From burning jealousy to desperate love: "MaskErad", "Killer" Sacred Spider "and "In Love Without Memory" are released in the cinema

Highlights: "14+: Continuation" about youthful love, "MaskErad" based on the play by Mikhail Lermontov and "The Lesser Evil" about problems within the family and the crisis of relationships. Also on the screens will be shown the French drama "In Love Without Memory", the hero of which suffers from amnesia and cannot understand which of the two women is his wife. "The Sacred Spider Killer", based on real story of an Iranian maniac who operated in Mashhad in the early 2000s.

On Thursday, May 11, three Russian films are released at once - "14+: Continuation" about youthful love, "MaskErad" based on the play by Mikhail Lermontov and "The Lesser Evil" about problems within the family and the crisis of relationships. Also on the screens will be shown the French drama "In Love Without Memory", the hero of which suffers from amnesia and cannot understand which of the two women is his wife, and the film directed by Ali Abbasi "The Sacred Spider Killer", based on the real story of an Iranian maniac who operated in Mashhad in the early 2000s.

"Holy Spider Killer"

The film by Iranian director Ali Abbasi is based on real events that took place in Mashhad in the 2000s.

In the center of the plot is a family man and a respected man named Said, who has taken on the mission of clearing his city of harlots. However, no one pays attention to the killings, with the exception of Tehran journalist Rahimi. She takes up the investigation. In Mashhad, which is more religious than the capital, women face injustice and discrimination. However, despite all the difficulties and dangers, the journalist intends to bring the matter to an end.

The lead actress Zara Amir Ebrahimi got into the project thanks to her courage. After the actress, who was initially approved for the role, refused to act without a hijab for fear of being convicted, Ebrahimi took her place.

According to the director, he saw Rahimi physically well-built and possessing masculine features, but the actress was able to convince the director of her professionalism. She was awarded the main prize of the Cannes Film Festival for her work.

The film was nominated for a number of prestigious film awards and was recognized as the best film at the Stockholm International Film Festival. On the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, critics awarded the tape 83% freshness. They praise her for her direction, immersive authenticity, and well-written characters.

"14+: Continued"

Director and screenwriter Andrei Zaitsev continues the cinematic exploration of love in his dilogy.

The heroes of his previous film "14+" Lyosha and Vika grew up, came out of adolescence and went different ways. If she has decided on the path of life, then he will have to defend his choice, which his own mother opposes. At the same time, Lyosha falls in love with the sociable open Nastya, who will brighten up his gray everyday life and help him look at things from a different angle.

"14+: The Sequel" is a movie about young people, but for viewers of all ages, because everyone was once 18 years old. It is not tied to time and age, just as, in my opinion, "I am walking around Moscow" is not attached. We even decided to convey a kind of greetings to the director (Georgy. - RT) Danelia and the cameraman (Vadim. - RT) Yusov, and in one of the scenes we filmed the monument to Mayakovsky in much the same way as it was filmed in "I walk around Moscow". In our film, there is a lot of mood and atmosphere from this picture. And in general, it seems to me, our picture can be safely called "I'm walking around Moscow 60 years later," the director said in an interview with Proficinema.

The film was presented at the Moscow International Film Festival as part of the main competition. For more details, see the RT material.

"MaskErad"

The action of Mikhail Lermontov's only play "Masquerade" in the film adaptation is transferred to modern realities, but with the preservation of the poetic language of the original work and the style of communication characteristic of the XIX century.

The central roles were played by Alexei Fadeev, Anar, Anastasia Shevchuk, Daniil Spivakovsky and Mikhail Politseymako.

The melodramatic thriller was directed by Mikhail Shevchuk, who also wrote the script. According to him, Lermontov's play retains its relevance to this day, so he tried to preserve the authenticity of the narrative and made very few amendments.

"Like any director, I only adapted it (the play. - RT) for the cinema space from the point of view of the possibilities of film storytelling: in the cinema, the character's inner monologue can be replaced with a close-up of the eyes, and his confusion can be demonstrated by a reflected frame of the raging sea. In this sense, this is my script, but I did not allow any violence against the author, making my own adjustments only within the framework of the staging design and film conventions," Shevchuk said in an interview with the Film Business Today portal.

Full-scale shooting of the picture took place in the Crimea - in Yalta, at Cape Tarkhankut and in the village of Olenevka. Another of the main locations was the Vorontsov Palace in Alupka.

"The Lesser Evil"

At the center of Viktor Shamirov's melodrama ("That's what's happening to me") is a married couple Vika (Polina Agureeva) and Maxim (Alexei Rozin), who are faced with a crisis in their relationship. Maxim believes that the appearance of a child could bring them closer together and kindle their former passion, but a man cannot have children.

Pavel (Viktor Dobronravov), Vicky's former lover, comes to visit them with his girlfriend Alice (Yulia Grevtsova). After learning about the problems, Alice offers Paul to become a sperm donor, after which he must disappear forever from the life of the family. He agrees, but later realizes that his feelings for Vika have not cooled and he is not ready to delete her from his life. To understand the difficult situation, all four go to a music festival, where they have to make an important choice.

According to the authors of the film, the main theme of the chamber story (the action mainly takes place in the apartment of the heroes) is the search for an ideal relationship.

"Through the evolution of the feelings of the characters, the authors raise the topic of choosing between the present and the past, the good and the best. And they hint that we tend to strive for the inaccessible, but the choice between a crane and a often leaves a feeling of error. Duality and doubts are the basis of a person, "the film producer Natalia Isakova was quoted as saying by the Vokrug TV portal.

"In Love Without Memory" (C'est mon homme)

The action of the French-Belgian film takes place in the post-war years. During the First World War, people went missing en masse, among them was Julie's husband, Julien. She had not heard of his whereabouts since 1916.

One day, Julie sees a photograph in a newspaper showing an unknown man suffering from memory loss. The heroine is sure that this is her husband. After the reunion, she makes every effort to awaken his former feelings in him. However, the situation gets confused when another woman declares that the man in the photo is her husband.

The central roles were played by Leila Bekhti ("Enemy of the State No. 1", "Midnight Heart)", Karim Lecloux ("The Northern Bastion", "The World Belongs to You") and Louise Bourgoin ("The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele", "The Romanovs").

The picture is the first full-length work of Guillaume Bureau. He was inspired to shoot the film by real stories that took place in Italy and France. According to the director, he sought to create not a historical film, but to show the story of two loving people traumatized by the war.