In recent years, the following trend has emerged in society: the release of some films on the country's screens causes a split in the audience and generates furious debates that are transferred from the sphere of cinematography to the socio-political sphere. So it was with the paintings by A. Zvyagintsev "Leviathan" (2014), A. Shaliopa "28 Panfilovites" (2016), A. Teacher "Matilda" (2017). The same thing happened with the film "Sleeping" (2017) directed by Yuri Bykov.
About the picture
The eight-episode film Sleeping, directed by Yuri Bykov, was released on October 9, 2017. The script was written by Sergey Minaev. The producers of the series are the well-known director and film actor Fedor Bondarchuk and the general director of the STS Media media holding Vyacheslav Murugov. The genre of the film, as defined by Sergey Minaev, is a socio-political thriller.
A little bit about the director
Yuri Bykov comes from a small town in the Ryazan region. After graduating from school, he goes to Moscow and enters VGIK at the acting department, after which he works on the stages of the Theater of the Russian Army, Tetra Moon, Moscow Art Theater.
Bykov played his first role in the movie in 2006 in the film "Love as Love." Then there was a role in the series "Everything mixed up in the house ..." Then there were shootings in the films "Ranetki" (2008), "Keys to Happiness", "Tanks Are Not Afraid of Dirt" (2008), "Major" (2013), " The lights of the big village "," Heels "(2016).
The directorial debut of Yuri Bykov took place in 2009 with the screening of the short film "Head" at the Kinotavr festival. His work was awarded the Short Meter prize. The next film, "Live," shot in 2010, was already full-length. Then, with a break in the year, the paintings “Major” (2013) and “Fool” (2014) appear, in which he is also the author of music. In 2015, the crime drama Method was released. Now the director is working on the film "Plant", according to his statement, this picture will be the last, since he decided to leave the profession.
Yuri Bykov and the series "Sleeping". Reviews
Let's try to figure it out. Judging by the number of reviews on "Sleeping" by Yuri Bykov, the film did not leave anyone indifferent. Undoubtedly, any person has the right to have an opinion and express it without passing to the individual. Some reviews for the first season of the series "Sleeping" contain insulting remarks and even curses against the director and the film. By the way, many viewers watched the tape just because of the hype raised in the press, on television and on the Internet, which was more like bullying. Reviews on the film "Sleeping" by Yuri Bykov can be conditionally divided into positive, constructive, containing valuable comments, rather than minor nitpicking, and sharply negative. Moreover, there are much more positive and constructive ones. Some critics forget that the film "Sleeping" is a feature film, not a documentary, that the director removes what is written by the scriptwriter, and that any author also has the right to his point of view.
The controversy surrounding the film
Around the series of Yuri Bykov, a furious polemic unfolded. The director was accused of having removed the order, sold himself to the authorities, that the film is more like a political television talk show, that, having shown weakness and started to repent, he lost the right to professional work. However, the position of those people, known and unknown, who opposed the persecution of Yuri Bykov for the series "Sleeping" arouses respect.
Sergey Minaev said that it was necessary to discuss him first of all as the author of the script. Speaking at one of the talk shows, Minaev said that he was accused of showing an honest FSB officer, that some of the situations shown in the film are real, all the dialogues are taken from life, transferred to the movies and talentedly shot.
The writer Marina Yudenich, giving a positive review to Yuri Bykov's “Sleeping”, tried to understand why the film caused such fury among some viewers. From her point of view, there is a cold war in which people are participating, who have different ideas about the future of Russia.
The newspaper Zavtra wrote that for the first time in many years a film appeared on the main Russian channel in which moral and ideological priorities are clearly indicated. According to the audience, some carriers of the so-called liberal idea recognized themselves in the Yuri Bykov series "Sleeping", which caused a flurry of negative criticism.
The plot of the series
At the beginning of the film is a warning that all the characters are fictional, and any coincidences are random.
Events begin in 2013 in Libya. During the assault on the Russian consulate in Tripoli, 21 people were killed, among them Fedorov, an employee of the Energy Corporation. As it turns out later, the cause of death was the drain of information on the timing of the evacuation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Colonel Rodionov returns to Moscow, in which he was not 15 years old, and finds himself in the thick of things.
To prevent the gas pipeline from running from Russia to China and undermine the political situation in Russia, the CIA sends its employee to Moscow, whose responsibility is to activate a network of sleeping agents. Sleepers are people recruited by the American intelligence services back in the 90s, many of them occupy high posts in ministries and departments. Each of them receives a message with the words: "It's time to wake up."
The political game begins around human rights activist Osmolov, who accused the FSB of financial fraud related to the gas contract between Russia and China. Osmolov is being abducted, but first information appears that he died during the explosion, then a video appears with the moment of his abduction. The buildup of public opinion begins: through the Internet, interest in the case of a human rights activist is artificially fueled. Vice Prime Minister Ignatiev, to reassure the Chinese side on the eve of the signing of the contract, requires Nefedov to conduct a briefing and tell how the investigation is being conducted in the case of Pyotr Osmolov.
After some time, Rodionov’s group succeeds in capturing a group of Internet “trolls” who conduct various profiles on social networks on given topics and special instructions. When investigating documents found in the office of Agent Scarecrow, they find step-by-step instructions for finding Osmolov’s kidnappers. It becomes clear that a mole is operating in the department, which is leaking information. Denis Boyarinov is accused of betrayal, but Rodionov does not believe this. Very soon, upon learning of the Sleeping program, he logically goes to Urusov and receives confirmation that it was he who instructed Fedorov to stay in Libya for 2 days. Moreover, it turns out that Urusov is an FSB colonel.
Runaway Osmolov under the protection of employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs arrives at a press conference. Having refused police escort, surrounded by a crowd of journalists, he receives an injection in his hand, from which he immediately dies.
Ethan, aka Ivan Zhuravlev, agrees with Bradfield to evacuate with his family, regardless of the outcome of the operation.
Meanwhile, Demoman Slava, together with the killer girl, is preparing for a major terrorist attack. But when Slava bought metal balls for a slingshot, he attracted the attention of one of the buyers, who, suspecting preparation for the attack, turned to Ruben Gazaryan. Ruben goes to the apartment to the demoman, where he is killed.
Nefedov understands that the rally scheduled for the next day will be a terrorist attack, he meets with Paul Bradford and demands to remove the bombers. Bradford is declared persona non grata and expelled from the country.
Zhuravlev uses his TV presenter to bring as many people as possible to the rally. An explosion occurs in the square, panic begins. Rodionov finds Glory in the crowd, who takes hostage TV. The girl bites the terrorist's hand and gets a bullet in the head, the terrorist himself is also killed.
Before leaving for America, Zhuravlev organized an explosion in a restaurant where the entire Chinese delegation was killed. He made sure that under suspicion was Kira, who had gone from him to Rodionov. Rodionov receives an unspoken mission to go to Kiev.
Actors and roles
In the series "Sleeping" by Yuri Bykov, a good cast. This is Yuri Belyaev, who played Nefedova, Igor Petrenko as Colonel Rodionov, Dmitry Ulyanov - the performer of the role of journalist Ivan Zhuravlev, Alexander Rapoport, who appeared before the audience in the guise of a CIA employee Paul Bradford. Among the female images in the series, it is worth noting the role of the killer Lena, perfectly played by Karina Razumovskaya, and the role of Kira, performed by Natalia Rogozhkina. The film also starred director Yuri Bykov (Glory), producer Fedor Bondarchuk (Deputy Prime Minister Ignatiev) and screenwriter Sergei Minaev (Fedorov).
Igor Petrenko
In the series, the famous actor Igor Petrenko played Rodionov, a specialist in the Middle East, who was engaged in anti-terrorist activities in Syria, Egypt, Iraq, and Libya for 15 years. Rodionov is a person who is really worried about what is happening in the country. He compares himself with a shepherd dog guarding his territory. Over the years of service, he lost friends more than once, knows how to value friendship, is ready to risk his life, saving others. According to the audience, in the film of Yuri Bykov “Sleeping”, a man who honestly performs his officer duty is shown in the role of Colonel Rodionov, it is these people that Russia holds to.
Dmitry Ulyanov
The role of the liberal journalist working for the special services of America went to Dmitry Ulyanov. Once upon a time, the hero of Ulyanov, journalist Ivan Zhuravlev, was a friend of Rodionov. Now they were on opposite sides of the barricades, all their conversations during the meetings are proof of this. Zhuravlev considers himself a decent man, while completely calmly managing the lives of other people, exposing his wife, working for the enemies of his country. One can understand the bitterness against the world of Lena and Glory, which life has not spoiled. And what is missing in life for people like Zhuravlev, perfectly played by Dmitry Ulyanov?
Fedor Bondarchuk
The role of Deputy Prime Minister Ignatieff was played by Fedor Bondarchuk. Before us is a man who is at the very top of power. What worries this man? A house in the mountains, where to go to relax. It is important for him that in the West they speak of him as the policy of a new formation. He organizes exhibitions of contemporary art, sponsors the film. A Moscow party gathered around him, in which, according to Rodionov, the conditional opponent does not even need to engage in psychological treatment.
Karina Razumovskaya
An unexpected offer was received by Karina Razumovskaya. In the film "Sleeping" by Yuri Bykov, she got the role of Lena Kolycheva, a killer girl. Lena was pushed onto this path by an unfortunate fate: her father raped her, her mother beat her, bandits allowed her around. She had a baby, whom she raised alone. In the soul of the girl, there was only one feeling left - hatred. Cutting out her rapists, she realized that she could easily kill people. But even she, a cold-blooded killer, wants to keep the remnants of the human within herself.
Alexander Rapoport
Alexander Rapoport played the role of CIA agent, specialist in velvet revolutions Paul Bradford. For this person, political games are a chess game in which some pieces can be sacrificed for the sake of victory. And although he was sent from Russia, he still received a tidy sum to his bank account.
Many viewers are eagerly awaiting the start of filming of the 2nd season of the film, at least in the announcement it was announced that if the series is extended, new series should appear on screens in 2018.