Surprisingly good. The film is about priests, but not about religion. It's about looking for a wife ass. There's a slight banter and humour over the church, but all within the reasonable. This is a good youth love melodrama and not about the love of God, but between a man and a woman. The story is very simple, but thanks to it, complete and complete. The actors play well, some very well. The characters are very archetypal. Only the main character did not like, he is weak against their background. But such roles for Denis Vlasenko are worn-out roles, have already become familiar, I would like a fresh face. Everything is beautifully shot, godly, even a little glamorous. I feel the hand of a good director. The pauses, the duration of the scenes, the accents in the narrative, the rhythm of the film, all very clearly sustained and professionally filmed. Quite unusual for modern Russian cinema, a high-quality product turned out, and not the usual crap mounted on the knee.
Good youth melodrama, with humor and very high quality made. I recommend it.
A rather interesting and instructive look at the clergy is presented to us by director Sergei Ilyin, showing the subtleties and traditions of the Orthodox Church. The love story is made in instructive and comedic tones to see with your own eyes the influence of the scriptures and the views of young people in this story.
We are introduced to the son of Father Matvey, who follows in the footsteps of his father and wants to become a priest. The tape tells stories on behalf of Matvey, ridiculing the stereotypes of the Russian Orthodox Church in a comedic tone. The guy performed by Denis Vlasenko perfectly conveys shyness, timidity and surprise from the decisions of his father. This is what the son of a priest should become when from childhood he follows the path of his father?
For director Sergey Ilyin, this is his debut work. The author approached the project so carefully that the picture, in addition to interest, also carries an instructive character. We see that to become the abbot of his temple, Matthew must marry. And not just marry, but, according to all God’s commandments, find a faithful maiden ready to become a mother.
The first act of the tape immediately casts a glimpse of the girl Agate, who works in the temple, and she lives her own life. Here is the contrast of characters that promotes the tape. Fortunately, the secondary lines complement the film, forming a single narrative. Agatha and Matthew create such a different, strange arc of characters that you already predict the plot in advance, but we are thrown into a great confrontation of the guy with himself.
Communication and jokes can turn into something more, but the guys always think, and the girls retain the friendly status they created, so having an opponent was a matter of time. The viewer understands Matthew, sees the position of Agatha in the circle of friends and acquaintances. Perfectly in the plot fits the friend of Agatha and the parishioner of the church Barbara, who knows Matthew and his urgent need for marriage.
The instructions of the father and mother show that this question disturbs them, because Matvey, despite all strictness and obedience, changes before his eyes. This is not the guy who wants to become the abbot of the temple, but a young man who moves at the call of the heart. Certain echoes give an understanding of his zeal and contradiction, but the picture suddenly adds new facts about Agatha, so the plans become dangerous.
I liked the fact that the plot bypasses the cliches of romcoms, showing how, without knowing it, Matvey can influence others. The third act of narration challenges the whole system, all traditions and customs to show that Matvey is an independent person, but soon we face a surprise that results in an unforeseen climax.
As a result, the film surprises with its comedic approach to important Orthodox topics, showing that a person for the sake of a set goal can abandon his principles and desires. Helping himself, Matvey was able to convey his thoughts to others. Equality of generations can be achieved on the basis of the sacred scriptures of ancient times.
Irrational love that is above all rules and dogmas
The author’s directorial debut of Sergei Ilyin in the field of domestic melodramas is really a good reason to get acquainted with the “Matvey Passion” in order not to doubt that among the mainstream films still run partly custom, but not bad work about the important – about irrational love, which is almost always above any rules and dogmas.
I can safely say that I liked what I saw in the end: quite exciting, sometimes funny, but mostly melancholy "speech" Ilyin about modern buzzers, who are also subject to the "high feeling" and are able to run ahead of the locomotive for their lovers even to the ends of the earth. The semantic load was pleasing, although I did not discover anything new for myself - the Orthodox Church and its religion can indeed radically influence the worldview of a "lost" person, direct him to the "true path" and help him survive the most seemingly difficult and intractable situations. A fascinating plot, a well-written script, although I did not like the open ending, pleasant actors in the frame, as well as the unobtrusive culture of Christianity, which is strange to observe in the context of time - everything fits the place and pleases the eye.
The hypotheses coped perfectly: Vlasenko and Zoidova are a duet of opposites, between which chemistry and the credo "and wants, and pricks" are felt. Once again, it’s nice to look at Tribuntsev, albeit in the third plan. Operator work, installation and post-production at a normal and qualitative level.
“Matvey’s Passion” pleases both the controlling idea, and the form of the narrative, and the people in the frame, but I did not leave the feeling that in addition to the light love story, Sergey is trying to push a “cart” about the current demographics of the country, which is now supposedly in decline. So to speak, abortion is a sin, so it is really worthwhile to reproduce for various reasons, which are not always selfless. Either way, it’s either the SRSG or it’s really something, so God is their judge. Enjoy your visit.
There are people in the church as well :) There are many ridiculous, at first glance, absurdities in the film, but this is only at first glance - and if you look closely you will see that life is everywhere ... and this interpenetration leads to a happy ending even such a burnt-out "conscious" rationalist as Robert, who finally saw that "Love is not looking for its own"! if this is a fairy tale, then a very sweet one who wants to believe.
All-covering love or a very beautiful far-fetched tale?
Passion for Matvey - the film of 2023, directed by Sergei Ilyin, shows the life of a young altarman who falls in love with the rebel Agata. The film follows the choice and path of Matvey, who goes against his family and traditions for the sake of his love. . .
This film, made about the life of the Russian Orthodox Church, in some moments ridicules the Church, asks uncomfortable questions, thereby making any believer think, is he doing everything? If Christ had come now, would he have been crucified or accepted? This is the question that the whole film asks. He makes it moderately spiritual, bright and opens the veil on the church life hidden from view. He shows it without embellishment and makes the film more vital because of this. However, the film is not as smooth as I would like, but more on that later.
To the game of actors and to the selection of the cast of questions does not arise. They want to believe, they want to empathize and want to understand everyone in the situation.
But the ending kills everything. I'll try without spoilers. When Matvey tries to get to his Juliet, tell her everything, it turns out ridiculous and stupid. The appearance of one of the main characters breaks the whole ending. It makes it unnatural and very vivid, but tragic fairy tale. Everything the film led to ends up breaking like glass broken by a stone. Like a house of cards, the whole plot of the film collapses over this terrible and so ridiculous ending, creating a double impression of the picture inside. At first, when you watch, you want to advise this film, but after the end you want to forget it and leave somewhere to dust on the far shelf. The film is great, the ending is a complete disappointment. My score only for acting and a well-made picture is approximately
How much I love movies with an atypical but life ending! It was this ending, at the same time sad and life-affirming, that became the decoration of the painting “Matthew’s Passion”. And there are also live characters that are easy to imagine in real life, with whom it is easy to associate yourself, with whom you sincerely experience. There is a lot of good humor in the film, built not on insults and ridicule of a person’s physical shortcomings, but on focusing on the absurdity of a particular situation. The soundtrack of this film seems to have settled in my playlist for a long time, because each composition in it is original, individual, modern, stylish in its sound and making goosebumps with its text.
Without going into the details of the plot, it is worth noting that the film tells about the nuances of the life of Orthodox priests in modern Russia, the conflict of centuries-old traditions with the rapidly changing surrounding reality. The topic turned out to be quite interesting and rarely covered, but what is important here is that the clash of worldviews is not shown in the form of confrontation, but rather as a dialogue between two parties who really want to understand each other, rather than convince the opponent of their rightness. Although, I am sure that there will be many viewers who will miss the religious discussions, focusing on the story of love, betrayal, the choice between feeling and duty, as this side of the picture is also interesting and profound. As a result, all 2 hours of action does not let go of the viewer, creating one problem after another, finding solutions, and then questioning their right to exist. In many ways contributes to such involvement in what is happening on the screen workshop camera work. One has only to look at random shots from films and see how each of them is geometrically verified, how competently the light is put. From a technical point of view, there is nothing to complain about.
To be honest, I was hesitant about this film, because of its title and trailer, which were screaming that it was a comedy about the lives of believers. This topic is quite delicate and not very interesting to me, but it turned out that the main function of the picture performs perfectly - introduces the inner world of believers to those viewers who are afraid to immerse themselves in this issue because of the laws on insulting feelings or for some other reasons. It will be useful for such observers, to whom I include myself, to learn that we are all primarily people who experience mainly the same emotions and, if desired, we can easily find a common language to live in peace and harmony.
“Matthew’s Passion” is a romantic comedy that teaches us kindness and mutual respect that true love is a sincere wish for happiness, regardless of who he finds it with. An educational film for the widest audience.
I will try to give a description without spoilers, but there is a risk that some points will become clear only after watching the film.
Basic is a light tape melodramatic comedy, with beautiful views, beautiful characters, and a claim to the airiness of the plot, which will not draw attention from the aesthetic side. In principle, the film can be watched, squandering all the moments in which sad music plays.
And the film will bring pleasure, high-quality cast, dynamic editing, a good game with the lightest note of comedy grotesque, which will not allow you to get lost who we have on the screen who, even if the hike for beer took fifteen minutes from the screen.
Underneath the basic layer, this is a very complex and ambiguous story about the clash of cultures, the clash of values within cultures, the interweaving of destinies under the sky of a large city. So different, so close, so different and so similar in their youth, fervor and search for truth, not for the mind, but for the heart.
And it is a parable that goes beyond the ages and cultural cliches that no doctrine will give answers to all questions, no decision will lead to what is made for, but in the end we all get what we should get.
For the Orthodox, the film tells about the temptation of a young son of a priest on the path of service. Only after finishing the seminary, he receives the blessing of the blessed father to become the rector of the temple. However, to do this, he needs to be ordained, and most importantly find his mother, because the girl with whom he dated from the 8th grade does not see herself as the wife of a priest. Afraid to tell a strict father the truth and feeling the taste of adulthood, he falls under a powerful temptation on the way to find a new candidate for motherhood. So, on the decoration of the future temple, he meets an informal tattoo girl Agatha, with whom he falls in love.
For a non-Orthodox person, this film should first of all show that “Orthodox people are also people.” They have their own social networks, holidays, gatherings, entertainment, service and life, but it is not something terrible, ossified or dominant. “Love endures long, merciful, love does not envy, love does not exalt, is not proud, is not outrageous, does not seek its own...” And it is love that becomes the symbol that is understood by both church and non-churched people. And it is this symbol that the director of the film tries to convey to each viewer.
For me, this film is a fresh and familiar look at contemporary Orthodox culture, problems of Orthodox youth and church life. I recommend the film to all not rabid atheists, but especially believers and churchgoers. Excellent frame design, charismatic main characters and pleasant music gives in combination an excellent aftertaste of a summer day, and most importantly - faith in people and in love.
Matvey - a young young man, an altarman, whose father - the father of one of the church parishes - has already planned his future life, made a fuss and restores a new temple to him - gives way to his son in life, but there is one problem - the son must marry a girl in a month who does not. And then fate acquaints Matvey with Agatha - an artist, a tattoo master, who accidentally received work on the painting of the restored temple. On the one hand, the positive, diligent, well-read Matvey, brought up in church traditions, on the other hand, Agatha - daring, bright, sharp on the tongue, "living according to her heart", personifies 100% a young girl of the 21st century - two parallel straight lines crossed, two worlds collided, two fell in love. Or not?
The film is just great: a perfectly beautiful picture, stunning landscapes, urban views, modern locations, excellent symmetrical footage, perfect music - everything is here.
The picture retains the dynamics of 120 minutes, throws events one by one, introduces the life of clergy in the 21st century and slightly opens the veil on the industry as a whole, not forgetting to show that we are all people, regardless of profession, and the problems with the youthful maximalism of the son, the development of his own business in the father-priest are the same as in all others.
The whole movie is as natural as it is in life. And dialogue is a separate art form – every word is in its place, every joke is where it should be, and all these church expressions are so thinly woven into the film, as if the actors were indeed brought up in temples and monasteries.
Selection of actors and their performance – a special thank you to all who contributed to this – naturally, clearly, amazing! Where in 2023 did you find beautiful girls with such a clear and inexperienced look? Matvey himself - perfectly fit into the role, and Aglaya - it's just her and no one else, and so you can say about each actor of the picture - all perfectly play in their places in all scenes.
The film is beautiful, emotions caused only positive, 2 hours flew unnoticed - the eyes burned with pleasure of the picture, laughter was constantly present, because all the jokes beat exactly at the goal. A story that could have happened to you, or your friend, or that guy over there, but they would all have been lucky because they got in the way of such, detached from life and at the same time immersed in it with his head, Matvey, who knows what he wants or still does not?
It is necessary to watch, not every day it turns out so successful in every sense of the movie.
On Friday at the end of the work week, take friends, remnants of strength and go enjoy, laugh and recharge with positivity and faith in the fairness and timeliness of all events in life.
The purpose of marriage, the topic of Christian love is not disclosed
The film is good, given that the director Sergey Ilyin (1988) had personal experience of church life, helped in the altar, wore a cleaver, participated in Divine services and attended Sunday school.
But in my opinion, the film does not reveal the main theme of the purpose of marriage, what love is for, what is the meaning of family life.
In the film, the search for love of the main character is primarily the search for inner happiness, the search for the fullness of family life, sacrifice for the sake of another person.
But the goal of the Christian life is much broader, first of all it is Salvation - that is, the union of man and God, his deliverance from the power of the devil, sin, corruption, mortality, incorporation into eternal blessed life in the Kingdom of Heaven (Psalm 23:5) and married life in Christianity, this is the way to achieve this.
In the film, unfortunately, this topic is not disclosed to the audience.
The topic of priesthood is also not disclosed. Why Matthew needs the priesthood, for which this path is also not clear from the picture.
A wonderful film about love and hypocrisy, about rules and truth
Great movie! It can be recommended for viewing both adults and adolescents!
What is it? A young graduate of the theological seminary receives from his father, a priest, an unusual gift - the place of the abbot of the temple. Everything has been discussed and decided with the Lord. But. It turns out that there are obstacles.
The future abbot needs a spouse to become a priest. Matvey (the name of the main character) proposes to a girl with whom they were friends since school. But she refuses him, motivating the refusal by the fact that she is not ready to become a mother.
A young timid altarman needs to find a wife in a month, otherwise he will not be able to become a priest and will not receive the desired parish.
Dating on Orthodox sites leads only to disappointment. A long dress and handkerchief hide hidden inside indifference, falsehood and hypocrisy.
He meets a young girl who does not fit into the format of an Orthodox wife and mother. Brash, in tattoos, smoking... But it's just outside.
The search for answers to the eternal and complex questions of what is above - love or rules?
What will happen next and how it will end – see for yourself!
It's a wonderful humour!
A lot of issues and issues have been raised.
The relationship between fathers and children;
Feelings of young people;
relations within the Church with all problems, stones;
- how sometimes the outer shell of a person does not correspond to the inner content;
- "Pseudo-Orthodox";
on hypocrisy, falsehood and Phariseeism;
- and most importantly - about hypocritical love and true love!!!
All people in large cities live about the same: typical houses, typical shops such as "vegetables and fruits", typical workshops of factories and factories, smoking pipes.
In this sense, the life of modern Christians is not much different. Christians living in cities also study in schools and universities, work, drive expensive cars, spend money, communicate, ride bicycles and scooters, etc.
The only thing that distinguishes them from other people is their Christian worldview and their regular participation in church services. Also, Christians are distinguished by the performance of certain rituals that relate to the daily prayer rule, reading the Holy Scriptures and spiritual literature.
But this is how about 5% of believers live. Most of them enter the church, as Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh wrote, three times in his life “on wheels”: in infancy he is brought to be baptized, then in his youth he is brought to be married as a groom and in old age he is brought to mourn as a dead man. The coming to God most often occurs during a difficult trial - the death of a loved one, passing an exam and in general some difficult choice.
And here lives a simple guy named Matthew, who was destined to be born in the family of a priest, and not just in the family, but in the family dynasty of priests. He graduated from the seminary. And his father as a priest, of course, very much wants his son to go on the church path and does everything for this. He does not ask his son whether he wants to become a priest or not. That's it. You have to get married. And the sooner the better, for the priestly race demands sacrifice.
And so in search of the future mother, he meets the outrageous girl Agatha, who lives like all young girls her age: smoking, alcohol, tattoos, rudeness, etc. But this is only at first glance. She has a boyfriend (played brilliantly by Anar) who often displays abusive behavior toward her lover. In fact, Agatha, like any young girl her age, wants to be married to a strong and courageous man who is ready to take responsibility for her. It simply does not show this, but highlights everything base, for this is what the modern youth subculture demands.
Between Matthew and Agatha there is a friendship, which may turn into something more, or may not turn. Carefree life and consumer attitude to the world imposed by society puts Agatha before a tough choice, which Matvey learns about and tries to help her with all his might, sacrificing a lot of time, physical strength and even money. Moreover, he does not pay attention even to the harsh prohibition of his father, who, as a priest, is naturally against his son, the future shepherd of God, communicating with such outrageous girls as Agatha.
And then the question arises before Matthew himself: what is higher than love or church rules that presuppose a certain piety and chastity? By the way, it was before this spiritual and moral choice that the Jewish Pharisees and high priests, who did not recognize the Messiah in Christ and crucified Him, became. The Apostle Paul has an answer in the first letter to the Corinthians, which sounds in the film: “Love longsuffers, merciful, love does not envy, love is not exalted, is not proud, is not rampant, does not seek his own, is not irritated, does not think evil, does not rejoice in in in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; covers everything, believes everything, hopes everything, endures everything” (1 Corin 13:4-7).
The film ends quite unexpectedly.
The film is dynamically shot and looks in one breath. The acting is beautiful. By the way, Denis Vlasenko, who played the main character, studied the Ponomar business for a very long time to shoot this film.
10 out of 10
Going to the premier screening, I decided not to expect anything from the picture - just to watch. Firstly, because I heard that someone had already disliked this picture, they say, touched on church issues; secondly, because someone has already called this film a sermon, however, appreciating one recent really strong sermon from the director Roman Mikhailov - "Heritage", to take this point of view in advance did not venture (and rightly did), because, as I realized later, the opinion about the film would have deteriorated.
And now closer to the topic and (if possible) without spoilers: what is the allusion to Lermontov’s “Hero of Our Time” – and is the statement not loud? About the volume of the statement to judge you, and certainly not now — “big sees at a distance”; but the parallels explain, but first, not to be unfounded, I will go through the plot and plan, of course — Lermontov’s novel, someone once read (or unread) in school — and there, in school, successfully forgotten:
Grigory Pechorin, who represents “a portrait composed of the vices of the entire generation, in their full development,” turns out to be an “extra man” alienated from official Russia. He is beautiful, intelligent, talented, but because of his "duality" can not realize himself (worst of all, that everyone only suffers from him, in the whole plot of the novel Pechorin only in the novel "The Fatalist" commits a heroic act) and therefore compositionally, as it were, "is imprisoned". Lermontov to the fortress, in which we meet the hero - in it we say goodbye to him (the author breaks the plot sequence of presentation for this - to ring the composition of his novel). The opposite of Pechorin – the best representative of then Russia – is Maxim Maksimych. He is firm in conviction, prudent, kind. Write Lermontov about Maxim Maksimych, and the novel would be extremely boring. But this is the nineteenth century.
In the XXI century, where freedom of choice, freedom of relationships, creativity and the flight of thought reigns, young director Sergei Ilyin suddenly finds an acute problem of truly unhappy people, but it is revealed and solved not through tragedy or deep drama - but through comedy. And even with an attempt (successful) to pass into such a genre, delicately interweaving the religious context.
In the story, the altarman Matvey finds himself between two fires: the will of his father and his feeling for the young and daring artist Agatha, who, however, is stuck in problems, can not solve them in the moment, she is lonely despite her seeming success.
Agatha’s party (as it turns out, not hers at all, but Roberta) is like a collective image of representatives of a modern society in which there are infantile egoists (Robert), devastated, lonely and lost (Agata), faceless but attractive (Kir); ambitious and kind “non-stereotyped” (Sasha). Are they good or bad? Arguing with the categories “good” and “bad” is completely inappropriate here – all of them, the above, simply exist. These characters exist in the world of the picture almost without evaluation, forming a multilayered background.
Altarnik Matvey, a descendant of representatives of the clergy, in this world becomes like a romantic hero, trying to break out of the stagnation of the canon, while remaining in it (in fact, the problem is not in the antiquity of the foundations - but in people and their attitude (Father Matvey), which can lead the viewer during the viewing to a false thought about the possible finale of the picture, they say, the hero will break out - and begin his bright and unbridled better life. No, that's not what the movie is about.
Touching on the diversity of the real world, Matthew realizes the true meaning of the words about love from the letter of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians. And already through this realization opens the way to happiness for other characters with imperfect fate and character - even those who seem to have to cope already (the hero played by Timofey Tribuntsev).
The main character himself remains in the church - but Ilyin "imprisons" his hero in the temple not because he is "extra", but vice versa - because he is "necessary". Matvey is needed by his commitment to the canons and correctness - but not casual, but sincere - for the sake of true love, which can make simple, imperfect and such different people of our time happy.
The result is a surprisingly easy picture at the junction of comedy and drama - about love. But not about love-suffering and suffering (contrary to the usual perception of Christian postulates), but about the all-embracing and life-affirming love that calls for forgiveness, compassion, thinking about your neighbor; which helps to reconcile and live. The main character, the altarman Matvey, does not talk about the vices of the generation, because he himself is a representative of this generation, but spreads the idea of love and acceptance of people as they are, becoming the best representative of today’s Russia.
The film by Sergei Ilyin is a great picture for the mass audience: it is interesting, understandable - and useful, which is not often can be said about the films of wide release.
10 out of 10