“Zuleikha kills everyone”
The series “Zuleikha Opens Her Eyes” ended with heartbreak. This is not at all a signal to definitely watch it, much less to contribute to the loud Zuleikho debate (or rather, to bring this contribution to the fan).
For us, this is, first of all, a reason to ask the question: what kind of historical and artistic truth do we expect from TV series and from filmed literature?
All the Zuleikho controversy surrounding the series was predictable. And long before they started filming the series itself.
Back in 2016, critic Alexander Kuzmenkov and journalist Alexander Minkin exhaustively analyzed the premium novel by Guzel Yakhina. We had a good laugh at her “blue-breasted tits.” Kuzmenkov diagnosed the Yakhin style: “The young lady is completely deaf, willingly sacrifices verisimilitude for the sake of a spectacular picture and even more willingly operates with cliches.” Spiteful critics also pointed to the stunning historical discoveries that enriched this “big book.” According to Yakhina, in the spring of 1942, Tatars and Greeks were deported from Crimea, and in 1946, Zuleikha’s son receives a soldier’s triangle from Paris (where, presumably, Soviet troops are stationed) from his front-line teacher.
Lyudmila Ulitskaya, one of the first readers of the not yet published “Zuleikha,” wrote a warm review for the editors of Elena Shubina in AST. But at the same time, most likely, she read the novel diagonally. Well, the hardened Ulitskaya, with a conscientious reading, could not have missed such blunders related to the deportation of the Tatars. Although it is possible that these were already literate writers from Shubina’s vaunted edition, inspired by Ulitskaya’s preface about “Love and Tenderness in Hell,” and decided to add hell to the original text.
The premium prospects and cinematic fate of “Zuleikha” were predetermined even at the stage of the text passing from hand to hand - from Ulitskaya (“a gloomy day brightens”) to Shubina’s editorship (“a rainbow will wake up in the sky”).
Yakhina received her “Big Book” for “Zuleikha” at the end of 2015. The following year, this prize was awarded to the book “Winter Road” by Leonid Yuzefovich.” They wrote that at the award ceremony, the general director of the Russia 1 channel, Anton Zlatopolsky, apparently approached Leonid Yuzefovich with a proposal to acquire the rights to the film adaptation of this documentary novel about General Pepelyaev and the red partisan commander Strode. By that time, it had already been announced that the channel would film a series based on the novel “Zuleikha Opens Her Eyes.”
All this seemed like some kind of compromise, a seesaw: first a very bad book was awarded, and then a good one. Are they filming both? Well, one for housewives who missed “slave Isaura,” and the second for those who were waiting for a good film adaptation of Yuzefovich’s prose. Because neither “Contribution”, nor “Kazarosa”, nor the series about the detective Putilin reach the level of Khotinenkov’s “Death of the Empire”, filmed according to Yuzefovich’s script. And here it seems that the “Winter Road” is promised... So what? That's all!
As we see, “Zuleikha” has already been released,” but nothing has been heard about the filming of “Winter Road.”
Then director Uchitel offered himself for the film adaptation of Yakhina’s novel “My Children.” It became clear that the movie was going down the tubes. “Matilda”, “Zuleikha”, the upcoming “My Children” - all these are links of one ideological chain. The publishers did not bother at all about breaking through the bottom of “Zuleikha”. The book is a top seller - well, close the vent. The Rossiya channel got into a scandal with a list of names of exiled Tatars in Zuleikha. But to the creators of the series - at least give these names a rash in the eyes... It turns out that the costume designers, who cannot be sent further than the stables, were put on one side. Perhaps the same costume designers also edit Shubina’s books.
And for some reason it is not surprising that Leonid Yuzefovich, with his sense of history, is completely unsuitable for such a cinematic conveyor belt, and even more so for the ideological line of this production.
Would we like Khotinenko or Ursulyak to receive carte blanche and everything else for the film adaptation of “Winter Road”? Here's a sword for us! The creators of “Zuleikha” and other costume designers will show us what a sense of history is: “Learn, losers! This is how it should be!”
Back in the fall of 2018, Vladimir Sukharev, a resident of Kazan, after watching the filming of the series “Zuleikha Opens Her Eyes,” wrote a Facebook post that opens the eyes of a future viewer to the creative kitchen of the film’s creators:
“I honestly found these photos online. This is Kazan. City center. The famous Kazan University is one of the oldest universities in Russia. A very recognizable place... No, it’s not dirty in Kazan! The street near the university is normal, paved and clean. All this dirt was brought here and spread specifically for the filming of the film. It’s called “Zuleikha opens her eyes”...
...Why people in clothes from the times of the Revolution and the Civil War coexist with cars from the late 30s and the times of the Great Patriotic War is incomprehensible to me. I hope the director and all sorts of specialist consultants will sort this out somehow. And the series will be wonderful too!
OTHER THINGS IMPORTANT:
This dirt was not here. In those very days - it wasn’t!
Back in the XNUMXth century, the street was paved. It was clean here.
And during the Revolution it was clean. And the tram was running along the street. Both in the 30s and during wartime it was clean.
And when Gagarin flew, it was clear.
And later.
But the XNUMXst century has come - the century of high technology! And they brought dirt here. And they smeared it all over the street, and they themselves got smeared. Especially to film a historical epic series, the truth of life. About my past, where there was no dirt. Do you understand?
We are dealing with a multi-stage mess. First, the publisher screws up (although, of course, from a sales point of view, he has the right; and the Russian language and history will somehow be tolerated). Then the literary expert community, which distributes the Zuleikhe awards, screws up. I wouldn’t be surprised if one day Elena Shubina’s editors read Yuri Polyakov’s long-standing novel “Little Goat in Milk” and argued with Lyudmila Ulitskaya: are we too weak to make a famous writer out of the first person we meet? True, to spite the unloved Polyakov and for the sake of gender equality, they decided that a celebrity would be created from the first person they met. In general, they created something that both the reader and the viewer grabbed.
The story of the Russian Booker Prize in that year, which became its last, turned out to be interesting. “Student Booker 2017” was awarded to Vladimir Medvedev for his novel “Zahhok”. The most demanding readers turned out to be students. And to whom and for what they gave the adult Booker is no longer important.
But, as in the case of “Winter Road,” Russian cinema after the publication of “Zahhok” did not take advantage of the opportunity to make a film about the civil war using good material.
The novel by Vladimir Medvedev is about the times of civil conflict in Tajikistan. The author has in common with Yuzefovich a very reverent attitude towards historical material. In the “Technical Afterword,” Medvedev pedantically stipulates those moments where artistic fiction has replaced factual accuracy. For example, the author reports that he has brought such and such real events together chronologically “in order to enhance the dynamism of the narrative.” As you know, “Zuleikhas” turn a blind eye to such trifles...
I would like to see two series based on award-winning books starting with “Z” on federal channels. But this is not “Zuleikha”. These are "Zahhok" and "Winter Road".
Ursulyak in the series “Quiet Don” very successfully develops a motive related to the truth of the elderly. The stubborn youth - Mitka Korshunov and Mishka Koshevoy, who found themselves in a fratricidal war - do not want to hear her.
In Medvedev’s “Zahhok” this motive is also clear: “We don’t want to live like this,” said Sher. “Fathers and grandfathers lived meagerly, yielding in everything, submitting to everyone. This is the wisdom of the weak. Another time has come. Time for the strong."
Farmer Joroub reflects: “Disrespect for elders is a symptom, and he says that the backbone on which society rests has weakened. From time immemorial, we survived only because we firmly adhered to our grandfather’s behests. The elders taught the younger ones what they themselves received from their grandfathers. But those who do not respect their elders are deaf to their teachings and thus break their connection with previous generations. They lose shame because they lose fear and cease to be afraid of the condemnation of their elders. Along with shame, they lose their conscience, and having lost their conscience, they forget about their responsibility to people and do not care about anything other than their well-being. What will happen then?! People will stop helping each other. The rich and powerful will cease to support the poor and weak, and they will cease to be grateful to them. They will begin to think exclusively about how to take possession of their property. The whole orderly order, thanks to which we survive in the harsh mountains, will collapse. And this is just the beginning..."
Journalist Oleg: “During cataclysms, sadists, psychopaths, and natural killers always come to the surface.” He also: “It seems that Zukhursho is obsessed with starvation syndrome. Eats power in three throats. He's gorging himself. I can imagine how, when he was a party instructor, he obeyed, endured, restrained himself, put it off, and now, when he got his hands on “real”, absolute, unlimited power, he doesn’t want to restrain himself and put off getting what he wanted even for a second. He is like a child... Probably not only Zukhursho, but any psychopath in general is a subject whose psyche is stuck somewhere in early childhood. Stalled development. A psychopath has the mind and skills of an adult and the mental makeup of a child. That is why he is so capricious, insensitive, cruel... And absolutely incapable of growing up. I saw a toy - give it to me! Through thick and thin. No "later". Now. This minute. I was inspired to try what it was like to kill. He killed me right there.”
We won’t see any film adaptation of Zahhok on Russia 1, will we? Civil war in Tajikistan. War in Donbass. “Sadists, psychopaths, natural-born killers” who appeared in Odessa. Not interested? And here, lo and behold, they transport dirt to Kazan for filming. And they patiently listen to the weak-minded maxims about the Great Patriotic War from the performer of the role of Zuleikha.
Some screenwriter is screaming that we are getting our dirty hands into their cinematic mystery. We will return to this cry below. In the meantime, we need to clearly articulate what for us is a cinematic sacrament.
There is a recent series with the letter “Z.” that deserves our attention. And this series is called “Intercessors”. Stylistically, he captivated me from the first episode. Although I began to watch it with some caution, suspecting that, based on “Notes of a Lawyer” by Dina Kaminskaya, it would unfold into a semi-dissident saga, into “let’s hold hands, friends,” into “that’s all” that some people like to sell to the viewer. some screenwriter Rayskaya (if anyone remembers: “Once Upon a Time in Rostov”)...
But, fortunately, in the first eight-episode season of “Intercessors” we did not see any bright-faced representatives of progressive humanity, no Mustafa Dzhemilev (and poor Dina Isaakovna Kaminskaya had to defend even this nonentity). Thanks to the team of screenwriters and director Vladimir Kott for this. I'm afraid I'll jinx it, because there's still a second season ahead.
(I’ll explain my prejudice towards the bearers of bright dissident faces. Who from this whole sandbox “for your and our freedom” said a clear word about May 2, 2014 in Odessa, about the bombing of Donbass? The fingers of one hand are enough: honesty was shown by Vyacheslav Igrunov and Irina Ratushinskaya.)
“Zuleikha” did not need to be written, read, filmed or watched. Some money would be saved. And most importantly, millions of “man-hours” would not be wasted.
“Zuleikha” lasts less than eight hours, and even more so with advertisements. These eight hours of self-isolation could have been spent, offhand, watching the following films: “The Englishman Who Climbed a Hill and Came Down a Mountain” with Hugh Grant, “Waterloo” by Bondarchuk, “Strawberries” by Bergman, “Pelican” with Kusturica from Olivier Orle, “Ashik-Kerib” by Parajanov. Well, or, if you like, another eight-hour program: “Leopard”, “Amarcord”, “The Color of Pomegranates”, “Once Upon a Time There Was a Song Thrush”. Everyone can come up with their own list of favorite films, which add up to the same amount of time that “Zuleikha” killed the TV viewer. And you will be horrified: how much of what we have not reviewed for years fits into these eight hours. “Zuleikha kills everyone” (remember the photoshopped “Ivan the Terrible kills everyone”?).
But let’s take a break from our selfish preferences and delve into the mysteries of screenwriter Elena Raiskaya. (In case anyone forgot: “Mysterious Passion.”)
The screenwriter tells us via Facebook: “We always work about our own. If you are lucky, you will get a thrill from our work. If you're unlucky, don't blame me. Remember: no one owes you anything. Curb your appetites and control yourself."
I will object. We are lucky precisely because we do not get a thrill from your work! The same ungrateful viewers in the comments wished the screenwriter that the state should not owe her anything, so that the creators of bullshit film series would exercise their civil right not to take money from the country and curb their appetite.
To this, screenwriter Raiskaya patiently answered that she pays much more taxes on serial geshefts than her critics. And therefore, they say, shut up, creatures - I have the right!
Screenwriter Raiskaya felt like a child:
“You, the audience, have the right to vote for movies with your feet or TV ratings. But this is where your right ends, remember this. Keep your political, gender, everyday preferences, as well as your inferiority complexes to yourself...
It would be nice for you, the audience, to realize that the actors, directors, screenwriters and producers whom you know and lasciviously curse, have no idea about your existence. So your cries of f... are of no use to anyone. If you don't like the movie, don't watch it. Don't watch silently. And don’t poke your nose into a sacrament you have no idea about.”
Screenwriter Raiskaya in the comments sent dozens of people somewhere far away, to Zuleikha’s sacraments. Banned dozens. Then, it seems, she completely deleted the posts cited above.
But I remember one comment from an ungrateful viewer who does not understand serial mysteries from professional screenwriters: “You are destroying culture, narcissistic monkeys, poking out your lower lip with importance.”
Read on: “Zuleikha, spread your buns.” Scandalous embarrassment on the main button.
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