Yolki 1914

Yolki 1914 (Russian: Ёлки 1914, meaning Christmas Trees 1914), is a 2014 Russian comedy film. It is a prequel to the 2013 film Yolki 3.

Yolki 1914
Directed by
Produced by
  • Timur Bekmambetov
  • Sergei Ageev
  • Olga Kharina
Written by
  • Olga Kharina
  • Ilya Zofin
  • Anna Matison
  • Alesya Kazantseva
  • Oleg Malovichko
  • Sugar 1kg (Igor Meerson, Konstantin Bushmanov, Sergey Arefiev, Sergey Sysoev)
  • Timur Ezugbai
Starring
Narrated byKonstantin Khabensky
Music byYuri Poteenko
Cinematography
  • Sergei Trofimov
  • Pyotr Dukhovskoy
  • Yuri Korobeinikov
  • Mikhail Milashin
  • Evgeniy Ermolenko
  • Anton Belov
Edited byMaria Likhachova
Production
company
Release date
  • December 25, 2014 (2014-12-25)
Running time
106 minutes
CountryRussia
LanguageRussian
Budget$9 million[1]
Box office$12 914 962[2]

Plot

The film takes place in the Russian Empire in 1914 against the backdrop of the First World War which is just beginning. Six segments tell about life in large and small Russian cities, in noblemen's estates and poor urban families.

Segment "House"

Dandy Boris Efimovich (Ivan Urgant) buys a manor on the Black Sea coast to impress his rich bride Bella (Evgeniya Khirivskaya), but former owner of the house Evgeny Pavlovich (Sergey Svetlakov) does not have the heart to tell the numerous households who live there that they do not have a home anymore. And to make matters worse, the next day is Christmas.

Segment "The Royal Christmas Tree"

Ivan (Aleksandr Pal), a soldier lying in a hospital set up in the Konstantinovsky Palace, collects signatures from all over Russia to return the holiday of the tree. Officer of the tsarist army (Konstantin Khabensky) helps him in this matter.

Segment "Figure skaters"

Officer of the tsarist police Pyotr Kuznetsov (Artur Smolyaninov) and his girlfriend Xenia (Katerina Shpitsa) are to perform at the international figure skating championship in Russia, but Pyotr is torn between love for the sport, the girl and his service.

Segment "The Bear"

Village lad Senka (Anton Bogdanov) is friends with a tame bear, but the extravagant and ever-hungover gentleman (Yan Tsapnik) is trying to separate them in order to curry favor with the count (Viktor Verzhbitsky) who has long wanted to hunt a bear.

Segment "Volunteers"

Friends from Yekaterinburg (Alexander Golovin and Alexander Domogarov, Jr.), enlist as volunteers for the war, and before leaving they want to visit their acquaintance Katya (Anna Khilkevich), who has not decided which of them she chooses to have as a boyfriend. But Katya is in Perm. She calls the guys to visit, but also requests them to pick up her grandmother Marya Ilinichna (Galina Stakhanova).

Segment "Chaliapin"

Glasha and her little brother Grisha need a Christmas miracle - their mother is very sick, and there is no money or food left for the family. They are saved by a chance meeting with Feodor Chaliapin.

Cast

Production

Shooting began in February 2014 with the segment "Figure skaters". The final scene of the film was filmed in several cities: St. Petersburg, Perm, Yekaterinburg, Voronezh, Irkutsk, Omsk, Krasnoyarsk, Saratov and Astana. As reported by the distributors, for each of the cities where the shooting took place, there was to be a film with its own version of the finale.[3]

On the set of the film, Russia's record for the most popular selfie was set; 349 Perms, 441 Saratovites, 423 Kazanians, 369 Irkutsk, 312 Omsk citizens, 318 Voronezh residents and 420 Krasnoyarsk residents took part.[4]

To play the figure skater, Artur Smolyaninov had to undergo training, as before that he skated only in his childhood when playing hockey. Professional ice dancer Ilia Averbukh taught Artur figure skating.[5]

The bear which appeared in the film is Stepan, which appeared in several films (The Edge, The Barber of Siberia and The Horde).[6]

Konstantin Khabensky, who did the voiceovers for all the Yolki films, appears for the first time on screen in Yolki 1914.

References
  1. "ЕЛКИ 1914". Kinobusiness.
  2. "ЕЛКИ 1914". Kinometro.
  3. "Фильм "Елки 1914" получил семь вариантов финала". REN TV.
  4. "«Ёлки 1914» вошли в Книгу рекордов России". OK!.
  5. "«Елки 1914»: Как любили и занимались фигурным катанием век назад". Kinopoisk.
  6. "Тимур Бекмамбетов снимет «Елки 1914» при участии медведя Степана". tele.ru.
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