Drag and don't let go

On May 28, the expert council under the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation rejected the last script of the late director Pyotr Todorovsky

The Council has selected 12 films that will receive state funding. Another 12 remained in reserve. A total of 41 applications were considered. Including the project of Mira Todorovsky, the widow of director Pyotr Todorovsky, who was the producer of many of his films.

The film she presented is called Meeting on the Elbe, based on her husband's latest script. The time of action is the end of World War II. The plot is a love story of a Russian officer and a German girl. In this scenario, Todorovsky reflected his personal experience: in 1944 he was the commander of a mortar platoon on the 1st Belorussian Front, he reached the Elbe. According to his wife, he wrote about how the war ended, how relations with the Germans and Americans were built.

But the expert council did not like this project. They won't give him money. The script found "numerous inconsistencies with historical reality."

But state funding, for example, will receive the film "Doctor" by the famous actor Gosha Kutsenko, who suddenly decided to act as a director. And the “Thunderer” painting was sent to the “reserve” - about the military confrontation between Russia and the United States.

In fact, among the forbidden plots now is the victory over the war and its inhumanity. And only films are allowed where the victory over the fascist machine is shown.

Human cinema about the war does not fall into the opportunistic stream associated with the revival of the Cold War, which we are now witnessing. Because in such a movie, there are people on both sides, not opponents. Their relationship develops despite the war. Of course, the Ministry of Culture does not need such a movie.

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Among the forbidden plots is the victory over war and its inhumanity. And only victory over the fascist machine is allowed

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Let me remind you that soon the Union of Cinematographers will adopt the so-called ethical charter, which introduces a number of new restrictions for filmmakers, such as, for example, “not to subject historical facts and biographies of famous personalities to subjective distortions.” Or - “without extreme artistic and ideological necessity, do not show violations of the law, scenes of violence in films ...” These rules will be advisory in nature, but this reminds me of the story “Turnstile” by Mikhail Zhvanetsky, where he proposes to install turnstiles on the streets. To bypass the turnstile, you do not need to show documents, but at the same time you always feel that you are within the limits. And at the right moment (of course, not necessary for you, but for those who control) the turnstile will not let you in, it will become an obstacle and you will not pass.

The ethical charter will be such a turnstile. As soon as some tape seems reprehensible or immoral to our officials, they will apply to the Union of Cinematographers, where the ethical commission will pass the necessary verdict. The bans will come not on behalf of the state, not from the Ministry of Culture, as it is now, but from a public organization. No censorship, what are you!

Of course, there will always be those who object: the state is not obliged to pay for films that do not correspond to its interests, such as a request for patriotism. But it doesn't give money out of its own pocket, out of ours! And where did they get the idea that they know what kind of movie meets our needs?

In a normal society, officials are trustees who use the money that society accumulates. But in Russia, the reality is that they are the masters, not us, because we ourselves have made a fetish out of the state. But in essence, these people are ignorant impostors who have not found a better use for themselves than to stand with a halberd, drag and not let go!