Russian Cinema Opens Up to New Possibilities with Hollywood’s Exit from Russian Screens, but the Results are Disappointing. The Film Industry, with the State’s Support, Has Quantitatively Improved, but Qualitatively Remains Mediocre. The Cinemas are Filled with Remakes of Russian Fairy Tales and Soviet Children’s Films, with a Few Literary Classics Getting a New Interpretation for Adults. The Russian Filmmakers, however, Have Achieved Little Originality, and Craftsmanship Remains the Dominant Feature.
The biggest problem of Russian filmmakers and screenwriters is an old one: their deep-seated contempt for their own country and its history, particularly its Soviet era. They – the Soviet history – are rich in stories that could make a good film script, but few screenwriters dare to take them up, and when they do, they only manage to sneak in malicious side remarks that have nothing to do with historical truth and leave the film critic and the viewer in awe.