Mathilde Kchessinskaya movie: opens April 20 in the UK

[John Mallinson]

Wonderfully OTT film trailer

 

The official trailer for Mathilde – Alexey Uchitel’s historical film of the love affair between the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II and the legendary ballerina Mathilde Kshesinska.

[Lisa O`Brien]

I have her autograph. On a signed photo of her in a book called Ballet Camera Studies by Gordon Anthony. She signed it,"To Gordon Anthony,With thanks and good wishes. Princess Krasinsky. M. Kschesinska. London 1936." An expensive book to buy,if I remember correctly.

[Amelia]

Wonderfully OTT film trailer

 

... the love affair between the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II and the legendary ballerina Mathilde Kshesinska.

 

The description is not accurate. The affair was between Tsarevich Nicholas and Mathilde Kshesinska.

In her memoirs Mathilde herself described their farewell tryst before Nicholas became the Tsar and married Alix. 

 

I hope the film is not in the same vein and tempo as the trailer.

Edit for typo.

Edited July 9, 2015 by Amelia

[Two Pigeons]

Looks very interesting. I wonder if they will admit that she was a prize bitch apparently.

[toursenlair]

more info here, dating from last October, when the identity of the actress playing Mathilde was not revealed.

 

http://www.screendaily.com/news/kozlovsky-to-star-in-russian-epic-mathilde/5078613.article

[toursenlair]

"The film covers a wide period of her life, from 17 to 90 years, as one of the key motivations in this case is the tragic love story of a ballerina and Nicholas II."

[jm365]

Any idea when we might get to see it in the cinema?

[Naomi M]

It was because of this film that Svetlana Lunkina's husband Vladislav Moskalev was threatened by the co-producer Vladimir Vinokur (who is the father of Bolshoi Ballet's soloist Anastasia Vinokur) and her family had to escape to Canada. 

Edited July 11, 2015 by Naomi M

[Fiz]

That looks both frenetic and inaccurate.

[Melody]

The IMDb page for the film is still not showing the name of the actress playing Mathilde. I'm not sure if this is some sort of marketing ploy but I don't think it's going to generate much extra interest in the wider public.

 

Mind you, that trailer looks more like something out of an action thriller than a love story.

[Melody]

And now the studio of the film's director has been firebombed by irate Orthodox Christians saying the film is offensive to believers and an insult to the memory of Tsar Nicholas II.

 

https://themoscowtimes.com/news/mathilde-film-directors-studio-attacked-with-molotov-cocktails-58819

 

Seriously - this movie is chronicling history, it isn't some sort of fantasy directed toward a totally chaste Tsar who never had any affairs in his life. What in the world is wrong with these people?

[MAB]

A very great deal is wrong with these people according to documentaries I've seen, the Russian orthodox church in Russia has become corrupt and venal  and has made Nicholas II a saint, presumably because of some belief in the divine right of kings.  England's Charles I was executed for that belief.

 

Mind you, it isn't just the orthodox church that bestows sainthood on undeserving monarchs.  Pope John Paul II created Charles I of Austria (who died as recently as 1922)  a saint.  The only logic I can see in that would be that he died in Madeira, a place that didn't have a saint, though there are no signs of devotees to his grave, just curious tourists.

[Lizbie1]

I'm not a natural anti-clericist, but on balance I found the Russian church a pretty sinister force when I lived there and it appears it's got worse since. (It doesn't help that certain politicians are happy to exploit it for their own ends.)

[jm365]

Is there any means of viewing the trailer without going through Facebook?  I'm not on Facebook and don't want to sign up.

[Jan McNulty]

I couldn't find the trailer linked at the top of the thread but I have found 2 slightly different trailers on YouTube and a Wikipedia page:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilda_(2017_film)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[GailR]

A link I found to the trailer was to Amazon Prime showing a date of 25th October 2017 so, fingers crossed,  it will be available  then.

[Sim]

A link from the BBC website elaborating on Melody's post above:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41225387

 

 

[MAB]

A report on this story on the lunchtime BBC news today,  apart from the cinema the director's studio and his lawyer's office have also been fire bombed.  The beeb's reporter spoke to a religious militant wearing a tee shirt with the tsar's picture on it who claimed the film was a "blasphemous lie".  Sorry, but you can't airbrush history.

 

Perhaps the best thing would be to release the film outside of Russia, possibly with strap line 'The Film They Don't Want You To See',  with this level of publicity it could well appeal to a wider audience than the art house patrons  that go to foreign language films.

[fashionista]

Does anyone know whether this film is to be released in cinemas in UK or just on u-tube/Amazon?

Many thanks

Amanda

[Tykva]

As part of the "Russian Film Week 2017" film "Mathilde"will be on screen

 

Sunday, 26 November 2017 at 18:00

18:00 Red carpet arrivals and film costumes exhibition

18:30 British film premiere +Q&A with director Alexey Uchitel and lead actors

 

BFI Southbank, NFT1, Belvedere Rd, South Bank, London SE1 8XT

Here's the programme: http://www.russianfilmweek.org/programme-2017_dates.html

[fashionista]

Many thanks Tykva and noted )))

 

Oh dear, just investigated and the Mathilde premiere on 26 November is sold out ((((

Edited October 6, 2017 by fashionista

[alison]

If it's that popular, perhaps they'll schedule another performance?  Wonder whether it's down to notoriety, the number of Russians living in London, or what?

[fashionista]

Mathilde had its premiere last night as part of the Russian Film Festival - all tickets were sold out.  I have tried to find out when and where it will be on general release in London but cannot find any information.  Can anyone shed a light on this, please?

 

Many thanks

Amanda

[Amelia]

4 hours ago, fashionista said:

Mathilde had its premiere last night as part of the Russian Film Festival - all tickets were sold out.  I have tried to find out when and where it will be on general release in London but cannot find any information.  Can anyone shed a light on this, please?

 

Many thanks

Amanda

It will be also shown on the closing night of the Russian Film Week
http://www.russianfilmweek.org
Sunday, 26 November 2017
18:00 Red carpet arrivals and film costumes exhibition 
18:30 British film premiere +Q&A with director Alexey Uchitel and lead actors
Mathilde / Матильда
BFI Southbank, NFT1, Belvedere Rd, South Bank, London SE1 8XT
Q&As with director Alexey Uchitel and leading actors. In Russian with English subtitles.
http://www.russianfilmweek.org/programme-2017_dates.html

[FLOSS]

fashionista,

I have no information as to when, or if, this film is due to go on general release here. If you are anxious to see this or any other film there is a website which lists all the films showing in London cinemas it has a proper address but I have found that simply googling "film listings uk" provides access to a site which gives an a-z of films showing in the UK and another which gives access to an a-z of films showing in London with full details of cinemas and screening times. I hope this information helps.

 

As far as the film itself is concerned most of the coverage so far has been more interested in the extreme response of some members of the Orthodox church to the film in Russia than in its contents. It seems to have had some official backing as people who are close to, or part of Putin's artistic establishment such as V. Gergiev have been involved in its creation. Someone has suggested that it was made in order to create a loss for tax purposes but that seems rather far fetched to me as it presupposes  that the country has an effective system of tax collection and that everyone is equally liable to taxation.From what I have read and heard while that may be the theory in Russia it may not be true in practice.

 

Be that as it may, it is quite extraordinary to contemplate a situation in which by allying itself closely with the Russian Orthodox church the current regime under Putin finds the  centenary of the October Revolution a political embarrassment. Who would have imagined that in 2017 Russian cinema would have produced a historical biopic about Nicholas Romanov and his affair with "Notrethilde" or that it would have caused so much controversy ? Clearly no one close to Putin had thought through the political consequences of the regime's public contrition for the murder of the imperial family nor the effect of the canonisation of the Tsar and his immediate family.I imagine that when the project was first suggested it seemed so simple and straightforward. Make a film to be shown across Russia which will have the effect of airbrushing away all those uncomfortable historical facts connected with the revolution and its aftermath; distance

the current regime from its communist  past and assert its legitimacy and its connection with pre-revolutionary Holy Russia. Rehabilitate Tsar Nicholas and the imperial past and it is as if the events  of the past century had not happened. 

 

I wonder when we shall find out if it is actually any good as a film as opposed to a propaganda exercise?

 

 

 

 

Edited October 30, 2017 by FLOSS

[fashionista]

37 minutes ago, FLOSS said:

fashionista,

I have no information as to when, or if, this film is due to go on general release here. If you are anxious to see this or any other film there is a website which lists all the films showing in London cinemas it has a proper address but I have found that simply googling "film listings uk" provides access to a site which gives an a-z of films showing in the UK and another which gives access to an a-z of films showing in London with full details of cinemas and screening times. I hope this information helps.

 

As far as the film itself is concerned most of the coverage so far has been more interested in the extreme response of some members of the Orthodox church to the film in Russia than in its contents. It seems to have had some official backing as people who are close to, or part of Putin's artistic establishment such as V. Gergiev have been involved in its creation. Someone has suggested that it was made in order to create a loss for tax purposes but that seems rather far fetched to me as it presupposes  that the country has an effective system of tax collection and that everyone is equally liable to taxation.From what I have read and heard while that may be the theory in Russia it may not be true in practice.

 

Be that as it may, it is quite extraordinary to contemplate a situation in which by allying itself closely with the Russian Orthodox church the current regime under Putin finds the  centenary of the October Revolution a political embarrassment. Who would have imagined that in 2017 Russian cinema would have produced a historical biopic about Nicholas Romanov and his affair with "Notrethilde" or that it would have caused so much controversy ? Clearly no one close to Putin had thought through the political consequences of the regime's public contrition for the murder of the imperial family nor the effect of the canonisation of the Tsar and his immediate family.I imagine that when the project was first suggested it seemed so simple and straightforward. Make a film to be shown across Russia which will have the effect of airbrushing away all those uncomfortable historical facts connected with the revolution and its aftermath; distance

the current regime from its communist  past and assert its legitimacy and its connection with pre-revolutionary Holy Russia. Rehabilitate Tsar Nicholas and the imperial past and it is as if the events  of the past century had not happened. 

 

I wonder when we shall find out if it is actually any good as a film as opposed to a propaganda exercise?

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much for your guidance in tracking down when this film may be shown. I should imagine the 26 November screening may be sold out, but I will try.  I did google cinema listings, but to no avail, but I will explore further - many thanks.  A friend of mine in St Petersbury saw the film last week, so it is on general release over there.  Despite the propogranda surrounding the film, she was very enthusiastic about the production.

[toursenlair]

The film Matilda opens tomorrow across the UK. Here's an article in the Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/apr/19/matilda-controversy-tsar-nicholas-ii-alexei-uchitel?CMP=share_btn_tw

 

Be warned, I saw it in Toronto before Christmas and found it terribly cheesy.  Matilda runs around yelling "Nyikki!!" a lot...

[toursenlair]

oh, and I bet you didn't know that it was common in the Imperial Russian Ballet of the late 19th century for the ballerinas to have LED lights in their tutus.