Monday, November 30, 2009

Tsar: the bloody life & times of Ivan the Terrible

From the Telegraph:
Vyacheslav Manyagin has asked Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to outlaw the film, which he claims is an insult to Russian statehood.

The blockbuster, released earlier this month, has triggered an ill-tempered debate in religious and historical circles at a time when the Kremlin is encouraging Russians to take patriotic pride in their often brutal history.

The film's director, Pavel Lungin, has countered by saying he only showed a fraction of the bloodshed for which Ivan the Terrible became infamous. "We can see a lot of the characteristics of his power today," Mr Lungin told the Moscow Times. "After his reign, Russia was left behind in the process of progress. We have made no headway since that time."

No comments: