''Abigail'' (russian: link=no, Эбигейл) is a 2019 Russian
steampunk
Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era or ...
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
adventure film
An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, an ...
directed by Aleksandr Boguslavsky, and co-produced by Viktor Denisyuk and Yevgeny Melentyev, the company KinoDanz. The film stars
Tinatin Dalakishvili
Tinatin (Tina) Dalakishvili ( ka, თინათინ (თინა) დალაქიშვილი, born 2 February 1991, Tbilisi) is a Georgian actress and model.
Early life and education
Born on February 2, 1991, in Tbilisi, her name is ...
as Abigail Foster, with Gleb Bochkov,
Rinal Mukhametov,
Artyom Tkachenko
Artyom Valeryevich Tkachenko (russian: Артём Валерьевич Ткаченко; born April 30, 1982) is a Russian film and theater actor.
Biography
He engaged in the theater studio under the direction of Boris Beinenson. After school h ...
, and
Ravshana Kurkova
Ravshana Bahramovna Kurkova ( uz, Ravshana Bahromovna Kurkova, russian: Равшана Бахрамовна Куркова; born 22 August 1980) is an Uzbek-Russian actress of theater, film and dubbing, and producer. She appeared in more than thir ...
.
''Abigail'' was theatrically released in Russia on August 22, 2019, by
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
CIS
Cis or cis- may refer to:
Places
* Cis, Trentino, in Italy
* In Poland:
** Cis, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, south-central
** Cis, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, north
Math, science and biology
* cis (mathematics) (cis(''θ'')), a trigonome ...
.
Plot
Abigail is a young girl living in a town which, many years earlier, experienced an epidemic of a mysterious illness and was subsequently sealed off from the outside world by the government. One of those who fell ill was Abby's father, taken away when she was six years old. While searching for her father, Abby finds out that the epidemic never actually occurred; it was all a huge deceit. In fact, she lives in a world of magic. Her city has been seized by users of dark magic, who wiped out all other sorcerers, banned magic, and attempted to erase all traces of its existence.
The epidemic was a cover employed to "cleanse" the city of Magic. For many years, the Special Department has continued to snatch anyone who appears to have magical powers, deeming them "infected." Most of the inhabitants have no idea that the city's rulers are not their protectors, but their prison wardens.
One day, Abby discovers that magical powers are stirring inside her. This scares her, but however hard she tries to suppress it the magic grows within her, and agents from the Special Department begin to hunt her down. She must flee from her home and begin a journey full of adventure and danger. This journey completely transforms her perceptions about magic and the world in which she lives.
Cast
*
Tinatin Dalakishvili
Tinatin (Tina) Dalakishvili ( ka, თინათინ (თინა) დალაქიშვილი, born 2 February 1991, Tbilisi) is a Georgian actress and model.
Early life and education
Born on February 2, 1991, in Tbilisi, her name is ...
as Abigail Foster
** as Young Abigail
*
Eddie Marsan
Edward Maurice Charles Marsan (born 9 June 1968) is an English actor. He won the London Film Critics Circle Award and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film '' Happy-Go-Lucky'' (2008).
He has feature ...
as Jonathan Foster
* Gleb Bochkov as Bale
*
Rinal Mukhametov as Norman
*
Artyom Tkachenko
Artyom Valeryevich Tkachenko (russian: Артём Валерьевич Ткаченко; born April 30, 1982) is a Russian film and theater actor.
Biography
He engaged in the theater studio under the direction of Boris Beinenson. After school h ...
as William Garrett
*
Ravshana Kurkova
Ravshana Bahramovna Kurkova ( uz, Ravshana Bahromovna Kurkova, russian: Равшана Бахрамовна Куркова; born 22 August 1980) is an Uzbek-Russian actress of theater, film and dubbing, and producer. She appeared in more than thir ...
as Stella
* Ksenia Kutepova as Margaret Foster
* Olivier Siou as Spenser
* Cecile Plage as Lilian
* Nikita Tarasov as Ethan
* Petar Zekavitsa as Roy
* Nikita Dyuvbanov as Marcus
* Ivan Chuykov as rebel Ryan
Production
Filming
Shooting took place in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
,
Gatchina
The town of Gatchina ( rus, Га́тчина, , ˈɡatːɕɪnə, links=y) serves as the administrative center of the Gatchinsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies south-south-west of St. Petersburg, along the E95 highway which ...
, Moscow and in the historical part of
Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...
, Estonia. The images of the fantasy city were created on the basis of ancient buildings and narrow streets of Tallinn and Saint Petersburg, and finalized with the help of computer graphics.
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
was completed in
Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...
, transformed into the streets of the fictional city Fensington, in which, according to the plot, fairy tale events take place.
Filmmakers of ''Abigail'' have developed an original conception of magic and a stylistics of closed fantastic city that combines steampunk and atmosphere of the early 20th century. There were created the unique images of the suits of city residents, rebels and their enemies – inspectors of the Security Division.
Post-production
Visual effects were created by VFX-studio Kinodanz.
References
External links
Official website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abigail (film)
2019 films
2010s Russian-language films
2010s fantasy adventure films
Steampunk films
Russian fantasy adventure films
Films shot in Moscow
Films shot in Russia
2010s teen fantasy films
2010s English-language films
Films set in a fictional country
Fratricide in fiction
High fantasy films
Films about witchcraft
2010s dystopian films
Russian post-apocalyptic films
Russian dystopian films
Uxoricide in fiction
Films set in the future