Movie opens despite hostile reaction
MOSCOW — A film about the last Russian czar’s affair with a ballerina had its Moscow première Tuesday despite sparking outrage among some Russians that has resulted in Molotov cocktails being hurled at a movie studio.
Matilda has drawn fierce criticism from hard-line nationalists and some Orthodox believers who consider it blasphemous. The Russian Orthodox Church glorifies Emperor Nicholas II, who was executed with his family by Bolsheviks in 1918, as a saint.
Although most Russians accept that the affair happened, they maintain the movie’s depiction is distorted and vulgar. The film loosely follows the story of the czar’s infatuation with prima ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya.
What started out nearly a year ago as a campaign to collect signatures to protest the film’s release turned violent in recent months.
Two cars were set on fire outside the office of the director’s lawyer. Signs reading “Burn for Matilda” were reportedly found nearby. Unidentified assailants threw Molotov cocktails at director Alexei Uchitel’s studio.
Uchitel said a few hours before the première that just getting the movie in front of a theatre audience was an achievement.
“It’s not just a victory for the film, but it’s a victory for all reasonable people,” Uchitel said.
Russian lawmaker Natalya Poklonskaya, who served as the chief regional prosecutor in Crimea following its 2014 annexation by Moscow, spearheaded the campaign to ban Matilda.
Poklonskaya sent numerous complaints about Uchitel and his film company to law-enforcement bodies, urging them to audit his taxes, review his finances and investigate him for incitement of religious hatred.
The controversy around the film reflects the increasing assertiveness of radical religious activists in Russia and a growing conservative streak in Russian society that worries many members of the nation’s artistic community.
The czar and his family were executed by a Bolshevik firing squad in July 1918. The Russian Orthodox Church made them saints in 2000.
Uchitel recalled during an interview his shock at seeing a note at a Moscow church seeking signatures for a petition against the movie. What upsets him most is that the protests started after the first trailer’s release, months before the film would be seen.
The filmmaker said he met Poklonskaya this year to defuse the tensions and asked her to at least see the movie first.
“As soon as I’ve offered it to her, I heard: ‘No, I’m not going to watch it.’ I didn’t have anything else to tell her,” Uchitel said.
Poklonskaya said that because Nicholas II is a saint, his private life is off-limits.
“Does this film teach patriotism? Does it teach you to love your motherland? I don’t think so,” she said this month. “You need to respect people. Freedom without bounds is lawlessness and chaos.”
The lawmaker thinks Uchitel should be accountable to Russian taxpayers who might be offended by the film because the production received state funding. Uchitel said one-third of the budget for Matilda came from state coffers.
Uchitel, his team, and movie theatres have reported receiving anonymous threats vowing revenge on those who smear the czar’s memory. Russia’s largest cinema chain said it had contacted police and would not show the movie because of safety concerns.
The chain eventually decided to screen the film after receiving assurances from police.
Matilda was shown to a selected audience on Monday at St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theater, where Kshesinskaya danced 100 years ago. Outside, several people read prayers and displayed placards opposing the movie.