The series "The King and the Jester" is both the theater of the demon, and the shadow of a clown, and the story of a dead anarchist. But it's impossible to see

On March 2, Kinopoisk premiered two episodes of the TV series The King and the Jester. Who came up with all this? Director Rustam Mosafir (Search-2, Hussar), screenwriter Dmitry Lemeshev (Close Gestalt). The composer was Aleksey Gorshenyov (brother of Gorshko, creator of the Kukryniksy). Starring Konstantin Plotnikov and Vlad Konoplyov.

The series tells about the biography of the group and the fictional world created by Pot and Prince.

very strange format

The action of the series takes place in two worlds. The first is real, with episodes from the history of the group. The second world is like in an old fairy tale, and it is based on the work of KiSha. Pot and Prince go to rescue princess in some kingdom while the wolves howl at the moon.

Fragments from the real world look like a bunch of jokes. Here the Pot loses its teeth, trying to hang on them on the horizontal bar (Gorshenev himself told about this), but the heroes come to paint the walls in the conservatory. If we assume that the viewer is young and does not know anything about the King and the Jester group, then after two episodes he will not understand what they are trying to tell him. These are random stories. At the same time, the Pot turned out to be bright, and the scenes with it turned out to be dynamic and quite watchable.

The fictional world raises many more questions. Its "value" is that it is built on the songs of "Kisha". It turns out meaningless references for the sake of references (as in this text).

In the first two episodes, the story unfolds with the forester. He greets Gorshk with the words “Be at home, traveler, I will not refuse anything”, after which a screen version of the song is shown for several minutes. "Forester" with exact quotes ("Friends want to eat, let's go, buddy, to the forest!", "A lot of stories, if you want, I'll tell you" and so Further). It turns out a very long and ridiculous scene. It is completely incomprehensible why this should be interesting.

Scenes that are too big are generally a hallmark of the "fictional world". Long, tedious, annoying - because of the timing, you can see all the elements of the scenery, and they are more likely to refer to a children's matinee than to fairy tales.

If the point is to show as many characters from the songs as possible, then the task is done. The mistress of an old clock, a severed head, a forester are only the most noticeable of them. You can guess that in the next episodes the heroes will stumble upon a sorcerer's doll, get on the pages of the work, they will see the owner of the forest and, probably, a woman by the pond (or in the well where Fred found the skeleton) - only in what meaning? Does anyone really want to see this?

The pot is better than the Prince

The casting director coped with the task with five plus, choosing really similar people in the lead roles. The beautiful makeup also did the trick.

Before the release, it seemed that the series would stumble on the image of Mikhail Gorshenyov. But, surprisingly, this is the best part of the project. Konstantin Plotnikov, who plays Pot, is insanely similar to the prototype when the right half of the face is filmed (the left, for some strange reason, looks less). However, good work with the voice and infernal movements of the head bring Plotnikov closer to Gorshenyov as close as possible.

It’s even a pity for Plotnikov: such an image can strongly stick to the actor, like a mask. But for the series, he did everything.

And Vlad Konoplev, who plays the Prince, got an uninteresting hero. It's just that Gorshok is dead, and no one embellishes his biography, and Knyazev is not only alive, but also participates in the project. Perhaps that is why his serial incarnation is an artist among bastards who is always ready to help everyone and lives by the principle “I used to be a fool, I became a great man.” Except that white coat lacks.

Escape from reality

The PR campaign claimed that the characters were fleeing into a fictional world from reality. In the first episodes, no reason is shown why Pot and Prince should strive for escapism. In their youth, before popularity, they are constantly fooling around and laughing - a kind of two friends and robbers. Then they become stars and play their favorite music. Perhaps the Pot is a little crazy, because the people do not see what he sees - the Jester, calling to commit suicide because of reaching the creative peak.

What's wrong with the Prince? He is a happy man who sometimes has to keep an eye on Pot didn't kill himself. Why they need to run somewhere is a mystery.

miraculous songs

In the first two episodes, there are two identical episodes from concerts. A fight begins that may end badly (between bandits and rocker in one case and between fans and the police in the second). But every time the "King and the Jester" begin to sing their songs ("Forester" and "Hunter"), the conflict stops and everyone gets high. Perhaps in the next six episodes, the situation repeats itself six more times. If the message is that art reconciles people, then one episode would be enough. Each new time is like a stone on the head.

The song also saves from suicide. When Pot is getting ready to jump from the cliff from the billboard, having previously urinated (that's really "Daredevil and the wind"), the Prince sings to him the first verse of the song "The men ate meat." And the pot does not jump. Miracle.

A considerable part of the timing is occupied by the performances themselves. Make-up actors dance to songs, extras portray punks. What is happening reminds scene from the series "Soldiers". Why do you need to get so carried away with performances - that's the question.

Not for fans and not for non-fans

You can defend the series by saying that it will be watched not only by KiSha fans, so some points had to be made more understandable. The reciprocal argument is that if you don’t know the group’s songs, you still won’t understand anything, and viewing will turn into hell. Punks walking in a fairy tale - this is a story in the spirit of "Dungeon Orderlies", it is unlikely that anyone will find it interesting.

Before the release of the series "Kinopoisk" asked the actors what for them "punk». Everyone said as one that punk is not only pouring beer on your hair, but something else. However, no one said what exactly. Both the cast interviews and the first two episodes discard any political elements of the punk movement. Instead of the spirit of freedom, there are concerts and duties that the heroes live by. So it turns out that punk is pouring beer on your hair and pissing on something.

If we remove uninteresting moments of performances, cut large scenes from a fictional world, and remove references for the sake of references, then the running time of two episodes will be halved. The authors of the series coped with an incredible task (made non-cringe Pot), but failed everything else. Fans of the group seem to be able to endure one and a half episodes, and people unfamiliar with the work of "KiSha" are unlikely to make it to the second episode.