Bitterly! (film, 2013)

The newlyweds Natasha and Roma from Gelendzhik cannot agree with their parents and decide to have two weddings at once: one for parents and relatives, in a restaurant with traditional competitions, and the second for themselves, like a theatrical party on the Black Sea. But ironically, both celebrations will one day unite.

Casting

The director first chose Vladimir Mashkov to play the role of the main character's stepfather, but their schedules did not match ^[8] , as a result, the actor Yan Tsapnik got the role. The actor came to sample from St. Petersburg and immediately improvised, according to the director, a lot of strange funny texts that were immediately written into the script ^[9] . Jan Tsapnik, like his hero in the film, served in the airborne troops, so it was not difficult for him to join the commando of the paratroopers, with whom he sang the song “ Sineva ” in the story. Unlike his hero, the actor does not wear a mustache in his life, so he was stuck with artificial ones ^[10] .

According to the initial scenario, the main character Natalia was supposed to be eighteen years old, and when a suitable young actress was found, the producers were asked to check how the movie used in the film would look like in the style of moquimentaries . There was no money for the actors' fees, so the director asked to participate in test shootings of all his friends and his wife - actress Julia Alexandrova ^[8] . During the filming, one of the producers of the film drew attention to her - Ilya Burets, who suggested that the actress herself try on the role of Natasha. When the materials with her video tests were sent to another producer of the film - Timur Bekmambetov , he said that no one needs to be searched for the role of the bride ^[8] .

Filming

The shooting took place in May 2013 in Gelendzhik , Novorossiysk and the village of Divnomorskoye ^{[11] [12]} . The material was shot in a short time - for 23 shooting days ^[13] .

The director of the film wanted to show real people and a real wedding ^[11] : “It annoys me that in our modern comedies our country looks like a certain country of Glamoria, which has nothing to do with Russia. Our people don’t behave like that, don’t dress like that, don’t joke like that. In preparation for the shoot, we were not looking for inspiration in glossy magazines, but rather in YouTube videos. ”

On one of the shooting days, a storm broke out in the village of Divnomorskoye, disrupting the shooting of wedding episodes on the seashore. The film crew had to transfer equipment and disassemble the scenery of the nightclub, built on the pier. The rising waves twice carried into the sea a specially constructed platform on which Natasha waits for Roma, sailing to her in a boat ^[10] .

The main performers Yulia Alexandrova and Yegor Koreshkov together have already starred with Zhory Kryzhovnikov in the short film "Happy Purchase". “ Julia Alexandrova is a dramatic artist. I survived all the vicissitudes as a thin brook doused the plot twists with its organics. <...> Yegor is a talent, possesses incredible masculine charisma. Wonderful bridegroom, if someone needs a bridegroom in the movie, I throw a cry, ”says Zhora Kryzhovnikov about the actors ^[9] . For Yegor Koreshkov this is the third film where he has to play the role of the groom at the wedding ^[10] .

The dance of Valentina Mazunina under “ Loneliness is a bastard ” was absent in the script and was completely improvised by the actress. The creators of the picture liked this improvisation so much that it was decided to include it in the final version ^[8] .

The initial scene of the “interview”, where Roma and Natasha talk about themselves, was also improvised in many ways. There were only a few phrases in the script - “I thought at first that he was gay”, “I work in the gas industry, but I’m not a gasman,” the actors came up with the rest ^[8] .

Rewards

• The Hollywood Reporter Russia Award in the Debut of the Year category - Zhora Kryzhovnikov ^[14]
• Nika Award in the Discovery of the Year category - Zhora Kryzhovnikov
• The Award from The Hollywood Reporter Russia magazine in the “Advance” category (to the Most Promising Actors) - Julia Alexandrova and Alexander Pal ^[15]
• GQ Russia Magazine's Prize “Person of the Year 2014” in the “Discovery of the Year” category - Alexander Pal ^[16]

Nominations

• Golden Eagle Award ^[17]
  • for the best movie
  • for the best directorial work - Zhora Kryzhovnikov
  • for the best scenario - Alexey Kazakov, Nikolay Kulikov, Zhora Kryzhovnikov
  • for best actress - Julia Alexandrova
  • For Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Elena Valyushkina
  • For Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Jan Tsapnik
  • for the best camera work - Dmitry Gribanov
  • for the best film editing - Alexander Verkholyak
  • for the best work of a sound engineer - Anatoly Tyurikov
• Nika Award for Best Film

Film critic Andrei Plakhov from the Kommersant newspaper ^[18] : “The film showed that if the creators have talent, the pop story does not have to be flat and go. <...> The film takes and almost everywhere maintains the correct intonation between sarcasm and condescension, irony and tenderness. There are no protracted scenes in it, editing is energetic, artists play selflessly, but the director limits them in time to the scope of the plot and time. ”

The chief editor of Empire magazine Boris Khokhlov ^[19] called the film “one of the best Russian comedies of recent years, which can become truly popular. <...> they throw all their strength into an authentic, addictive picture (the effect of presence is amazing) and a scenario in which literally a replica is a potential catch phrase, ”said the film critic. “This is a catchy, bold and challenging, but by no means vulgar movie - and, by the way, after it patriotism and love for one’s country and people awaken no less than after the same“ Legend No. 17 “,” claims Boris Khokhlov.

Anton Dolin in the Afisha magazine called the film "the first truly talented, funny and radical comedy of the post-Soviet era" on this topic. According to the film critic, the main idea of ​​the film is that the family and the motherland are a gift that they don’t refuse and don’t choose: “<...> when everyone is in chorus, with tears no longer confused, but love, they still sing the damned Lepsian „ Natalie, “not believing yourself, you begin to sing along. And all sorrows are quenched ” ^[3] .

According to Kommersant newspaper columnist Lidia Maslova ^[20] , the wedding ritual in the film is “a model of civil society in miniature and contains everything and everyone: the whole spectrum of emotions, the entire repertoire of wildest antics, all the stylistic options for bad taste and the whole eccentric panopticon characters in a borderline state. "

Browser of the Interfax news agency Alexander Pasyugin ^[21] noted that in the film, as in the works of Gogol, Krylov, Saltykov-Shchedrin, there is “grotesque in combination with realism, deceptive documentary, recognition effect. <...> And after all, “Gorky!”, Like Gogol’s works, doesn’t become a blackie despite the gloom and hopelessness shown on the screen, ”says Alexander Pasyugin.

Browser of Snob magazine Vadim Rutkovsky called the film the best comedy of the year and “a very inventive, masterfully set and rich in precise details” film ^[22] .

Negative feedback “Everyone is naked under the clothes” was given by the columnist of Rossiyskaya Gazeta Valery Kichin : “Watching natural characters in one and a half hours is of little interest” ^[23] and the columnist of the newspaper Argumenty i Fakty Elena Menshenina: “The thought of the director who wanted to show a merry Russian wedding, one can understand, but one would need to know the measure ” ^[24] .

In 2014, the film became a candidate for nomination from Russia for the Oscar-2015 in the category " Best Film in a Foreign Language " ^[25] , its main competitor was the film "Leviathan", which received 14 votes from the jury of the Russian Oscar Committee. “Bitter!” Received 8 votes ^[26] .

In 2016, British actor Ralph Fiennes singled out a film from contemporary Russian films and said that he really liked this comedy. According to him, his friends from Russia considered that in this film “Russians are shown as drunkards”, to which the actor replied: “I was surprised and laughed, because I know for sure that there may be an English, French, Irish version of“ Gorky! “ " ^[27] .

• Official site
• Bitter! On the Internet Movie Database