Serf (film)

Serf
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Klim Shipenko
Written by	Daria Gracevich Anton Morozenko Dmitry Permyakov
Produced by	Eduard Iloyan Taymuraz Badziev Vyacheslav Dusmukhametov Vitaliy Shlyappo Denis Zhalinskiy Aleksey Trocyuk Aleksandr Kushaev
Starring	Milos Bikovic Aleksandra Bortich Ivan Okhlobystin Aleksandr Samoylenko Mariya Mironova Kirill Nagiyev Olga Dibtseva
Cinematography	Yuriy Nikogosov
Edited by	Tim Pavelko
Music by	Ivan Burlyaev Dmitriy Noskov
Production companies	Yellow, Black & White MEM Cinema Production KIT Film Studio
Distributed by	Central Partnership
Release dates	24 November 2019 (2019-11-24) (United States) 26 December 2019 (2019-12-26) (Russia)
Running time	109 minutes
Country	Russia
Language	Russian
Budget	160 million RUB ($2.6 million)
Box office	3.177 billion RUB ($42.4 million)

Serf (Russian: Холоп, romanized: Kholop) is a 2019 Russian comedy film directed by Klim Shipenko, the film stars Miloš Biković, Aleksandra Bortich and Ivan Okhlobystin. The plot follows a wealthy businessman's son who is made to believe he has traveled back to the time of Serfdom in Russia, in order to reform his uncouth behaviour.

It was theatrically released in Russia on 26 December 2019 by Central Partnership.

Plot

Grigoriy, called Grisha (Milos Bikovic) is the son of the oligarch Pavel (Aleksandr Samoylenko), a spoiled, exalted guy who spends almost all the time in night clubs, loves women and enjoys full immunity. After Grisha nearly had an accident as a result of an accident, trying to get away from the traffic cop, Pavel was surprised to realize that he could lose his son by losing his wife in the past. Grisha lives with full confidence and confidence that his father will save him from any crime. The oligarch is desperate to find a way to influence his son for the better. TV producer Anastasiya (Mariya Mironova), with whom Pavel has long been in a relationship based on sex, invites him to contact her ex-husband, an eccentric psychologist, whose unusual methods may seem cruel and shocking, but almost always give a guaranteed result.

Soon Grisha gets into an accident arranged by his father and loses consciousness. He comes to himself in a stable, the stable is located in the abandoned village, the village - in the estate, and the estate-in the Russian Empire in the summer of 1860, six months before the abolition of serfdom. At first, Grisha thinks that this is a joke or a practical joke, but the surrounding reality is too real, the surrounding people are really convincing — and now he is a disenfranchised serf, a master's groom, unable to perform his duties, because he is afraid of horses. In horror, trying to just run away, the runaway groom is on the scaffold, and from the gallows he is saved only by the appearance of Aglaya (Olga Dibtseva), the daughter of a landowner, for the sake of whose name day the master (Oleg Komarov) pardons the fugitive. Trying to reason logically, Grisha at first vehemently denies the possibility of falling into the past, but then gradually comes to terms with the position of a serf.

In reality, the whole village of the 19th century turns out to be a skilful production of Anastasiya and a psychologist, carried out with the huge money of Grisha’s father. The goal of the project is to completely change Grisha’s view of the world around him and himself, for which the team is watching his every move, calculating the intricacies of scenario turns and trying to think through every little thing. Of course, in a situation of permanent wild time pressure, in a situation where not only the actors, but also the scriptwriter inevitably have to constantly improvise, it is impossible to cope with all these trifles. The project is saved mainly by the primeval Grisha ignorance, almost complete lack of even basic knowledge on the history of Russia from constant overlays - anachronisms in the surroundings, modern objects found in the village, neologisms in the speech of "nobles" and "peasants".

According to the scriptwriter’s plan, an affair with Aglaya should begin, developing into a joint run of a serf with a "young lady" and a complete reassessment of life attitudes, but Grisha’s cynicism does not even allow him to realize what a tragedy a girl’s "threatening marriage" may be with even a rich but old and, most importantly, unloved landowner. Pavel, who was convinced that his son and in the setting of another era remains the same heartless bastard - moreover, in the 19th century he gradually manages to settle down, dodge some unpleasant realities, seep through others and find a hundred ways that, in general, not bad even get into the role of a slave - in anger, he almost closes the project, but the situation is saved by an unplanned program failure. Grisha accidentally, out of the corner of her eye, remarks that the village girl Liza (Aleksandra Bortich), who had unsuccessfully jumped from a horse, seems to be wearing modern panties (Liza is a horse breeder who works with the horses involved in the project, and not an actress, and therefore not was present at the relevant briefing), and intends to immediately check this, in public trying to lift her hem. Seeing the reaction of those around him, Grisha suddenly realizes what exactly he - in terms of the patriarchal peasant community - has just done, and for the first time in his life returns to the person offended by him to ask for forgiveness. Amazed Pavel agrees to continue the project.

To the team’s surprise, Grisha is honestly linked to Liza, to whom he tells wonderful fairy tales about the future and is glad that at least one person understands him, and if she doesn’t believe him, at least she listens to him. The psychologist proposes to change the scenario and make Liza the object of Grisha's love. Liza is disgusted with divorce, but she nevertheless agrees to help him change. Along the way, Grisha gradually changes his views on life and himself, watching his own known sins manifest themselves in the son of Lord Aleksey Timofeev, played by a guy named Anton who gets in trouble and Grisha agrees to be punished and abducted for him.

Polina, offended by the loss of the "leading role", convinces Anton that Liza beat off Grisha with her quite deliberately, despite the fact that in reality Liza herself really began to feel some sympathy for Grisha. Two offended actors are rapidly finding a common language beyond the scope of their creative task; the accidentally spotted scene of the "incest" of "brother and sister" shock not only Liza, but also Grisha, who is accustomed to everything, the furious Lev Arnoldovich removes "Aglaya" and "Aleksey" from the roles. In revenge Polina on the show "Andrey Malakhov. Live" publicly talks about the project, where they’re "torturing a guy", because of which a criminal case is instituted (kidnapping committed by an organized group - part three of article 126 of the Criminal Code of Russia, from six to fifteen years ...) and a wanted list is announced. Polina is doing her best to help investigators figure out the location of the attacker's nest. Remained a few hours until the moment when special forces burst into the project site. Anastasiya urgently begins to prepare a plan for "bringing" Grisha back to his usual reality, and Lev conducts an impromptu brain storm to find a way to arrange Grisha’s emergency catharsis, which can nevertheless crack his impenetrable cynicism.

For this crucial stage of the psychological correction of Grisha's attitudes, a new script is urgently written; in the absence of other options - the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars. The Golden Horde in the 19th century didn’t surprise Grisha at all, but when the turn of the decisive act came - to not allow the Horde to take Liza away for the use of the "Khan" (Azamat Musagaliyev), he surrendered and desperate runs to his stable. However, to Pavel’s great surprise and no less than the satisfaction of Leo, who was confident in his methods, after a few minutes Grisha still gathered his courage, quickly and professionally saddled his horse, and, having beaten Liza away from the "evil Tatars", he rode away from the village with her. Just a couple of minutes before the emergence of the police, which hardly manages to convince that the project is only engaged in pseudo-historical filming.

At the edge of the forest, already in view of a completely modern gas station, Grisha is euthanized with sleeping pills and, upon awakening, they inform that he, having got under the car, spent three months in a coma and there was no village and no past. Character changes, activated by the transferred experiences, remain with Grisha, but from the realization of Liza’s unreality, he becomes depressed. Having accidentally met the actors Polina and Anton (Aglaya and Aleksey) in the club, he is first ready to believe that he has made up his mind - however, having seen firsthand the torment of Grisha, they still tell him the truth about the project and that love with Liza is he was real. Finding Liza in real life, Grisha stays with her. When Pavel decides to marry Anastasiya, finally confessing to herself that she is much more than a lover for him, congratulate the young Grisha and Liza come together.

In the last scene of the film in the "village" brought in chains and dragged to the gallows another "fallen into the past" majeure to his re-established pattern. Grisha, in makeup and costume, with passion and pleasure has been part of the project team, once already proved its effectiveness.

Cast

• Milos Bikovic as Grigoriy 'Grisha' / Serf
• Aleksandra Bortich as Elizaveta 'Liza', a veterinarian, and an actress
• Ivan Okhlobystin as Lev, a psychologist
• Aleksandr Samoylenko as Pavel, Grisha's father
• Mariya Mironova as Anastasiya, TV producer
• Oleg Komarov as an actor, a.k.a. "master Dmitriy Timofeev"
• Kirill Nagiyev as Anton is an actor, a.k.a. "Aleksey Timofeev, young master"
• Olga Dibtseva as Polina is an actress, she is "Aglaya, young lady"
• Vilen Babichev as "Avdey Mikhalych" executor with a whip, an actor
• Sergey Sotserdotskiy as Artyom, aka "Proshka's stable boy", an actor
• Sofya Zayka as "Lyuba", an actress
• Aleksandr Oblasov as Semenov, police captain (traffic police)
• Artur Vakha as police major
• Andrey Malakhov as himself (cameo appearance)

Production

Filming

Principal photography began on August 2018, in Moscow and the urban-type settlement of Pushkinskiye Gory, Pushkinogorsky District, Pskov Oblast, Russia.

Release

Serf was released in the United States on 24 November 2019, and in the Russian Federation by Central Partnership on 26 December 2019.

Marketing

The film was first shown at the 4th Russian Film Week in London. The premiere took place in the famous British cinema Odeon Luxe Leicester Square, in the main hall, which seats 800 spectators.

Reception

Box office

The film was released in Russia on 26 December 2019, and in the first weekend of its screening put in more than 300 million rubles, and a total of 3.151 billion Russian rubles, which made it the most profitable film in Russian cinema. It is the most profitable Russian film of all time, with only Avatar grossing more (3.6 billion Russian rubles) in Russia's box office.

Critical response

According to critic A.V. Valley, Serf is a modern Russian hybrid of The Truman Show and the film Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession. Reviewers of various online publications such as Meduza (Anton Dolin), Tsargrad TV (Yegor Kholmogorov), Around TV (Anna Entyakova), Weburg.net. (Kirill Ilyukhin), and the magazine Ogoniok (Andrey Arkhangelsky), rated the film positively.

Film critic of the portal Film.ru Vladislav Shuravin rated 7 out of 10. The observer also notes similarity with other films, namely with the Text (2019 film). Shuravin notes that among the New Year’s films of recent years, Serf is the most «compromise option».

Denis Stupnikov, a movie reviewer at the InterMedia information portal, gave the film 7 out of 10 points. The critic notes the director’s ability to «balance on the razor’s edge, but not cross the line», as well as the fact that «Klim Shipenko tries not to abuse empty toothache, so even simple-minded jokes have a very deep connotation».

Yulia Troitskaya, a columnist for the Kanobu.ru entertainment site, rated the film neutral, indicating that similar stories had already been seen (Frontier (2018 film), Black Hunters (2008 film)). But, according to the critic, the plot is most similar to the mini-series Back to the USSR, only Serf «does not consist of four episodes, although the characters reveal the same pattern and come to the same finale». Also, Yulia did not appreciate the fact that the line of secondary heroes was not developed, therefore, «if they are deleted from history, nothing will change». In positive moments, Troitskaya recorded the soundtrack and the «good nature» of the picture.

Vera Alenushkina, a critic of the movie section on the Russian version of Time Out, gave a negative assessment to the film. Noting some discrepancy between the age category and overkill with violent scenes, she rated the film two points out of five. According to V. Alyonushkina, the film could have been recorded in the category of nothing pretending comedies from the category «drank / looked / went to eat up the Olivier», if not for one «but»: the reviewer was seriously guarded by the concept of the picture is the core idea of «healing violence», both physical and psychological, «whip anthem». In particular, the final transformation of the punished into the punishing one, which looks like a reward for obedience.

External links

• Serf at IMDb