, the artist died tragically in a car accident.
The graphics are not always successful, the make-up is also not always on top, but in general this is a movie of stunning visual power. Asyk on a fighting deer. pagan rites. Three battles at once – the half-hour massacre at Cherdyn, played out no worse than the “Battle of the Bastards”, is especially inventive. It is not only the slash that is remembered – they are trumpeting the retreat, and the enemies, who have just furiously cut each other, lower their swords, crawl out from under the corpses and wearily wander each in their own direction. The emotional note, which is not often found in action movies, is also captivating – the epic turns into a touching love story.
Ivanov’s novel is undoubtedly a book of outstanding merit, but the film adaptation has at least one competitive advantage – having endured and endured so much, the characters receive hope for a happy life.
#Heart #Parma #price #empire