This
weekend the spy is presenting you a number of upcoming historical
series and films coming from Russia, starting with the 16 episode FRIED CHICKEN
(Цыплёнок жареный) which should arrive next year starring Nikita Volkov.
Spring 1921. The introduction of the New Economic Policy begins to
rapidly change Petrograd, exhausted by wars and revolution. MarchesF and
hymns are diluted with foxtrot and chanson, well dressed people appear
on the embankments and, as a result, gopniks (members of lower class sub
culture) appear, hurrying to take their money away.
Fried Chicken will air in sixteen hourlong episodes
Lawlessness begins,
which the Central Committee is not able to cope with - shops are raded
five times a day. And then the criminal world of St. Petersburg, headed
by the thief in law Uncle Kolya, stands up to protect the
Gorgeous Nikita Volkov takes the lead role in the series
business
owners. But not all businessmen agree to pay Uncle Kolya. And he sends
one of his fighting squads to them. The most famous and productive of
them is the gang of the protagonist of the story Rodi - a former
anarchist, a broken hearted dude and heartthrob from the north!
DECEMBER TV SERIES
STARRING ALEXANDER PETROV
December arrives Autumn next year
Also
arriving sometime next year is a sixteen episode period set series
DECEMBER about the love between famous poet Yesenin and ballet dancer
Isadora Duncan, starring one of Russia's most popular actors Alexander
Petrov and directed and written by Klim Shipenko, who recently became
the first director to ever shoot a film up in space.
In the series,
the famous dancer Isadora Duncan, who was preparing Yesenin's escape
from the country of the Soviets, arrives at the border of the USSR from
Germany. All he has to do is get on the train and get to Riga. The poet
flees from Moscow to snow covered Leningrad,
December series features some amazing costumes
where he falls into a mad
whirlwind of events. He rushes towards his beloved in spite of any
obstacles that constantly arise in his path. The series is
The series will air in sixteen hourlong episodes
currently set
for October 20th 2022 television premiere. The series itself was shot
in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Especially for the series, a large-scale
sets
Klim Shipenko wrote and directed the series
were built covering an area of more than 7 thousand square meters.
The film version will air in cinemas before the series arrives and you
check out the highly stylized trailer below:
PRINCE OLEG MOVIE
MAN WHO UNITED RUSSIANS
Probably the most anticipated of all the upcoming epic projects is PRINCE OLEG (Or Oleg the Prophet, Вещий Олег) a movie which is also coming from director Klim Shipenko with Vladimir Yaglich in the lead
Vladimir Yaglich takes the lead role of Prince Oleg
role. Based on the book by Boris Vasiliev "Prophetic Oleg" it is set in the 9th century after the birth of Christ. Numerous Slavic tribes are mired in civil strife that ravages the land. River trade route from the Varangians to the
The film started shooting years ago in Russia
Greeks passes through the East European plain all the way to the Black Sea. Merchants who risked equipping their ships are in great danger of being robbed and killed or sold into slavery. In addition to Slavic robbers, the
Klim Shipenko both wrote and directed the historical movie
Vikings and Pechenegs are engaged in robbery as well. The Khazar kaganate has long sought to seize the entire trade route and enslave the Slavic tribes, more than half of which are already paying tribute to it! From the West, the
The film follows prince Oleg who united Russian tribes
troops of the Great Roman Empire are advancing further and further east. The last stronghold of the descendants of Slavs and Russians was Novgorod, a powerful trading city inhabited by Slavs. Great Rurik - the prince of Novgorod
There are axe wielding female warriors in the film as well
protects the city and its trade routes, but time is relentless and Rurik has grown old and is no longer able to subordinate the entire trade route to his
And also powerful and handsome archers ready for battle
control. Only one prince of the Russians Oleg can unite scattered tribes and create a powerful state capable of repelling invaders of all stripes ...
CASANOVA IN RUSSIA
AT CATHERINE'S COURT
This one has been in works for a long time and should finally air its twelve episodes next year. CASANOVA IN RUSSIA stars Serbian actor Ivan Bosilychich
Ivan Bosilychich plays the title role
in the title role and Maryana Spivak as Catherine the Great alongside our lyubimiy Ilya Malakov as Potemkin
The year is 1762. In Russia, there is a palace coup, Catherine is forced
to sign a pledge to return the throne to her son Paul when he comes of
age. Many are trying to obtain such an invaluable instrument of
influence on Russia. The Vatican entrusts this matter to Casanova - so
he can atone for all his previous sins. To do this, Casanova needs to
charm three ladies: the one on the throne, the one that sells the
document, and the one that will save
The twelve episode series is partly set at Catherine's court
Casanova himself. Mortal dangers
await the great heartthrob at every turn. Finally, the invaluable
document is in the hands of Casanova, but he disposes of it in a
completely different way from what he was entrusted with!
THE CATHEDRAL SERIES
THE TIME OF PETER THE GREAT
And here is one that is already available in Russia, as of November 4th it can be found on their streamer Okko. The twelve episode series is set in the
Cathedral is already streaming over at Okko
Russian Empire in 1700, during the great reforms of Peter the Great (Maksim Averin). Young serf Ivan Starshov (Sergei Marin) falls in love with his master's daughter Maria (Svetlana Ivanova) and refuses to put up with the fact that the social gap between them can prevent them from being together. He turns to the priest for help, appealing to the fact that God created people equal, but he calls on Ivan to accept his lot as a slave and forget about a girl from a noble family. In anger, Starshov renounces his faith and escapes from the village in order to change his fate and prove that he is worthy of the girl he loves.
Both sound delicious, but I had a bad experience with Voskresensky, a 2021 period piece and fear the quality of storytelling may be dwindling in the Russian period pieces.
You can judge for yourself. It’s free in YT (look under Professor”) with English, German, even Spanish subtitles. The subtitles are awful. Everybody speaks in the present tense! They are all in the Epic Media channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiiqJoTFFKF9_tDVRDzQy5Q Since Epic is the producer. I assume the videos are legal and YT won’t erase them. The first two episodes are top notch, and I was totally hooked, but by the third the script was meandering. Characters that were important faded in the background replaced by others. Basically, Professor Voskresensky, is a doctor, instructor in a medical school and informal coroner. He is a combination of Dr. House ad Sherlock Holmes and has just gotten a young assistant, dR. Fogel (or Vogel) that is supposed to be Watson, and there is an insufferable aspiring journalist that constantly crosses Vokrossenlyy’s path and delivers mE Too speeches that he responds with misogynist wit. Well, the girl is extremely treacherous and works for the professor’s foe, but for some reason the protagonist humors her with dire result. He likes her, but is that reason for him to fall in her traps? By the third chapter, they have had sex, but that doesn’t stop them from being enemies. He is brilliant, yet Maria who is not very smart constantly tricks him, and since she’s not particularly ravishing, it’s inexplicable. Then comes the assistant that by episode3 is pushed into the background (the series only has six episodes). In the fist episode we find he is being blackmailed by the authorities into spying on his boss Fogle participated in revolutionary activities that may merit him a trip to Siberia. By the third of fourth episode, he is bribed with a permanent position! So, what is he doing? Is he being blackmailed or bribed into working for the authorities? It matters not since Fogle becomes a tertiary character. But this is the cherry on the sundae. Fogle is a Jewish surname. In the second episode we find that he speaks Hebrew and Yiddish. In the Israeli Wikipedia they state that D. Fogle is Jewish. But in the fourth episode we find Fogle singing in the church’s chorus, moreover the supposed revolutionary is a devout Christian Orthodox who resents Voskresenskiy atheism and lack of respect towards his church and religion. Now it’s not only my perception that the series has problems. There are telling details. The Russian Wikipedia says the reception was “mixed” I found an article that includes several reviews. The series is called a “mishmash” and it’s true, it’s confusing. Others say it is not historical, and it could be taking place in Victorian England. True there are a lot of revolutionary unrest, but we don’t know who’s the enemy. There is no mention of the Tsar or the aristocracy, or Rasputin, or the military. Bad guys are supposed to be corrupt policemen, greedy industrialist, and so on. High bourgeoisie. There were nine comments, only two were positive. The other complains included boring, poorly acted, cheap looking, cliché ridden, messy script. I have to agree with them. And the fact that only a month after it debuted in Russian TV, the series is offered free to the entire world to see, tells u there are not many hopes for it.
Will check it out for sure! Russian subs are always godawful, even Amazon's translation of Godunov, which I'm currently watching, is at times terrible. I did love the men's costumes in Voskresensky, especially that lovely rain coat his gorgeous boy assistant wears. Their series do tend to meandre and become chaotic scriptwise, and you often do not know who is supposed to be the main protagonist. It is like here in my country, you don't get a job for being the best script writer but for having connections.
I tried watching Godunov in Tubi. Aside from the subtitles, it had a sound synchronicity problem. You would hear the voice after the actors moved their lips! It reminded me of old Taiwanese martial arts film. I read in The Guardian an article that says that since the public’s appetite for foreign series/films has increased so has the demand for translators. However, since they are so ill paid, professionals decline the job and producers are relying on students who have no idea that (as you so well know) translation is an art. Poor narrative, badly written scripts, awful dialogues are affecting American/British productions as well. This is why, I’m so in love with Russian and German series. I pray Voskresensky is an exception to the rule, and its mediocrity should be blamed on the pandemic.
I'm actually liking Godunov, it is probably the most consistent Russian series when it comes to a plot, and I like the lead actor, he gave his character warmth and wit which makes him very likeable and the tzar is nice too which isn't often the case with the Russians LOL I love the sets and the costumes as well. In my country, since we are ruled by organised crime and have a downfall of morals on all levels, all jobs are mostly done by incompetent but well connected bozos so as with everything else, movies and series and even the books are poorly translated and if us who are competent say anything we are mostly ridiculed by the uneducated mob. I'm not the one to stay quiet, so I raise my voice, but I risk being viewed as difficult to work with by editors when I oppose the idiots they surround themselves with, so I cannot be too loud either. I've already lost some publishers because I cannot stay quiet when I see unprofessional behaviour or lack of knowledge. It will be the end of me sooner or later. Awards and work go to those who are not better than me, but have connections or luck.
I'm so so sorry to hear about your working woes. Translating novels is a paramount craft, only the best should be doing it. I come from a family of translators. Dad worked fr the UN for 23 years and my brother left architecture to become a legal translator. They both humbled me wit their kills so I never wanted to go into the field, but as a consumer I know subtitles must be clear and coherent. Otherwise, we should leave everything in the hands of Google. It's good you speak out but I wish the public would be more demanding too.
GIVE SOME LOVE TO YOUR DEZZY :) DON'T FORGET THAT BLOGGER'S NEW COMMENT BOX OFTEN REQUIRES FOR YOU TO DISABLE PROTECTION ON YOUR BROWSER IN ORDER TO COMMENT.
Both sound delicious, but I had a bad experience with Voskresensky, a 2021 period piece and fear the quality of storytelling may be dwindling in the Russian period pieces.
ReplyDeleteIt was bad? They are promoting it like crazy currently on their First channel.
DeleteYou can judge for yourself. It’s free in YT (look under Professor”) with English, German, even Spanish subtitles. The subtitles are awful. Everybody speaks in the present tense!
DeleteThey are all in the Epic Media channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiiqJoTFFKF9_tDVRDzQy5Q
Since Epic is the producer. I assume the videos are legal and YT won’t erase them. The first two episodes are top notch, and I was totally hooked, but by the third the script was meandering. Characters that were important faded in the background replaced by others. Basically, Professor Voskresensky, is a doctor, instructor in a medical school and informal coroner. He is a combination of Dr. House ad Sherlock Holmes and has just gotten a young assistant, dR. Fogel (or Vogel) that is supposed to be Watson, and there is an insufferable aspiring journalist that constantly crosses Vokrossenlyy’s path and delivers mE Too speeches that he responds with misogynist wit.
Well, the girl is extremely treacherous and works for the professor’s foe, but for some reason the protagonist humors her with dire result. He likes her, but is that reason for him to fall in her traps? By the third chapter, they have had sex, but that doesn’t stop them from being enemies. He is brilliant, yet Maria who is not very smart constantly tricks him, and since she’s not particularly ravishing, it’s inexplicable.
Then comes the assistant that by episode3 is pushed into the background (the series only has six episodes). In the fist episode we find he is being blackmailed by the authorities into spying on his boss Fogle participated in revolutionary activities that may merit him a trip to Siberia. By the third of fourth episode, he is bribed with a permanent position! So, what is he doing? Is he being blackmailed or bribed into working for the authorities? It matters not since Fogle becomes a tertiary character. But this is the cherry on the sundae.
Fogle is a Jewish surname. In the second episode we find that he speaks Hebrew and Yiddish. In the Israeli Wikipedia they state that D. Fogle is Jewish. But in the fourth episode we find Fogle singing in the church’s chorus, moreover the supposed revolutionary is a devout Christian Orthodox who resents Voskresenskiy atheism and lack of respect towards his church and religion.
Now it’s not only my perception that the series has problems. There are telling details. The Russian Wikipedia says the reception was “mixed” I found an article that includes several reviews. The series is called a “mishmash” and it’s true, it’s confusing. Others say it is not historical, and it could be taking place in Victorian England. True there are a lot of revolutionary unrest, but we don’t know who’s the enemy. There is no mention of the Tsar or the aristocracy, or Rasputin, or the military. Bad guys are supposed to be corrupt policemen, greedy industrialist, and so on. High bourgeoisie.
There were nine comments, only two were positive. The other complains included boring, poorly acted, cheap looking, cliché ridden, messy script. I have to agree with them. And the fact that only a month after it debuted in Russian TV, the series is offered free to the entire world to see, tells u there are not many hopes for it.
Will check it out for sure! Russian subs are always godawful, even Amazon's translation of Godunov, which I'm currently watching, is at times terrible.
DeleteI did love the men's costumes in Voskresensky, especially that lovely rain coat his gorgeous boy assistant wears. Their series do tend to meandre and become chaotic scriptwise, and you often do not know who is supposed to be the main protagonist. It is like here in my country, you don't get a job for being the best script writer but for having connections.
I tried watching Godunov in Tubi. Aside from the subtitles, it had a sound synchronicity problem. You would hear the voice after the actors moved their lips! It reminded me of old Taiwanese martial arts film.
DeleteI read in The Guardian an article that says that since the public’s appetite for foreign series/films has increased so has the demand for translators. However, since they are so ill paid, professionals decline the job and producers are relying on students who have no idea that (as you so well know) translation is an art.
Poor narrative, badly written scripts, awful dialogues are affecting American/British productions as well. This is why, I’m so in love with Russian and German series. I pray Voskresensky is an exception to the rule, and its mediocrity should be blamed on the pandemic.
I'm actually liking Godunov, it is probably the most consistent Russian series when it comes to a plot, and I like the lead actor, he gave his character warmth and wit which makes him very likeable and the tzar is nice too which isn't often the case with the Russians LOL I love the sets and the costumes as well.
DeleteIn my country, since we are ruled by organised crime and have a downfall of morals on all levels, all jobs are mostly done by incompetent but well connected bozos so as with everything else, movies and series and even the books are poorly translated and if us who are competent say anything we are mostly ridiculed by the uneducated mob.
I'm not the one to stay quiet, so I raise my voice, but I risk being viewed as difficult to work with by editors when I oppose the idiots they surround themselves with, so I cannot be too loud either. I've already lost some publishers because I cannot stay quiet when I see unprofessional behaviour or lack of knowledge. It will be the end of me sooner or later. Awards and work go to those who are not better than me, but have connections or luck.
I'm so so sorry to hear about your working woes. Translating novels is a paramount craft, only the best should be doing it. I come from a family of translators. Dad worked fr the UN for 23 years and my brother left architecture to become a legal translator. They both humbled me wit their kills so I never wanted to go into the field, but as a consumer I know subtitles must be clear and coherent. Otherwise, we should leave everything in the hands of Google. It's good you speak out but I wish the public would be more demanding too.
DeleteThe public is mostly stupid in most countries, sadly. Just look what is in offer these days and what they consider a good movie or series these days.
DeleteInteresting period for both of them, and atmospheric pictures...Promising!
ReplyDeleteRussians know how to do a period set piece indeed.
DeleteWould love to watch December! Seems very promising and like you said...great costumes.
ReplyDeleteAnd their story was so very poetic! He dies in the end.
DeleteThey both sound good, but December sounds more like my type of movie. I hope it has a happy ending since it’s based on a true story.
ReplyDeleteIt does not, haven't you read about Yesenin, he dies in the end LOL poor gorgeous sod of a poet.
DeleteIf I had to pick one to watch it would be December but these kinds of movies aren't really my cup of tea.
ReplyDeleteThat one should be interesting and probably visually most beautiful.
DeleteI'm with the crowd. December is the one I'm gravitating toward the most here today.
ReplyDeleteToo bad we rarely get to see Russian gems. I am currently watching their Godunov series.
Delete