In the Press · Interviews · Cinema · Books · Society
Prohibitions alone will not do. The best defence is attack. A humanitarian intervention must be followed by a clever humanitarian response. The series «GDR» and «Dear Willy» have already appeared, but that is clearly not enough. Nor do these series touch on our own times. That is why I am
Cinema · Humour
Andrey Urgant, Roman Kartsev and Zinovy Gerdt on the set of "The Drayman and the King" in Odessa in 1989. The Soviet musical is, of course, quite the oxymoron. But Vladimir Alenikov's "The Drayman and the King" is a rare case in which the
Cinema · London · Society · Nature
There is a movement in England called Right to Roam, which concentrates on demanding that people be given back the ability to walk through a wood, a field or along a river without the risk of being accused of trespassing on private property. Hugh Thomson has made a documentary about
Archive · Cinema · Moscow · Society
Boy Scouts Cordoning Off the Burning Savvinskoye Compound in 1918. The fire was not in the building of the Savvinskoye Compound itself, but in the studio of Alexandr Khanzhonkov, the man who filmed "The Defence of Sevastopol" and "The Beautiful Lukanida". The studio stood in the
Archive · Cinema · Observations
Can anyone explain why half of this photograph has been painted in? The hand has come out very strangely, both on Alexander Lazarev and on Tatyana Doronina. From the film "Once More About Love" by Georgy Natanson
Cinema · Science · People · Nature
On 8 May David Attenborough turns one hundred. No one in history has shown the whole world for so long how life on this planet is put together. At 99 he managed, last year, to make one more film, Ocean, in which for the first time he spoke openly of
Faith · Cinema · Books · Observations
Several acquaintances, having read my complaint about the Russian title of Project Hail Mary, have written to say that it is not actually "Ave Maria" but sporting slang, meaning a desperate pass in American football, or a last hope. My dear Ted Lassos, my very own Utkins! The
Faith · Cinema · Observations
The 2026 American film Project Hail Mary (incidentally, excellent in every respect), based on the novel of the same name, reached Russian cinemas not under its original title, «Project Ave Maria», but in an adapted version (on what grounds, it is unclear), «Project End of the World», which in principle
Cinema · Moscow · Heritage · Humour
In real life, one ought to be rather careful with such objects, of course. Besides fines and arrest, such a prank could carry several other cheerless consequences: a preventive entry in the databases of the security services, registration with a psychiatrist, referral for compulsory psychiatric evaluation and, naturally, compensation for
Architecture · Cinema · Observations · Heritage · Society
Trump Plans to Rebuild the Reflecting Pool, the Very One Between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, Along Which Forrest Gump Ran to Jenny and Around Which a Crowd of Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Listened to Martin Luther King. I've probably built more than a hundred
Art · Cinema · People · Pop Culture
Bonhams announces the sale of 550 lots from the personal effects of Diane Keaton, who died six months ago. Among the lots are the original script of "Annie Hall" with no title on the cover (estimate $2,000-3,000), a Ralph Lauren Purple Label houndstooth jacket ($200-
Faith · Cinema · Society · Rome
Martin Scorsese has made a film about Pope Francis, "Aldeas, Pope Francis's Last Dream". The premiere took place in the Vatican itself, some time after the pontiff's death. The promotional materials describe the project as "a powerful fusion of the visions of Scorsese