Vitali MELNIKOV
Виталий МЕЛЬНИКОВ
Vitali MELNIKOV
Russia, 2003, 100mn 
Colour, fiction
Bednyy bednyy Pavel
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Бедный бедный Павел

 

 Poor Poor Pavel

 Pauvre pauvre Pavel

 
Directed by : Vitali MELNIKOV (Виталий МЕЛЬНИКОВ)
Writing credits : Vitali MELNIKOV (Виталий МЕЛЬНИКОВ)
 
Cast
Svetlana KRIUCHKOVA (Светлана КРЮЧКОВА)
Vadim LOBANOV (Вадим ЛОБАНОВ)
Sergey MURZIN (Сергей МУРЗИН)
Viktor SUKHORUKOV (Виктор СУХОРУКОВ)
Oleg YANKOVSKY (Олег ЯНКОВСКИЙ)
Aleksey ZAYTSEVA (Алексей ЗАЙЦЕВ)
 
Cinematography : Sergey ASTAKHOV (Сергей АСТАХОВ), Valery REVICH (Валерий РЕВИЧ)
Production design : Aleksandr ZAGOSKIN (Александр ЗАГОСКИН)
Music : Andrey PETROV (Андрей ПЕТРОВ)
Companies : Lenfilm
Release Date in Russia : 06/11/2003
 

Awards :
Best Actor in a Supporting Role Oleg YANKOVSKY , Golden Eagle awards, Moscow (Russia), 2004
Best actor Oleg YANKOVSKY , Honfleur Russian Film Festival, Honfleur (France), 2003
Best actor Viktor SUKHORUKOV , Award "White Elephant", Moscow (Russia), 2003
Best actor Viktor SUKHORUKOV , "NIKA" Prizes, Moscow (Russia), 2003
Best music Andrey PETROV , Open Russian Film Festival Kinotavr, Sochi (Russia), 2003
Prix de la Critique internationale (FIPRESCI), 2003
Prix du meilleur film, du meilleur premier film et de la critique au festival "Kinotavr", 2003

Plot synopsis
The title of the film quotes the phrase with which Emperor Paul, played by Viktor Sukhorukov, once heard himself addressed by his great-grandfather, Peter I, in a hallucinatory vision. It expresses the remorse and self-pity that Paul feels on the eve of his assassination by imperial guards. At the same time, it alludes to the bequest that the founder of Russia’s 18th century left for his heirs and it serves thematically to unite the three films of Vitalii Mel'nikov’s historical trilogy, which include The Royal Hunt (1990) and Tsarevich Alexei (1997). Paul is portrayed to a certain extent as a victim and the intellectual appeal of the film is in deciphering the particular workings of palace politics and the degree to which blame can be placed directly upon Paul for the tragedy of his brief reign.
Source : www.kinokultura.com
 

commentaries
Vitalii Melnikov : Poor Poor Pavel (Bednyi, bednyi Pavel) (2003), David GILLESPIE, kinokultura.com, 2004
 
Comment by www.kinokultura.com

Selected in the following festivals or events :
- Nantes Russian Film Festival, Nantes (France), 2014
- Festival of Russian cinema in Nice, Nice (France), 2013
- Russian Film Week in Paris : Regards de Russie, Paris (France), 2011
- Europalia Russia 2005, Brussels (Belgium), 2005
- Strasbourg two weeks of Russian cinema, Strasbourg (France), 2004
- Golden Eagle awards, Moscow (Russia), 2004
- Festival ''Cinema and literature'', Gatchina (Russia), 2004
- Festival "Vivat Kino Rossii", St Petersburg (Russia), 2004
- Russian Film Week in Paris : Regards de Russie, Paris (France), 2003
- Honfleur Russian Film Festival, Honfleur (France), 2003
- Open Russian Film Festival Kinotavr, Sochi (Russia), 2003
- Moscow International Film Festival (MIFF), Moscow (Russia), 2003
- "Vyborg" Russian Film Festival (formerly ''A Window to Europe''), Vyborg (Russia), 2003
- Award "White Elephant", Moscow (Russia), 2003
- "NIKA" Prizes, Moscow (Russia), 2003