Mission possible for Russian cosmonaut?
Published 12 March, 2009, 18:01
A special version of the most expensive movie in the history of Russian cinema, the $40 million sci-fi epic ‘The Inhabited Island’, will be released to target Western audiences.
The film’s director Fyodr Bondarchuk says the strong point of his action drama is that “it’s a story with universal appeal.” Set in 2157, 20-year-old cosmonaut Maksim Kammerer’s spaceship crashes on an unregistered planet where he has to come to grips with death, love, friendship and betrayal – among other things.
Could the die-hard Russian cosmonaut played by student actor Vasily Stepanov, hailed as a sex symbol, become popular in the West, namely with American teenagers?
Fyodr Bondarchuk replies, No, despite “Stepanov’s fantastic looks…”
“To become popular in the U.S., you’d have to have a Hollywood star, someone American audiences are familiar with,” explains Bondarchuk.
However, Bondarchuk is optimistic about the future of The Inhabited Island:
“Watch Equilibrium or Gattaca – these films are not typical for the American cinema. It also took quite a long time for films like Children of Men and Blade Runner to conquer audiences… The Inhabited Island is not a film that will take cinemas by storm on the very first weekend.”
Based on the famous novel written by the Strugatsky brothers in 1968, many say The Inhabited Island might be difficult to follow if you haven’t read the book.
The film’s producer, Aleksandr Rodnyansky, agrees that “it’s always better with the people who read the book. We tried our best to make those who haven’t read the novel still feel comfortable, not like they’ve lost the plot of the story.”
One of Russia’s most experienced producers describes The Inhabited Island as a ‘globally understandable story’:
“We have huge interest from distribution companies and film critics, but I honestly have no idea on how Western audiences will react to it,” says Aleksandr Rodnyansky, adding “Russian cinema doesn’t have much experience with distribution of its movies in the West.”
The shooting of the ambitious sci-fi drama took 10 months in Crimea, Ukraine. It involved seven thousand actors for crowd scenes, over three thousand costumes, 450 kilos of make-up and a record quantity of pyrotechnics – over 1.5 tons of TNT.
Valeria Paikova, RT
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