Close your eyes and feel yourself transported to\u00a0mythical \u201cFranglia,\u201d where liberal values have triumphed over tradition, and human rights now reign. Gender identity is\u00a0fluid, and refugees from the Muslim world are welcome. You know \u2014 a\u00a0nightmare. That\u2019s the dystopic setting for a\u00a0new Kremlin-funded film that failed spectacularly at\u00a0Russia\u2019s box office this summer. In\u00a0the three weeks it\u00a0screened in\u00a0theaters, Andrey Grachev\u2019s Tolerance grossed roughly $1,315 on\u00a0a\u00a0budget that reportedly exceeded 200 million ($2.4 million). In\u00a0its opening weekend, showings averaged an\u00a0audience of\u00a0three people. Meduza reviews the outrageous plot and troubled production of\u00a0this historically bad movie.<\/p>\n
Andrey Grachev\u2019s cautionary tale of\u00a0a\u00a0Europe overrun by\u00a0\u201ctolerance\u201d begins with an\u00a0explicit warning: \u201cThis film represents the director\u2019s vision that omnipresent Anglo-Saxon liberalism will soon cause the ultimate degradation and extinction of\u00a0once-prosperous countries and peoples.\u201d Grachev spent years trying to\u00a0bring Tolerance to\u00a0the big screen. Until now, his filmography has consisted mostly of\u00a0documentaries about great men of\u00a0history, such as\u00a0Emperor Alexander I, the writer Alexey Tolstoy, and the wrestler Ivan Poddubny.<\/p>\n
A\u00a0teaser trailer for an\u00a0earlier version of\u00a0Tolerance first appeared in\u00a02018. At\u00a0the time, the most remarkable thing about the film was that it\u00a0featured ultranationalist writer Zakhar Prilepin in\u00a0a\u00a0role as\u00a0a\u00a0serial killer. Prilepin was living in\u00a0Donetsk and working as\u00a0an\u00a0adviser to\u00a0the leader of\u00a0the self-proclaimed Donetsk People\u2019s Republic. Addressing Tolerance\u2019s budget problems, Prilepin complained<\/a> \u2014 not for the first time \u2014 that the Russian government only funds anti-patriotic films, like Andrey Zvyagintsev\u2019s Leviathan, which won a\u00a0Golden Globe and the Cannes prize for best screenplay.<\/p>\n In\u00a02019, still unable to\u00a0secure funding for his tale from \u201cFranglia,\u201d Grachev reworked the script into a\u00a0novel. The book\u2019s author was listed as\u00a0\u201cAroldo Berni,\u201d the name of\u00a0the story\u2019s tragic hero. There was also an\u00a0audiobook version, but still, no\u00a0one came forward with the money needed to\u00a0finish the motion picture.\u00a0<\/p>\n That changed with the full-scale invasion of\u00a0Ukraine.<\/p>\n In\u00a0September 2022, Russia\u2019s Culture Ministry provided funding to\u00a0Grachev. Public allocations for Tolerance are unknown, but experts who spoke to\u00a0the Telegram channel Mozhim Obyasnit<\/a> said the budget was at\u00a0least 200 million rubles ($2.4 million) \u2014 on\u00a0par with\u00a0Leviathan\u2019s state funding. Sources told the channel that the ministry sponsored Grachev\u2019s production as\u00a0a\u00a0\u201csocially significant project,\u201d with selection committee members specifically praising the \u201cbold and radical teaser featuring Zakhar Prilepin.\u201d<\/p>\n Ivan Filippov, a\u00a0researcher who studies pro-Kremlin outlets on\u00a0Telegram, published a\u00a0leaked slideshow from a\u00a0pitch presentation that producers Maria Pankratova and Alisa Stepnova reportedly showed to\u00a0potential film distributors. Both producers have worked on\u00a0Grachev\u2019s previous projects. The slideshow reveals that the team behind Tolerance aimed to\u00a0reach audiences who enjoyed Bong Joon Ho\u2019s Oscar-winning best picture, Parasite. Pankratova and Stepnova promoted the film as\u00a0similarly \u201cbold, realistic, and therefore very frightening.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Warning:<\/strong> The following film trailer features graphic violence.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The plot<\/strong><\/p>\n Tolerance is\u00a0an\u00a0undeniably frightening movie, though not for the reasons its creators hoped.\u00a0<\/p>\n Set in\u00a0the fictional European nation of\u00a0Franglia, the film follows residents of\u00a0the small southern town of\u00a0Parilon. The local pastor\u2019s daughter is\u00a0a\u00a0transgender woman whose transition creates a\u00a0rift with her father. In\u00a0promotional posters, the actor playing the daughter is\u00a0identified only by\u00a0the character\u2019s name, Kallisto Massi. Despite Kallisto\u2019s trouble at\u00a0home, the town embraces and celebrates her identity, making her into something of\u00a0a\u00a0local celebrity. Only the pastor\u2019s childhood friends \u2014 a\u00a0winemaker and the star of\u00a0the film, police chief Aroldo Berni \u2014 share his disapproval. When Chief Berni tries to\u00a0have Kallisto evaluated by\u00a0a\u00a0psychiatrist, the doctor declares her mentally sound. Meanwhile, church officials, troubled by\u00a0the pastor\u2019s transgender child, strip him of\u00a0his ministerial duties, ultimately driving him to\u00a0disown his own daughter.<\/p>\n Later in\u00a0the film, a\u00a0refugee camp appears on\u00a0the town\u2019s outskirts, and Parilon promptly descends into violent chaos. One night, a\u00a0group of\u00a0men from the camp wanders into town and attacks Kallisto on\u00a0her way home from a\u00a0bar. Before they can rape her, they discover she is\u00a0transgender and castrate her in\u00a0outrage. In\u00a0a\u00a0horrific scene featured prominently in\u00a0the film\u2019s trailer, the men then crucify her body on\u00a0the facade of\u00a0her father\u2019s church. Kallisto survives, but the pastor refuses to\u00a0pursue her attackers, reasoning that she wanted to\u00a0be\u00a0rid of\u00a0her penis anyway.<\/p>\n Launching an\u00a0investigation into the brutal assault, Chief Berni seeks the guidance of\u00a0his former mentor, now imprisoned for murdering 21 people. This meeting introduces Zakhar Prilepin\u2019s character, the film\u2019s ideological mouthpiece. His killing spree, it\u00a0turns out, was intended as\u00a0a\u00a0warning to\u00a0society about the dangers of\u00a0tolerance and multiculturalism. He\u00a0murdered only \u201cprostitutes, gays, drug addicts, and one liberal politician,\u201d we\u00a0learn, in\u00a0order to\u00a0send the message that excessive humanism will destroy Europe. The character even cites his own 21-year prison sentence \u2014 just 12 months for each victim \u2014 and comfortable conditions as\u00a0proof of\u00a0a\u00a0broken society.<\/p>\n The film\u2019s final act features another round of\u00a0graphic violence, this time aimed at\u00a0the winemaker\u2019s daughter, who serves as\u00a0a\u00a0humanitarian worker at\u00a0the refugee camp. The authorities do\u00a0nothing when she is\u00a0raped and left for dead, leading her father to\u00a0attack the camp and take hostages. The police chief tries to\u00a0stop his friend but ultimately shoots him dead and ends up\u00a0in\u00a0prison himself.<\/p>\n A\u00a0true disaster film<\/strong><\/p>\n Despite the many years Andrey Grachev spent crafting this supposed masterpiece, Tolerance premiered with virtually no\u00a0advertising campaign. Tellingly, even the film\u2019s distributor, Cinemaus Studio, did not publish the trailer on\u00a0its YouTube channel<\/a>. Grachev had to\u00a0share it\u00a0himself on\u00a0his personal account<\/a> with just 83 subscribers. Even Zakhar Prilepin said nothing about the movie on\u00a0his Telegram channel<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tolerance proved to\u00a0be\u00a0a\u00a0spectacular commercial disaster. Kinopoisk reports<\/a> the film earned a\u00a0mere $1,135 during its brief theatrical\u00a0run. Despite playing in\u00a041 Russian theaters over three weeks, the movie attracted only 192 viewers during its opening weekend, averaging just three audience members per screening, according to\u00a0one industry report<\/a>. The film has since disappeared from cinemas entirely. Only some piracy websites still carry it.<\/p>\n Please consider supporting Meduza! Your donations are crucial not just for our newsroom but for all of\u00a0our readers. That includes Andrey Zvyagintsev, the filmmaker behind Leviathan: \u201cThe news that Meduza publishes has become almost unbearable to\u00a0read. But it\u2019s hard to\u00a0live without this pulse of\u00a0our times. They\u2019ve started posting reader mail lately, and I\u00a0consider it\u00a0a\u00a0remarkable record by\u00a0which people decades from now will trace this pulse, this emotional cardiogram of\u00a0what we\u00a0were all feeling throughout this disaster.\u201d Please sign up<\/a> for recurring donations!<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Close your eyes and feel yourself transported to\u00a0mythical \u201cFranglia,\u201d where liberal values have triumphed over tradition, and human…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":472439,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7655],"tags":[332,7888,7883,7886,7875,7868,7880,7870,7881,7887,7876,7864,7871,7865,7873,7874,7866,7869,7867,7885,7879,7872,7884,7882,7878,7877],"class_list":{"0":"post-472438","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-russia","8":"tag-russia","9":"tag-7888","10":"tag-7883","11":"tag-7886","12":"tag-7875","13":"tag-7868","14":"tag-7880","15":"tag-7870","16":"tag-7881","17":"tag-7887","18":"tag-7876","19":"tag-7864","20":"tag-7871","21":"tag-7865","22":"tag-7873","23":"tag-7874","24":"tag-7866","25":"tag-7869","26":"tag-7867","27":"tag-7885","28":"tag-7879","29":"tag-7872","30":"tag-7884","31":"tag-7882","32":"tag-7878","33":"tag-7877"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115313234689294558","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472438\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}