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Tsoi (film)

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Tsoi
Directed byAlexei Uchitel
Written byAleksandr Gonoroviskii
Savva Minaev
Alexei Uchitel
Produced byAlexei Uchitel
Elena Bystrova
Filipp Pastukhov
Pavel Gorin
Kira Saksaganskaia
Gints Grube
Inese Boka-Grube
StarringYevgeny Tsyganov
Maryana Spivak
Paulina Andreeva
Igor Vernik
CinematographyYuri Klimenko
Music byFedor Zhuravlev
Production
companies
Rock Films, Mistrus Media
Release date
  • 2020 (2020)
Running time
98 minutes
CountriesRussia
Latvia
LanguageRussian
Budget150 000 000 RUB
Box office26 236 961 RUB ($353.504)

Tsoi (Russian: Цой; working title - 47) is a 2020 Russian film directed by Alexei Uchitel, a joint production of Russia, Lithuania, and Latvia. The film tells the story of how a participant in car accident that killed Viktor Tsoi carries the Tsoi's coffin from Jūrmala to Leningrad. Tsoi himself appears only at the beginning of the film, where he immediately dies in a car accident. "There isn't even Tsoi in the Tsoi", said Komsomolskaya Pravda,[1] while a review by Argumenty i Fakty was titled "Tsoi without Tsoi".[2]

Plot

[edit]

On 15 August 1990, while on vacation in Latvia, popular rock musician Viktor Tsoi died in a car accident. Tsoi's friends arrive to Latvia to accompany the coffin with the singer's body to Leningrad - producer Yuri Raizen, Tsoi’s wife, with whom he actually no longer lived, Marina, along with her son Zhenya and her current boyfriend Rika, Polina (the woman with whom Tsoi recently lived) and, photographer Victoria. The names and surnames of the characters in the film do not correspond to their real prototypes. The bus driver whom Tsoi collided with is entrusted with delivering the coffin with the musician’s body from Jurmala to Leningrad. The film ends with alternative shots, without the accident, which turn out to be the artist’s dying dream; in them, the bus and the car pass each other safely.

Production

[edit]

Uchitel has previously addressed Tsoi's figure in his works. His filmography includes the documentary films Rock (one of the short stories dedicated to the musician) and The Last Hero, where Uchitel for the first time investigates the reasons behind Tsoi's death. The director calls Tsoi a continuation of that storyline, an assumption of what might have happened in August 1990. According to Uchitel, after the accident he himself saw the ill-fated bus and spoke with the investigator and the driver, Janis Fibiks.[3]

The first mention of the project, then under the working title 47, dates back to 2017. Uchitel delayed production due to problems with his previous film Matilda, so filming began on 8 July 2019. It took place in Saint Petersburg, the Kaliningrad, Pskov oblasts, and Latvia.[4]

Alexander Tsoi, Viktor's son, asked Uchitel to change the characters' names.[5] According to the Uchitel, Igor Vdovin, who works with Kino on the Symphonic KINO project, refused to write music for the film.[6]

Cast

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Actor Role
Yevgeny Tsyganov Pavel Shelest, bus driver (prototype - Ianis Fibigs)
Nadezhda Kaleganova Viktoriia, band's photographer
Maryana Spivak Marina, Tsoi's ex-wife (prototype - Marianna Tsoi)
Mariia Peresild Zhenia, singer's son (prototype - Tsoi's son Alexander Tsoi)
Ilya Del Rika, Marina's boyfriend (prototype - Alexander Ricochet Aksyonov)
Paulina Andreeva Polina, musician's latest love (prototype - Nataliia Razlogova)
Igor Vernik Iurii Raizen, singer's producer (prototype - Yuri Aizenshpis)
Inga Tropa Detective Ilze Iass (prototype - Erik Ashman)
Arturs Skrastynsh Major Tsirulis (prototype - Gunnar Tsirulis, chief of Tukumse's local police precinct investigation unit)
Vitalii Kovalenko Lieutenant colonel Sviridov

Release

[edit]

The premiere was scheduled for 3 September 2020,[7] but on 27 August it was decided to postpone the release of the film indefinitely.[8] On 23 September, it was announced that the film was included in the competition program of the 36th Warsaw Film Festival,[9][10] where the international premiere of the film took place on 12 October.[11]

The Cinema Foundation of Russia announced financial support for the film's theatrical release as one of ten films scheduled for release in the 3rd and 4th quarters of 2020.[12] The Russian screening of the film took place on 9 November 2020 in Moscow.[13] The film was released in wide release on 12 November 2020.[14]

After the release of the film, Alexander Tsoi filed a lawsuit "against film distributors for the illegal use of his father’s image in the feature film Tsoi."[15] However, the claim was left without consideration.[16]

Reception

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Alexander Tsoi, with whom Uchitel had, in his words, "thorny conversations", gave the film an assessment even before the premiere: "I have nothing good to say, and bad things will only fuel interest in this film."[5]

Alexander Tsoi and Viktor's father Robert Tsoi, calling the film a "vulgar spectacle",[17] turned to Vladimir Putin[18] with a request to "organize an inspection"[19] and "take appropriate measures".[20] Alexander Tsoi was the request's initiator.[21] The appeal emphasized that "neither the kin, nor the musicians of Kino , nor other rights holders and interested parties gave consent to the creators of the film Tsoi to use the name and image of the musician." Nevertheless, the film received a distribution certificate.[22]

Rashid Nugmanov said: "Alexei renamed the title of the film from 47 to Tsoi, which is already a direct violation of the right to the image... This is open deceit, which cannot be justified by any verbiage." Uchitel himself rejects all accusations of distorting Tsoi’s image.[23]

After release, the film received mixed reviews from critics after its release on October 12, 2020 (one of the newspaper reviews was titled "Tsoi is dead").[24] Film critic Olga Galitskaya[25] wrote: "A speculative, unviable idea, which Uchitel stubbornly nurtured for ten years, gave birth to an anemic, dreary movie." Rock journalist and music critic Artemy Troitsky[26] called the film "a betrayal of the memory of the life and death of Tsoi," whereas journalist and theater critic Marina Timasheva[27] called it “another speculation on the name.” The editor-in-chief of the Medved magazine, Boris Minayev wrote:[27] "Tsoi is alive, but the film is not. Unlike Leto, where everyone is alive to the point of tears, although it is almost impossible to remember the plot."

Writer Platon Besedin expressed the opinion that "Uchitel has turned from a decent director into a merchant-artisan... It is very profitable, in fact, to take a name... and film who knows what, saying: what do you mean? This is a work of art, all similarities are coincidental. Okay, so be it, but why are you, you pest, using such a name, huh?"[28]

Sound director Alexey Vishnya: "The film is about nothing... The film is not about Tsoi, it is about rock. Just not about the musical one, but about the evil one... Was it worth filming it, was it worth calling it Tsoi - the answer is obvious, in my opinion.”[29] According to InterMedia journalist Vadim Bogdanov, the film "consists of a set of absurd coincidences, artificial characters, violation of cause-and-effect relationships, and dialogues written by a person who allegedly has never heard human speech... Alexei Uchitel just made a very bad movie."[30] Joanna Stingray called Tsoi "some kind of absurdity, a complete fantasy about a real person."[31]

Reviews

[edit]

The problem is that the film's plot is almost entirely made up.

To be honest, the screenwriters should have their hands torn off for this... There is no need to sue anyone, there is no need to brand or ban anyone. Everyone will forget this movie in two weeks.

To fully appreciate Uchitel's new picture, you need not only and not so much have an idea of Tsoi's legacy (you can know nothing about him at all, that's even better) as be familiar with biblical stories.

References

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  1. ^ КОРСАКОВ, Денис (2020-11-12). "Цой мертв". kp.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-05-05.
  2. ^ Карев, Игорь (2020-11-11). ""Цой" без Цоя. Рецензия на фильм Алексея Учителя". AiF (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-05-05.
  3. ^ "Алексей Учитель: "Если не выработаем программу по быстрому выходу из кризиса, произойдет катастрофа"" [Alexey Uchitel: “If we don’t develop a program to quickly overcome the crisis, a disaster will happen”]. www.kinometro.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  4. ^ Mihkailovskaya, Yuliya (2020-06-23). "Учитель завершил съемки фильма о Викторе Цое. Работали и в Латвии" [Uchitel completed filming a film about Viktor Tsoi. Worked in Latvia too]. Mixnews (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  5. ^ a b Сын Виктора Цоя неоднозначно отреагировал на фильм о смерти отца // Газета.Ru
  6. ^ "«Есть противоречивое поле вокруг фильма, и нам с этим придется что-то делать»" [“There is a controversial field around the film, and we will have to do something about it”]. Kommersant (in Russian). 2020-08-27. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  7. ^ "Премьеру фильма "Цой" Алексея Учителя перенесли на сентябрь" [The premiere of the film "Tsoi" by Alexei Uchitel was postponed to September]. TASS (in Russian). 2020-07-31. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  8. ^ "Премьеру фильма "Цой" вновь перенесли" [The premiere of the film "Tsoi" was postponed again]. TASS (in Russian). 2020-08-27. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  9. ^ "Фильм Учителя "Цой" покажут в конкурсной программе Варшавского кинофестиваля" [Uchitel's film "Tsoi" will be shown in the competition program of the Warsaw Film Festival]. TASS (in Russian). 2020-09-23. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  10. ^ Alperina, Susanna (2020-09-23). "Фильм "Цой" отобран в конкурс Варшавского кинофестиваля" [The film "Tsoi" was selected for competition at the Warsaw Film Festival]. Rossiyskaya Gazeta (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  11. ^ "Фильм «Цой» Алексея Учителя выходит в российский прокат" [The film “Tsoi” by Alexei Uchitel is released in Russian cinemas]. Телеканал LenTV24 (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  12. ^ Alperina, Susanna (2020-09-28). "Фонд кино утвердил список фильмов для финансовой поддержки" [The Cinema Fund has approved a list of films for financial support]. Rossiyskaya Gazeta (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  13. ^ "В Москве прошла премьера фильма Алексея Учителя "Цой"" [The premiere of Alexei Uchitel's film "Tsoi" took place in Moscow]. TASS (in Russian). 2020-11-09. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  14. ^ "Фильм "Цой" Алексея Учителя выходит в прокат" [The film "Tsoi" by Alexei Uchitel is released]. TASS (in Russian). 2020-11-12. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  15. ^ "Сын Цоя подал в суд на Учителя за фильм об отце" [Tsoi's son sued Uchitel for a film about his father]. Moskovskij Komsomolets (in Russian). 2020-11-16. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  16. ^ "Суд не стал рассматривать иск сына Цоя к студии Учителя" [The court did not consider the claim of Tsoi’s son against Uchitel's studio]. RIA Novosti (in Russian). 2020-11-20. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  17. ^ "«Пошлое зрелище». Отец и сын Виктора Цоя просят Путина снять с проката фильм Алексея Учителя «Цой»". ФОНТАНКА.ру - новости Санкт-Петербурга (in Russian). 2020-08-31. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  18. ^ "Наследники Цоя попросили Путина не допустить выхода в прокат фильма Учителя". NEWS.ru (in Russian). 2020-08-31. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  19. ^ Миллионова, Анна (2020-08-31). "«Пошлое зрелище»: отец и сын Виктора Цоя просят Путина запретить фильм о рокере-легенде". WOMAN (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  20. ^ "Наследники Цоя попросили Путина не допустить выхода фильма Учителя о лидере «Кино»". Газета.Ru (in Russian). 2020-08-31. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  21. ^ "Наследники Виктора Цоя попросили президента РФ запретить фильм Алексея Учителя о музыканте". Meduza (in Russian). 2020-09-01. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  22. ^ Сын и отец Виктора Цоя попросили Путина запретить показ фильма Алексея Учителя о музыканте // znak.com
  23. ^ "Алексей Учитель не согласился с претензиями сына Цоя по поводу фильма о музыканте". TACC (in Russian). 2020-11-18. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  24. ^ КОРСАКОВ, Денис (2020-11-12). "Цой мертв". kp.ru - (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  25. ^ "Рецензия на фильм Алексея Учителя "Цой" :". Издательский Дом «Новый Взгляд» (in Russian). 2014-12-26. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  26. ^ Йоц — Блоги // Эхо Москвы, 19.11.2020
  27. ^ a b Владелец &amp. "- Евгений Ю. Додолев". Издательский Дом «Новый Взгляд» (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  28. ^ Беседин, Платон (2020-11-15). "«Цой» осквернитель". Политнавигатор (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  29. ^ ВОЛЧКОВ, Сергей (2020-11-12). "«Сценаристам за такое надо руки оторвать»: За что друзья и близкие Виктора Цоя разругали фильм «Цой» Алексея Учителя". spb.kp.ru - (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  30. ^ "Рецензия на фильм Алексея Учителя «Цой»: Цой жив, а кино – мертво". Информационное агентство InterMedia (in Russian). 2020-11-12. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  31. ^ ""Абсурд": Джоанна Стингрей раскритиковала фильмы Учителя и Серебренникова о Цое". Собеседник (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  32. ^ Карев, Игорь (2020-11-11). "«Цой» без Цоя. Рецензия на фильм Алексея Учителя". AiF (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  33. ^ ВОЛЧКОВ, Сергей (2020-11-12). "«Сценаристам за такое надо руки оторвать»: За что друзья и близкие Виктора Цоя разругали фильм «Цой» Алексея Учителя". spb.kp.ru - (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  34. ^ Сычев, Сергей (2020-11-13). "Дорогой Цой: Учитель и Кончаловский стартуют одновременно". Известия (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-05-05.