No Barbenheimer for the Russians. No public game on the favorite film between the two hits of the season but above all no vision, in cinemas, of the works of Greta Gerwig and Christopher Nolan, completely different from each other, but equally at the center of the global debate this summer.
Russian Deputy Minister of Culture Andrey Malyshev rejected the proposal to distribute the two films in cinemas, even without authorisation, stating that they do not contribute to the aim of “preserving traditional Russian values”. This is how Malyshev replies to the letter from the Deputy Chairman of the Duma, Vladislav Davankov, addressed to the Premier, Mikhail Mishustin, in which he suggested distributing the films but without paying the royalties, since after the start of the war against Ukraine the industry American film withdrew from the Russian market.
Barbie, with her (alleged) feminist message and Oppenheimer, much more political in describing the transition, in the United States, between the Soviet Union considered as an ally country, therefore a friend, to an enemy, and Washington’s nuclear weapons policy, they are both films that speak of a past and a present that Moscow does not want to admit to the Russkiy Mir in which it has progressively closed itself up in recent years. (continued)
“We believe that the films that you propose to show the citizens of our country, Barbie and Oppenheimer, are not aligned with the goals defined by the head of state, to preserve and strengthen traditional Russian spiritual and moral values,” wrote the deputy minister , reminding the audience that at the moment numerous Russian productions are being released in cinemas across the country, such as “Cheburashka”, the animated film about the traditional stuffed animal of a little monkey who turns into a real animal, Dmitriy Dyachenko and ” Witness”, a film about the invasion of Ukraine. The Russian film industry, he added, “is reaping the positives of the reduction in the number of Hollywood films.”
Barbie and Oppenheimer grossed more than $2 billion at the worldwide box office this summer. Davankov appealed to the so-called “compulsory” license for products from “unfriendly countries”. However, pirated versions of the two films have been shown in some Russian cinemas for some time. In Russian cities, as if nothing had happened, many girls dressed in pink, quoting the film by Greta Gerwig. But no politics. Only fashion.
Source-www.adnkronos.com