The connoisseur’s choice. This multicharacter drama, a modern reworking of the biblical tale of the "Book of Job" is being billed as part sci-fi, part social drama and part hard-hitting critique of contemporary Russia. For fans who enjoyed his eerie 2007 Cannes competition entry The Banishment or 2011 Un Certain Regard closing film Elena, Zvyagintsev's latest is not to be missed. (Sales: Pyramide)
MOSCOW — Russian directors are preparing for the new legislation banning bad language in theatrical movies, which comes into play on July 1 and will require recutting their films or bleeping out profanity.
Meanwhile, Cannes winner Andrei Zvyagintsev said he wouldn’t do anything of that kind with his Leviafan, hoping that an exhibition license for the movie will be issued before July 1.
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“We considered every word, and all the words are relevant [for the film] as they help to re-create authentic conversational language,” Zvyagintsev, whose film collected the best screenplay award at Cannes last month, was quoted as saying by the Russian news agency Interfax. “Castrated language and bans are bad for the arts.”
“As the law cannot be applied in retrospect, if we receive an exhibition license before July 1, we can release the film at any time,” he added, explaining that the film could be exhibited in its current cut, containing quite a lot of bad language.
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The Russian release of Leviafan is tentatively scheduled for this coming fall.
Meanwhile, Zvyagintsev’s younger and less accomplished colleagues are preparing for the ban on profanity in advance.
Ivan Tverdovsky‘s Klass Korrektsii (Correction Class) was recut to get rid of bad language, while Welcome Home by director Angelina Nikonova will be released with profanities beeped out. Both films premiered this month at Russia’s main national film festival, Kinotavr.
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