The Silver Skates (film)

The Silver Skates (Russian: Серебряные коньки, romanized: Serebryanye konki) is a 2020 Russian period romance adventure film directed by Michael Lockshin in his feature directorial debut, with a screenplay written by Roman Kantor, and produced by Pyotr Anurov. The film was initially inspired by Romeo and Juliet, and was based on the American novel Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge. The story is set in Saint Petersburg, capital of the Russian Empire, during the winter of 1899 in the late 19th - early 20th centuries. The city's ice-covered rivers and canals act as broad avenues, traversed on ice-skates and sleds, with markets and winter festivals on the ice. Social classes mix in this winter wonderland, and the courier Matvey crosses paths with the aristocrat Alisa is the daughter of a high-ranking official.

The Silver Skates
Directed byMichael Lockshin
Produced by
  • Pyotr Anurov (ru)
  • Leonid Vereshchagin (ru)
  • Anton Zlatopolskiy (ru)
  • Rafael Minasbekyan
  • Nikita Mikhalkov
  • Grigoriy Stoyalov
Written byRoman Kantor
Based onHans Brinker, or The Silver Skates
by Mary Mapes Dodge
Starring
Music byGuy Farley
CinematographyIgor Grinyakin
Production
company
Distributed byCentral Partnership
Release date
  • October 1, 2020 (2020-10-01) (Moscow Film Festival)
  • December 10, 2020 (2020-12-10) (Russia)
Running time
136 minutes
CountryRussia
LanguageRussian
Budget₽500 million
Box office
  • ₽486.9 million[1]
  • $6.480 million (total amount)[2]
  • $6.603 million (outside the CIS)[3]

The film's co-producers included Leonid Vereshchagin, Anton Zlatopolskiy, and Rafael Minasbekyan. The film stars Fedor Fedotov and Sofya Priss,[4] alongside Kirill Zaytsev, Yuri Borisov, Aleksei Guskov, Severija Janusauskaite, Yuri Kolokolnikov, Timofey Tribuntsev, and Aleksandra Revenko in supporting roles.[5] Principal photography lasted from January to May 2019 and took place in Saint Petersburg and the Leningrad Oblast.[6]

The Silver Skates was chosen as the opening film of the 42nd Moscow International Film Festival, where it premiered on October 1, 2020. A limited theatrical release (due to the covid pandemic) was scheduled for December 10, 2020. The film was also shown in IMAX cinemas.[7][8][9]

Plot

On Christmas Eve, established at the end of 1899 in the late 19th century – the 1900s to early 20th centuries, Saint Petersburg's frozen rivers and canals transform the capital city into a fairytale-like wonderland, with bustling festivities on the ice. 18-year-old Matvey is an ice-skating courier of the "Le Grand Pie" confectionery store, renowned for his speed, who makes deliveries for a famous local bakery. He is the fastest thanks to the special silver skates brought by his father many years ago from Holland.

But one ill-fated morning, Matvey is a young man's career in the delivery service ends: a blocked road, a late arrival at the honorable client, a quarrel with the authorities on his return. There is nothing left but to wander around the fair, where Matvey meets a group of pickpockets led by Alex and gets involved with a gang, who are carried away by Marx's ideas about expropriation. The latter is fascinated by the ideas of the class struggle, considers the wealth of the nobility to belong to the people and, without remorse with his comrades, "seizes" several dozen watches and other recklessly hidden valuables from visitors to the shopping malls. Thanks to his abilities, Matvey finds himself in the share and quickly gets used to it, stepping on the path of theft.

From a poor family, his only treasure is a pair of silver-plated skates he inherited from his father, an ordinary lamplighter. His father Pyotr, tormented by a severe cough (no good), does not accept dirty money brought to his house. But the son sets himself a good goal - to save up for a sanatorium and send his daddy to be treated.

We are an ice gang, Matvey didn't have enough problems - thanks to a stupid bet, one deep night he finds himself breaking into on the balcony of Alisa, he is not afraid, the daughter of a respected and wealthy dignitary is Minister Nikolai Nikolaevich, a feeling inevitably arises between them. One problem: the girl is going to be married off to another.

Meanwhile, Alisa Nikolaevna, who is interested in the world of science, an aristocratic daughter of one of the Tsar's ministers, is feeling like a prisoner in her father's mansion. One day their paths cross.

The officer of the Okhrana Department, Captain Prince Arkadiy Trubetskoy, is fighting crime in St. Petersburg and wants to marry Alisa. The interests of all the heroes inexorably intersect ...

Arkadiy longs to marry Alisa out of self-interest, because this will likely lead to his promotion. The girl's heart belongs to Matvey, who is forced to engage in dishonest labor to save a seriously ill father, but a pure-hearted young man. At the insistence of her father, Alisa is forced to become engaged to Prince Arkadiy Trubetskoy, but at any moment she is ready to flee to Paris with Matvey.[10]

Cast
  • Fedor Fedotov as Matvey, a poor lamplighter's son, his only wealth is the inherited silver-plated skates.
Matvey, in turn, dreams of winning Alisa's heart two star-crossed. All he has is a messenger job and his father's old silver skates. Nevertheless, he is determined: he arranges secret romantic dates for Alisa, shows his world, where you can just be happy without any conventions. When simple courtship is no longer enough, he enters into a struggle for his beloved with a court careerist.
  • Sofya Priss as Alisa Nikolaevna, a major dignitary's daughter, an intellectual about science.
Alisa learns that she is going to marry an unloved Prince Arkadiy Trubetskoy. She is in a panic, because now she must give up her dream - Alisa wanted to connect life with her studies. After marriage, she will have to forget about her ambitious goals.

Production

Development
"These were very difficult half a year of my life, but the memories from the filming were only positive! We have a team of amazing professionals who are incredibly dedicated to the cinema, so even the weekly night shifts with frost and blizzard were surprisingly easy, in a creative atmosphere."

—directed by Michael Lockshin

The film was the feature debut of director Michael Lockshin, who had previously directed shorts and commercial advertising.

Work on the film began in December 2018 at Studio TriTe. Other companies behind the project include: Russian media giant Gazprom-Media's Central Partnership, GPM KIT Group of Companies by Rafael Minasbekyan, and Kinoslovo by Pyotr Anurov. The film was shot at the same time as the romantic musical sports film Ice 2, also released in 2020.

Since November 6, 2019, at the 40th American Film Market has been held in Santa Monica, California, Central Partnership has presented the exclusive poster for The Silver Skates, which is attended by leading Moscow film producers.[11][12][13]

Casting

Relatively unknown actors were cast in the main roles; the project was the first major film work for Fedotov and Priss, who are both from Saint Petersburg.

The actors had to go through sports training for the figure skating demands of the roles. Fedotov had been playing ice hockey from the age of three, but had to learn the different skating style during three months of intensive training. Almost all the stunts in the film were performed by Fedotov. The film also involved understudies (professional skaters) and stuntmen.[14]

The company on the screen are the masters and actor of the star: Aleksei Guskov, Yuri Kolokolnikov, Severija Janusauskaite, Kirill Zaytsev, Yuri Borisov, Aleksandra Revenko, Timofey Tribuntsev, Sergey Koltakov, and also stars of European cinema Denis Lavant[15] and Cathy Belton.

Filming
The Fountain House on the Fontanka Embankment was used for Alisa's family estate.

Vast amounts of scenery were created for the film, taken from a 10,000-square-metre (110,000 sq ft) warehouse and installed on special structures on the Great Neva by emergency response personnel.[16][17]

Skates based on historical models were custom made for the film, as well as carriages, sleighs and cars of the period.[18] Jewelry used in the film was rented from Garrard & Co and kept under guard.[19][20][21]

Principal photography was undertaken from January to May 2019. Locations in Saint Petersburg include the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Grand prince with a passage of the Saint Michael's Castle, Vitebsky railway station, and the Stieglitz Museum of Applied Arts. Scenes were also shot in Leningrad Oblast, such as at Great Gatchina Palace in the town of Gatchina. Interior scenes were filmed in Yusupov Palace, Marble Palace, Sheremetev Palace (Fountain House), as well as in the Vladimir Palace (House of Scientists).[18]

Most of the filming took place on the frozen rivers and canals of the bridges in Saint Petersburg, and comprise the largest collection of such footage. The film crew built and decorated ice fairs and skating rinks, and when the spring of 2019 began to come into its own, a large-scale decoration of the frozen Moyka River was built in the pavilion to shoot action scenes on ice.[22]

Post-production

The computer graphics for the project will be handled by Alexander Gorokhov's CGF visual effects studio. The volume of graphics will be impressive, due to the period setting and fantastical elements.

About 200 specialists took part in the work on visual effects. CGF (ru) specialists filmed and scanned the center of St. Petersburg with a special camera so that in the scenes filmed in the pavilion against the background of a chroma key, real architectural objects could be built in post-production.

Controversy

The film was called "scandalous" by journalists because of the initiation of a case by Rosprirodnadzor (Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources). The residents of St. Petersburg were initially surprised to see how public utilities clean snow from the ice at the Moyka River,[23] Kryukov Canal and Griboyedov Canal were covered with blue wooden slabs and film studio agents appeared nearby.[24][25] The paint from these slabs allegedly penetrated the ice and then polluted the water.

Music
The Silver Skates (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Soundtrack album by
Guy Farley
ReleasedDecember 18, 2020
Recorded2020
StudioAbbey Road Studios
GenreFilm score
Length1:05:09
LanguageEnglish, Russian
LabelMovieScore Media
DirectorMichael Lockshin

The original film soundtrack was composed by Guy Farley and recorded at Abbey Road Studios, is composed of 24 numbers, 2 of which directly quote the famous piano piece Moonlight by Claude Debussy, arranged for orchestra. The film also uses fragments of compositions by Pyotr Tchaikovsky (The Final Waltz from The Nutcracker Ballet), Johann Strauss the Son (The waltz - Tales from the Vienna Woods), John Field (Nocturne No. 13 H 60).

Track listing
No.TitleLength
1."The Grand Bakery"3:15
2."Ice Skating (Clair De Lune)"2:57
3."The Palace"1:56
4."Alice Studies (Alisa Studies)"1:46
5."Ice Gang"2:21
6."Secrets and Earrings"3:45
7."Miss Jackson"2:15
8."The Art of Stealing"2:12
9."A Guilded Cage"2:15
10."Ice Revellers"3:45
11."Awakening"1:10
12."The Sting"2:30
13."Spiritual World"5:28
14."Arkady's Fight (Arkadiy's Fight)"3:14
15."Father"1:48
16."Alice Escapes (Alisa Escapes)"1:59
17."Ice Hustle"2:46
18."Surrounded"2:47
19."Alive"3:46
20."Palace Escape"2:49
21."Jump for Your Life"2:40
22."The Wedding"3:13
23."Family"1:47
24."Love Theme"2:45
Total length:65:09

Release
The first teaser in English

Marketing

The first teaser trailer of The Silver Skates was released on June 19, 2019.[26][27] The second trailer was released on October 10, 2019.

Theatrical

The film was initially scheduled to be released in early February 2020.[28] After being postponed by six months, The Silver Skates premiered as the opening film of the 42nd Moscow International Film Festival in October 2020, where Nikita Mikhalkov is the president.[29][30][31]

The film had a special screening in Saint Petersburg at the Alexandrinsky Theater on December 3, 2020,[32][33][34] and its world premiere was held at the cinema center "Karo 11 October" in Moscow on December 8.[35] It is scheduled to be theatrically released in the Russian Federation on December 10, 2020, by the Central Partnership,[36] domestically representing the international distributor Paramount Pictures.

The film has been converted for IMAX theatres using digital media re-mastering technology.[37]

References
  1. Box Office, Russian Cinema Fund`s Analytics (RCFA)
  2. "The Silver Skates (2020)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  3. "Серебряные коньки (2020) - кассовые сборы" [The Silver Skates (2020) - Box Office Gross]. KinoPoisk (in Russian). Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  4. Fedina, Anna (2020-12-09). "Фильм "Серебряные коньки" — главная новогодняя сказка этой зимы" [Film The Silver Skates - the main New Year's fairy tale of this winter]. Vogue (in Russian). Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  5. "Главные роли в фильме "Серебряные коньки" достались дебютантам" [The main roles in the film The Silver Skates went to debutants]. Kino-teatr.ru (in Russian). February 4, 2019. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  6. "Film shot in St. Petersburg released in Russia". «Saint Petersburg» TV channel. 2020-12-11. Retrieved 2021-01-31.
  7. Arnoldova, Yelena (September 29, 2020). "Фильм "Серебряные коньки" получил дату премьеры в прокате" [The film The Silver Skates was the premiere date in theaters]. Gazeta.Ru (in Russian). Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  8. Nekhaeva, Anna (October 1, 2020). "Главные премьеры Московского кинофестиваля" [Main premieres of the Moscow Film Festival]. RIA Novosti (in Russian). Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  9. "Российские зрители смогут увидеть новогоднее романтическое приключение "Серебряные коньки" на больших экранах IMAX" [Russian viewers will be able to see the New Year's romantic adventure The Silver Skates on large IMAX screens]. Echo of Moscow (in Russian). November 20, 2020. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  10. "Серебряные коньки / The Silver Skates (2020)". KinoAfisha.info (in Russian).
  11. "Russian filmmakers to introduce new features at the American Film Market (AFM) - Santa Monica". Russian World Foundation. 2019-11-06. Retrieved 2021-01-31.
  12. "The Silver Skates (2020)". American Film Market.
  13. Alperina, Susanna (2019-11-08). "На презентацию российского кино в США пришло более 100 покупателей" [More than 100 buyers came to the presentation of Russian cinema in the USA]. Russian Gazette (in Russian). Retrieved 2021-01-31.
  14. Smyslov, Vadim (2020-11-24). "Как Федор Федотов получил роль в фильме "Серебряные коньки"" [How Fedor Fedotov got a role in the film The Silver Skates]. GQ Russia (in Russian). Retrieved 2020-11-29.
  15. Bugulova, Inga (March 26, 2019). "Француз Дени Лаван сыграет медиума в фильме "Серебряные коньки"" [Frenchman Denis Lavant will play medium in the film The Silver Skates]. Rossiyskaya Gazeta (in Russian). Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  16. Poslyanova, Anna (March 2, 2019). "Киношники вышли на хрупкий лед Невы" [Filmmakers took to the fragile ice of the Neva]. Komsomolskaya Pravda (in Russian). Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  17. Desyatova, Kristina (March 27, 2019). ""Серебряные коньки": первый фильм, снятый на льду" [The Silver Skates: the first film shot on ice]. Woman's Day (in Russian). Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  18. Entyakova, Anna (February 4, 2019). "Культурная неделя: выбор "Известий"" [Shooting of the Russian historical melodrama The Silver Skates has begun] (in Russian). Vokrug.tv. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  19. ""Серебряные коньки" — фильм открытия 42-го ММКФ" [The Silver Skates - the opening film of the 42nd Moscow International Film Festival]. Mercury (in Russian). September 14, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  20. Kuznetsova, Elizaveta (September 14, 2020). "В фильме "Серебряные коньки" главные героини появляются в украшениях Garrard" [In the movie The Silver Skates the main characters appear in Garrard jewelry]. InStyle Russia (in Russian). Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  21. Ziborova, Yekaterina (November 11, 2020). "Впервые на экране" [For the first time on the screen]. Kommersant (in Russian). Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  22. ""Серебряные коньки" с голливудским размахом: в Северной столице снимается романтический фильм" [The Silver Skates on a Hollywood scale: a romantic film is being shot in the Northern capital] (in Russian). ampravda.ru. July 21, 2019. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  23. Pirogova, Anastasia (February 1, 2019). "Для съемок фильма расчистили от снега заледеневшую Мойку" [To shoot a film, we cleared the icy Moyka from snow] (in Russian). moika78.ru. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  24. Feofanov, Sergey (February 18, 2019). "Крюков канал покрыли лазурным настилом. Там образовался стихийный променад" [Kryukov channel was covered with azure flooring. A spontaneous promenade formed there.]. The Village (in Russian). Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  25. Rozhkova, Anastasia (February 7, 2019). "Как в Петербурге снимают фильм "Серебряные коньки". Из-за него лед Крюкова канала закрыли досками, а по Гороховой ездили кареты" [How the film The Silver Skates is being shot in St. Petersburg. Because of him, the ice of the Kryukov Canal was covered with boards, and carriages drove along Gorokhovaya Street] (in Russian). paperpaper.ru. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  26. Chereneva, Vera (2019-06-19). "Опубликован первый трейлер новогодней сказки "Серебряные коньки"" [The first teaser trailer of the New Year's fairy tale The Silver Skates has been published]. Rossiyskaya Gazeta (in Russian). Retrieved 2021-01-05.
  27. "Опубликован первый трейлер новогодней сказки "Серебряные коньки"" [The first teaser of the romantic film The Silver Skates from Nikita Mikhalkov's studio has appeared]. www.sobaka.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2021-01-05.
  28. "Премьеру мелодрамы "Серебряные коньки" перенесли на 10 месяцев" [The premiere of the romance The Silver Skates was postponed for 10 months]. Around TV (in Russian). December 25, 2019. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  29. "Открылся 42-й Московский международный кинофестиваль" [The 42nd Moscow International Film Festival has opened]. Izvestia (in Russian). October 2, 2020. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  30. Sushkova, Olga (October 2, 2020). "Фильм Открытия 42 ММКФ: как создатели и актёры представили картину "Серебряные коньки"" [Film Opening 42 MIFF: how the creators and actors presented the picture The Silver Skates]. Film industry news (in Russian). Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  31. "The Silver Skates press conference report". Moscow International Film Festival. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  32. Melnikova, Mariya (2020-12-04). "Красивый фильм в красивом городе: в Петербурге состоялась премьера фильма "Серебряные коньки"" [A beautiful film in a beautiful city: the premiere of the film The Silver Skates took place in St. Petersburg]. Petersburg diary (in Russian). Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  33. "Премьера фильма "Серебряные коньки" в Санкт-Петербурге" [Premiere of the film The Silver Skates in St. Petersburg]. Culture of the Two Capitals (in Russian). 2020-12-04. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  34. Nazarova, Yevgeniya (2020-12-04). ""Серебряные коньки" собрали звёзд российского кино в Александринском театре" [The Silver Skates gathered the stars of Russian cinema in the Alexandrinsky Theatre]. Metronews (in Russian). Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  35. "В Москве состоялась премьера волшебного приключения СЕРЕБРЯНЫЕ КОНЬКИ" [The premiere of the magical adventure The Silver Skates took place in Moscow]. Echo of Moscow (in Russian). Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  36. ""Серебряные коньки" открыли ММКФ" [The Silver Skates opened the Moscow International Film Festival]. Film distributor's Bulletin (in Russian). October 2, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  37. ""Серебряные коньки" покажут на больших экранах IMAX" [The Silver Skates will be shown on big screens IMAX]. Film business today (in Russian). November 20, 2020. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
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