Holiday (russian: Праздник, Prazdnik) is a 2019
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
n
comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...
written and directed by Alexey Krasovsky.
Initially the premiere of the film was scheduled to take place on December 31, 2018, on the personal
YouTube channel
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...
of the director. But after the
Magnitogorsk apartment block collapse, which left multiple victims, the release was postponed to January 3, 2019.
Plot
The Voskresensky family is on special security in late 1941, and despite the
Siege of Leningrad
The siege of Leningrad (russian: links=no, translit=Blokada Leningrada, Блокада Ленинграда; german: links=no, Leningrader Blockade; ) was a prolonged military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the Soviet Union, So ...
is not starving. Since the head of the family, the scientist Georgy Voskresensky, fulfills an important government task, the family's place of residence is a secret.
Until recently they were served by a cook, but on the eve of the film's action the cook has been taken away. The family is going to celebrate the new year of 1942 in their country house. They have a raw chicken, but there is no one to cook it. Denis, the younger son of Voskresensky, invites a hungry girl, Masha, to their celebration. Liza, the eldest daughter, invites a man, Vitaly, whom she says she is about to marry. The family must first hide their wealth from the guests, and then enter into some kind of agreement with them.
Cast
*
Yan Tsapnik
Yan Yurevich Tsapnik (russian: Ян Ю́рьевич Ца́пник; born 15 August 1968) is a Soviet and Russian theatre and film actor. Yan appeared in more than 200 films.
Biography Early life
Yan Tsapnik was born in Irkutsk, Russian SFSR, S ...
as Georgy Voskresensky
*
Alyona Babenko
Alyona Olegovna Babenko (; russian: Алёна Оле́говна Бабе́нко; born March 31, 1972) is a Russian film and theater actress, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation (2013).
Biography
Elena Baranova, known professionally as Aly ...
as Margarita Voskresenskaya, Georgy's wife
* Pavel Tabakov as Denis
*
Anfisa Chernykh
Anfisa Maksimovna Chernykh (russian: Анфи́са Макси́мовна Черны́х; born April 30, 1996) is a Russian actress and model.
Biography
Chernykh was born Moscow, Russia. She studied at the English grammar school number 297. Sh ...
as Liza
* Timofey Tribuntsev as Vitaly
* Asya Chistyakova as Masha
* Yekaterina Gatalskaya as grandmother
Controversy
Despite the fact that fundraising on a crowdfunding platform was completed on September 22, the media did not report anything about the film until October 12, 2018, when it was reported that film director Krasovsky was working on a new film, a black comedy about the
Siege of Leningrad
The siege of Leningrad (russian: links=no, translit=Blokada Leningrada, Блокада Ленинграда; german: links=no, Leningrader Blockade; ) was a prolonged military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the Soviet Union, So ...
.
After the appearance of information in the media, a number of famous personalities immediately began to criticize the film, despite the fact that it had not yet been screened. Radio host Sergei Stillavin posted a post on
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin ...
in which he claimed that the authors of the film
were treading on a sacred theme.
Video blogger
Dmitry Puchkov
Dmitry Yuryevich Puchkov (russian: link=no, Дми́трий Ю́рьевич Пучко́в; born August 2, 1961), also known as Goblin (russian: Гоблин), is a Russian media personality most known for his humorous English-to-Russian film ...
released videos criticizing the film.
Attempted ban
State Duma
The State Duma (russian: Госуда́рственная ду́ма, r=Gosudárstvennaja dúma), commonly abbreviated in Russian as Gosduma ( rus, Госду́ма), is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, while the upper hous ...
deputy
Sergey Boyarsky
Sergey Boyarsky (russian: Сергей Михайлович Боярский; born 24 January 1980, Leningrad) is a Russian political figure, deputy of the 7th and 8th State Dumas convocations.
Sergey Boyarsky was born in the family of the ...
(son of actor
Mikhail Boyarsky
Mikhail Sergeyevich Boyarsky (russian: Михаи́л Серге́евич Боя́рский; born 26 December 1949 in Leningrad) is a Soviet and Russian actor and singer. He is best known for playing swashbucklers in historical adventure films; ...
) called the picture blasphemy and promised to prevent it from being filmed.
Andrey Turchak
Andrey Anatolyevich Turchak (russian: Андрей Анатольевич Турчак; born 20 December 1975) is a Russian politician who has served Secretary of the General Council of United Russia from 12 October 2017 and the Senator from Ps ...
appealed to the Minister of Culture,
Vladimir Medinsky
Vladimir Rostislavovich Medinsky (russian: link=no, Владимир Ростиславович Мединский, uk, Володимир Ростиславович Мединський; born July 18, 1970) is a Russian political figure, ac ...
, that under no circumstances should he issue a rental certificate for the film.
The media noted that if ''Holiday'' were not given a rolling ID, this would be the second time that a film comedy was banned in Russia, the first being ''
The Death of Stalin
''The Death of Stalin'' is a 2017 political satire black comedy film written and directed by Armando Iannucci and co-written by David Schneider and Ian Martin with Peter Fellows. Based on the French graphic novel '' La Mort de Staline'' ...
''.
References
External links
*
Праздник, который не со мнойНичей «Праздник». Зинаида Пронченко посмотрела ту самую «комедию о блокаде»
{{Authority control
2019 films
Russian comedy-drama films
2019 comedy-drama films
Films shot in Russia
Films about the Soviet Union in the Stalin era
Films set in the Soviet Union
Films set in 1941
Films set in 1942
Eastern Front of World War II films
Obscenity controversies in film
Russian independent films
2019 independent films
Crowdfunded films
Russian World War II films