Kidnapping, Caucasian Style!

Kidnapping, Caucasian Style! (Russian: Кавказская пленница!; informally referred to as the Kidnapping, Caucasian Style 2 version) is a Russian comedy film by director Maxim Voronkov. A remake of the 1967 film of the same name, the plot revolves around bride kidnapping, an old tradition that used to exist in certain regions of the North Caucasus.

Kidnapping, Caucasian Style!
Directed byMaxim Voronkov
Written byKirill Zubkov
Based onKidnapping, Caucasian Style by
Leonid Gaidai
Produced byMaxim Voronkov
Valery Glukhov
Ilya Oleynikov
StarringDmitry Sharakois
Anastasia Zadorozhnaya
Gennady Khazanov
CinematographyAlexey Belyaev
Edited byYekaterina Pivneva
Music byAleksandr Zatsepin (music used)
Production
company
Ilya Oleynikov's Producer Сenter
Distributed byMosfilm
Release date
  • August 21, 2014 (2014-08-21)
Running time
95 min
CountryRussia
LanguageRussian

Dedicated to the memory of Ilya Oleynikov, the film premiered on August 21, 2014.[1][2] As was the case with the original, filming was done in the Crimea, not in the North Caucasus.[3] The movie was met with strongly negative reviews in the Russian media, with some considering it being one of the worst films made to date, and it was a box-office bomb.

Plot

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The plot as a whole repeats the story of the original comedy: journalist Shurik arrives in the Caucasus in order to study local culture and folklore, the ancient customs and traditions of the people in this region. Per chance he meets and befriends a girl in a mountainous town, the beauty Nina, which the gouvernor, wealthy and powerful local Saakhov, is planning to marry — if not willingly then by force. Using the gullible journalist as a strawman, Saakhov and his henchmen (the "Coward", the "Fool", and the "Pro", a trio of comic antiheros) are able to kidnap Nina, all seems to work according to plan. But realizing that he had been deceived, Shurik, who fell for Nina, rushes to rescue his beloved one, for a happy ending.

Nevertheless, in the new version of the film there are some differences from the original. For example, Nina is falling in love with Shurik not by coincidence, but when fate has it that they repeatedly are clashing together, and both come closer to each other from the very beginning of the film. Also, the ending of the story was changed.

Cast

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Criticism

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Reception of the movie was strongly negative.[4] Negative reviews of the film have been published in Afisha,[5] in Komsomolskaya Pravda,[6] in Gazeta.Ru,[7] and in Mail.ru.[8] Most critics viewed the remake as a bad copy of the original, which it reproduces almost frame by frame; with the rare moments of originality being unsuccessful. Vladimir Medinsky, Russia's Minister of Culture, promised not to provide any further funding for Voronkov's films after an appeal from YouTube critic BadComedian. Voronkov has not directed another film since.[9]

At the website Megacritic the production scored 25 points out of 100,[10] and at KinoPoisk only 1.1 out of 10 points. The film was also a flop at the box office, collecting $179,843 on a budget of $3.5 million.[11]

References

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  1. ^ Ирина Клявер и Илья Олейников. Шансон на двоих
  2. ^ Илья Олейников выступил в качестве продюсера ремейка легендарной кинокомедии Гайдая
  3. ^ "Режиссёр Максим Воронков – о съёмках фильма "Кавказская пленница!"". m24.ru. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  4. ^ Отзывы и рецензии на фильм Кавказская пленница!
  5. ^ Anton Dolin; Новая «Кавказская пленница»: зачем вы это сделали?
  6. ^ Denis Korsakov; «Кавказская пленница» в аду
  7. ^ Anastasia Lisitsina; Шурик в Запределье
  8. ^ Boris Grishin; Самый гуманный суд в мире
  9. ^ Шутки с YouTube кончились. Novaya Gazeta (in Russian). March 1, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
  10. ^ «Кавказская пленница!» на сайте Megacritic
  11. ^ Сборы фильма at Filmz.ru
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