Siege offerings: what novelties are coming out in the Russian box office

Three films from France, shot in different genres, have been released in Russia this week: the Holocaust animation "The Most Valuable Cargo", the horror "Werewolf" and the musical romcom "Broken Hearts". Viewers are also waiting for Bakur Bakuradze's art hit "Snow in My Backyard" and Konstantin Buslov's historical blockbuster "Evil City". "Izvestia" - about what to watch in the movies in the coming weekend.

"Evil City", 12 +

Directed by Konstantin Buslov. Starring: Alexei Guskov, Alexander Metelkin, Leonela Manturova, Alexei Shevchenkov, Alexei Rozin, Maxim Belborodov, Polina Chernysheva, Vladimir Lyubimtsev.

A historical drama about how for seven weeks the inhabitants of the small town of Kozelsk held the defense, not surrendering to the Mongol Khan Batyi. Director Konstantin Buslov screened the real events of March 1238. The city, which stood in the way of Batyi, fought to the end by the forces of 300 warriors, who opposed the 10,000-strong Mongol army of the Golden Horde. Thousands of dead invaders and used siege guns, but Kozelsk still stood, showing the enemy the indestructibility and firmness of the Russian spirit. After this battle Batu Khan ordered to forget its name forever and henceforth to call it the Evil City. A movie about the resilience of the Russian people.

People's Artist of Russia Alexei Guskov played in the picture of a monk who became a warrior. He gathers a squadron and motivates people by his example. As recognized by the performer of the main role, in a situation where the city is doomed, this is the only true way. Three years continued to work on this large and complex project. In hire it came out in 2 thousand cinemas from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok at the same time.

"Snow in My Backyard", 18+

Directed by Bakur Bakuradze. Starring: Levan Gogoladze, Bakur Bakuradze, Giorgi Bakuradze.

The movie is about two friends - Givi lives in Moscow and Levan in Tbilisi. They have not seen each other for 30 years and found each other in a social network. It would seem that nothing connects them. Givi is a movie director and has family problems. Levan is lonely and lives like a bum. He is always hungry, like his dog Jesi. Givi's life is changing, while Levan's hasn't changed for a long time. But they have something in common - childhood memories. Through social networking, they begin to help each other. Levan opens for Givi from a new, unexpected side, and Givi gets the opportunity to return to his childhood - to his hometown.

Life has divorced these once close people. And letters unite them. The movie attracts with melancholy and Georgian melody. The epistolary genre of narration makes you listen to the characters. The director notes the details of everyday life of such different friends. Levan warms his feet in socks with a hair dryer, walks in greasy pants and steals tires. And Givi, who once made a movie and showed it at Cannes, suddenly feels a creative crisis. The idea of a new script comes with the appearance of an old friend from Tbilisi, he is the one who will help write it, and maybe rewrite his own life.

"The Most Valuable Cargo", 16+

Directed by: Michel Hazanavichus. The roles were voiced by: Dominique Blanc, Gregory Gadebois, Denis Podalides, Serge Hazanavichus, Antonin Morel, Adam Karazh, Matei Hofmann, Laurent Bateau, Simon Volodin, Oleg Imberti.

The animated picture is the debut in this genre of director Michel Hazanavicius. The story should be interesting to both adults and children. It tells about a terrible subject - the Holocaust. Serious animation, with a great soul made, is presented in the form of a fascinating fairy tale. For the narrator in the dubbed Russian version - Alexander Petrov.

- I tried to make it sound enveloping - shared with "Izvestia" actor. - The director just asked me to read the text as if I tell it to a small child.

The story is about how during the collection of brushwood, the wife of a forester finds a baby in a snowdrift. The little girl had been thrown out of the window of a "death train" going to the Auschwitz concentration camp. The woman decides to save the child, but her stern husband is adamantly opposed. He allows her to keep the child for a short time, but the more time passes, the more attached to him. Meanwhile, the villagers learn about the inexplicable appearance of the daughter in the family of the forester and, confident that the child will bring trouble on them, set an ultimatum - to get rid of him.

"Werewolf", 18+

Directed by Emma Benestan. Starring: Ulaya Amamra, Damien Rebattel, Vivien Rodriguez, Claude Chabalier, Eliez-Morgan Admi-Bensellam, Pierre Roux, Marinette Rafai.

Art chorus, a horror movie "not for everyone". South of France, Camargue region. Neima is training hard to take part in his first bullfight. The morning after her debut as a torero, she discovers deep wounds on her body. Over the next week, all her friends are found mangled one by one. They are said to have died after an encounter with a loose bull. This news terrifies the locals. They declare a hunt for the ferocious animal.

But the idea of the director of the picture Emma Benestan, she shot at once and western, and fiction, and horror. The places where the action of the picture takes place, native to her. Emma's childhood was spent here, side by side with bulls. The Camargue is a traditional venue for the race of these animals. There's no bullfighting.

- As a child, I adored vampire movies, - admitted in an interview with "Izvestia" director. - And now I decided to combine bulls and vampires in one story. And to show it against the background of the absolutely magical space of Kamarg.

"Broken Hearts", 18+

Directed by Gilles Lellouche. Starring: Adele Exarkopoulos, François Civil, Mallory Vanek, Malick Frica, Raphael Kenard, Elodie Bouchet, Alain Chaba, Benoit Pulvoorde.

Gilles Lellouche's new film is released in Russian distribution. Its premiere took place in the main competition of the Cannes Film Festival and earned a 15-minute ovation. A love story of a man and a woman separated by circumstances, covering more than 15 years of their lives. A young boy falls in love with a modest classmate from a good family, but the temptations of the streets take him to the dark side. A fateful accident and betrayal separate them for many years. Meeting again, they realize they are made for each other. However, her new life and his old enemies prevent them from being together. Can love win when the whole world is against it?

The basis for the movie was Neville Thompson's novel "Jackie Loves Jonser, OK?", which Gilles Lellouche read for the first time 17 years before the filming of the movie. As the director admits, the novel immediately hooked him, but it took years for him to feel ready to screen such a large-scale project. The main female role is played by Adele Exarkopoulos, winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes for "The Life of Adele" in 2013. And her partner is played by François Civil. The actor was awarded a special prize at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival for Best Young Actor, as well as several César Award nominations in 2022 and 2023.