Fifteen reasons to watch the Russian movie The Silver Rates on Netflix

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Please note that, for the time being, the francophone adaptation of the Patins d’argent is not available on the Canadian, Swiss and Belgian versions of Netflix.

Atmosphere of a winter revelation in Saint-Petersburg

The main character, Matveï, a courier, must, in 1899, deliver a cake to the aristocrats. Instead of an electric scooter, a preferred means of locomotion of the books of our day, it possesses a pair of silver pads, inherited from its father, a lantern. It comes from a pastry shop hopping on the dormant columns, clinging to a hippomobile car, sawing with insurance on the Neva and settling down to its client.

From this, the spectator of this feature film, first Best Film during the 2022 edition of the Eagle of Gold, whose jury is composed of members of the National Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Russia , is immersed in the beauty of winter in Saint-Petersburg, which does not seem to last long. There is a Christmas market on the ice of the river, garlands adorned with bridges, majestic historic buildings at every turn, churches and cathedrals, all of which are covered with snow.

Each plan of the architecture and interiors of the vertebrates palais of Gatchina, of Marble and of Cheremetiev deserves a break and an observation without end, in order to impregnate more long of this account of fairy-tale Russian flavors.

Action scenes in skates

By chance, Matveï loses his job while he has an urgent need for money – not for himself, but for his father, who has contracted a fetish and has to be operated on. In the search for money, the protagonist is consequently in contact with a secret Marxist company whose members are fighting for a change of power and willing at the same time the rich citizens during the ice cream market.

In general, in this film by director Michael Lockshin, the most interesting is about ice cream, including training, pursuits, fights and dances. Each of the actors followed a course of patinage of three months, and comedian Fiodor Fedotov, who plays Matveï, is particularly proud of his element in his hockey career.

All ice cream scenes are filmed in a dynamic way, with a slowdown to all good places – the pursuits and the combats remind the Sherlock Holmes by Guy Ritchie, as the dances resemble a Disney account.

Also read: How the Russians have fun on the ice (photos)

Sublimes costumes

The life of fullness in the Marxist team Matveï to meet the young aristocrat Alissa, whose protagonist is irreparably amorous. The stealers can not offer that simple pardessus gray and pulls in linen, but Alissa and her entourage carry simple robes with the tooth, flowers and plumes, white fur coats, many hats (extravagant hats) ), traditional Russian hairdressers and blue military uniforms with doric imperial blazers.

Many costumes were cousin to the main in a single copy. Galina Solodovnikova, the main artist of the film, was inspired by the work of couturiers who provided the imperial court of Nicolas II and collections of homes known worldwide as Dior, Alexander McQueen and Yves Saint Laurent, Revel Vogue Russia.

“The objective was to make the stylization, to create images that would be perceived as luxury and sophistication today”Solodovnikova declared in the magazine.

Concerning the costumes, the directors obviously did not look to be very precise about the historical plan. Consequently, the clothes resemble advantageous to the carnival costumes to the Russian, but in the context of the general atmosphere of the work, they are appropriate.

Immersion in Imperial Russia at the end of the XIX century

Well that The Silver Skates is before all an entertaining film with lots of fairy tales and fantastic elements, certain events and details of life in pre-revolutionary Russia and has been very precisely proposed by the directors.

For example, the patina was really one of the most popular times of the era: the “dry youth” and the aristocrats would only patin in the Tauride Garden, while the patio of the Ioussoupov Garden was a place of predilection for ordinary Saint Petersburg citizens, as explained by Tatiana Volodina, Doctor of History and Professor, at the Okko Demand Film Site. It’s on the ice of the garden Ioussoupov which holds the balls, masks or non, as well as the festive celebrations. In other words, in the years 1860 and 1870, an artistic skating school was opened, in which the first Russian Olympic champion in this discipline, Nikolai Panin-Kolomenkin, studied.

By the way, the father of the main character supplies and owns the city oil lamps, which were a difficult job – one employee had to maintain 50 lanterns in the city every day. The electric lighting was even more exotic to him, the ordinary people had different times of habit. In the movie, Alissa’s waitress is more like a light bulb.

Then, the superior courses for women, which Alissa is ready to attend, also exist, well in Saint-Pétersbourg, they appeal to Bestoujev courses, and it was impossible for them to return without the permission of their mother or his tutor. The Russian scientific celebrity Dmitri Mendeleïev, who appeared in several scenes of the film, was beautiful and gave good lectures.

Finally, the Russian balls were also organized in Saint-Petersburg, the most spectacular of which took place in 1903 at the Palais d’hiver and coincided with the 290th anniversary of the Romanov House. On this occasion, women wore noble costumes of the XVII century, paysanne robes and kokochniks, while the men were disgusted by streltsys (a former military corps) and fauconniers. The ball was given a place at exceptional Russian folk dances, which invited guests would appreciate in advance.

Also read: The tsar’s last big party is now in color

Romantic history with socio-political context

Towards the end of the film, the viewer reckons that The Silver Skates is not only a fair account of the New Year.

Matveï is a poor private courier who does his job and has the only means of earning money by being at the service of a group of revolutionary thieves.

Alissa’s role in the film allows her to deal with the topics of feminism and equality. The whole company assures him that a woman does not need an education and that the only “feminine” happiness is marriage. During this time, the women of the film’s crowned with magic and the mediums, proving a profound ignorance.

In pre-revolutionary Russia, illustrated in The Silver Skatesthe bureaucracy was omnipresent – the streets of Saint-Petersburg were blocked to allow the rich to pass, while the stalactites were unleashed from all that were one of them tombait on the maire. Civil servants have been working on corruption projects under cover of national product production, burning undesirable books and presenting the ruins of the country as a result: “Trousers and chickens are our strategic advantage over our Western partners”. An attentive spectator to contemporary Russian news will see here also a satire of Russia today.

Or, the parallels do not stop there. In the film, the waterfall between the social classes of the country is accentuated and the authorities suggest introducing mattresses in place of sabers to control the embezzlement in the streets. Moreover, one of the main characters, Prince Troubetskoï, whom Alissa deserves to be deposed, is an agent of brutal special services whose only true passion is power and money. Thus, he affirms that the people should have more than one “policeman armed with a saber”, thus, he declares with assurance: “You are wrong, but I am a liberal” (which, in modern Russia, is almost synonymous with “opposing”).

Consequently, The Silver Skates is a kind of homage to the people as Titanic, in which class divisions and sociopolitical problems are displayed with a unique pre-revolutionary Russian savior. Fans of romantic comedies and history buffs about the triumph of liberty face an unjustifiable cruelty that will surely appreciate this film.

Dance this other articlewe give you five good reasons to watch the Russian superhero movie “Major Grom: Plague Doctor” on Netflix.

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