The Ivanovo festival is called “pilot”, because it shows the first of the future series, namely the “pilot” series. Internet cinemas have created a distinct genre of “movie series” in shorter format than conventional television series, with 6 to 8 episodes, separated by a single plot, original skirmishes, and brilliant actors. “House Prison”, “Epidemic”, “Crystal”, “Storm”, “Call DiCaprio”, “Chicky”, “Mom’s Penguins”, “Middle Band Vampires” and many more have shattered this idea. The series as a primitive genre designed for housewives.
Changes in Russian legislation keep creators in constant tension: How will the display rules change during production? And will it be shown in a year when the series is over or will Roskomnadzor or vigilant citizens have claims against it? Therefore, today’s serials try to isolate as much as possible from certain situations and connotations with modernity, the action takes place in an unknown state, approximately in a modern kingdom, whose inhabitants are preoccupied only with themselves and their loved ones. This kind of isolation on the personal introduces a bit of artificiality, which is so brilliantly parodied in the Sidorov sitcom commissioned by STS. According to the plot, the series shoots a long-running show whose texts are written by a neural network according to the template of such television performances. The artificial mind obediently reproduces all the absurdity that distinguishes works of this genre: a closed space with no way out, stupid character masks with one-dimensional features, lack of action development and at least some connection with life ordinary people. Actors try to justify their characters’ words, as a result of which sitcom characters gain self-awareness and the ability to think critically. It is still unknown whether this project will be completed, but it remains to be seen how the authors will finish it.
In fact, among the novelties this year, there were two TV series about fathers and daughters at the same time. These are “Mammoths” with Yuri Stoyanov and “Mastodon” with Fedor Dobronravov, whose appearance on the screen immediately led to success. In both comedies, the fathers showed that age is in no way an obstacle to digitization and modernization: on the contrary, life experience and wisdom not only help the old heroes to show themselves well, but also teach children something important. However, “Mammoths”, where Stoyanov’s hero displays the charming manners of the “sweet grandfather” found in “Vampires”, skillfully learns computer literacy and charismatically punishes impudent Internet scammers, who won by a wide margin. It was noted as the best not only by ordinary viewers, but also by journalists, which is not surprising.
Interestingly, viewers quickly forgot about Western video services that left the Russian market, which until recently occupied the main part of the market.
Observers en masse that the Russians have ceased to be interested in their new premieres, including the best that are still available, albeit illegally, but who stands today? However, only a few fans continue to engage with them, watching and translating the latest news from Netflix, Apple and other Western streams. According to Ksenia Boletskaya, director of interaction with Yandex industry, the largest share of views in all categories of the series belongs to domestic TV series, the second – by a wide margin – is still American, Turkey’s share is not as large as it used to be, but it is growing, and here China and India are still in the South It doesn’t occupy as big a place as Korea.
Favorite old movies are also in constant rotation, for example the immortal “Brigade” from the 90s. Sergei Bezrukov remains one of the most sought-after actors, the program included two major projects with him in the lead roles – “Buffalo Hunt”, in which he repeated the acting model tested in Vysotsky, and “Plevako”, in which he was. Of course he played the legendary lawyer. In general, it seems that Russian audiences are becoming more and more conservative in their tastes. However, the novelty still permeates the screen, albeit in a special form. For example, more and more comedy heroes are becoming active, independent, ready to make independent decisions and lead, and not the modest and quiet Cinderella in need of salvation, as it was until recently.
In dramas, things are much worse – the dramatic conflict is based on real stories, real problems, but both the audience and the producer avoid them. On the other hand, mystical stories huddled together on the fringes gain their place in the sun, especially with historical, or rather costume plots.
The festival jury awarded the grand prize to Cerberus, a historical thriller about the events that followed the Decembrist uprising. A rather complicated plot, a visual world in which the traces of the recent Channel One project “Salvation League” are predicted, but with a detective intrigue: after the investigation, the informants die one after another in an unnatural but mysterious way. The investigation is led by the unrecognizably fabricated Timofei Tribuntsev, and Yevgeny Tsyganov, who starred in the lovable series Lucky for the project’s director, Vladimir Shchegolkov, plays the mysterious Count Witte, who is clearly involved in this bloody game. . The series is ready and will soon air in Premier online cinema and then on NTV.
In my opinion, the main trend in Russia has become: “We are good and kind, although we sometimes make mistakes, but love and friendship always win.” This is not to say that there is nothing new in this – genres that restore justice are always in mass demand. But judging by the movies watched, the lack of fairness among today’s audiences is clearly off the charts, and TV shows are perhaps the only vehicle that can fill it today.
The author expresses his personal opinion, which may not coincide with the editors’ position.