The All-Ukrainian premiere of the comedy “Rasha Goodbye” from the “Kvartal 95” studio, which was released at the end of March, caused a wide response in social networks. Users expressed indignation at the depiction of residents of temporarily occupied territories and accused the creators of forming a prejudiced attitude towards the displaced.
The authors of the film promise that their picture will become a kind of “vaccination from the Russian world”. The plot of the comedy unfolds around the heroine, a former TV presenter of the occupation TV channel in Horlivka. Together with her son, she was forced to leave the city after his release by the Ukrainian military. The woman finds herself in Uzhhorod, where she encounters a new reality that contradicts her former beliefs. According to the authors, it is this encounter with a different way of life and new people that makes her reconsider her attitude to events.
Creative producer Yuriy Kostyuk noted, that the team wanted to show how one person is able to change and abandon the pro-Russian position:
“We told the story of how one particular person can come to his senses and say his ‘Rasha goodbye!'”
The film was directed by Oleksiy Kyryushchenko, known for the projects “My Beautiful Nanny” and “Servant of the People”. The main roles were played by Kateryna Varchenko, Andriy Isaenko, Anna Butkevich and Oleksiy Nagrudny.
However, the film was met with harsh criticism in the network. In particular, Oleksandr Lashin, deputy of the Mariupol City Council named tape harmful to the unity of Ukrainian society:
“This film sows discord among Ukrainians. Shame on those who film this.”
He added that such pictures can lead to bullying among children in schools – on the basis of their origin from the temporarily occupied territories, because “they will begin to divide the country as the enemy wants.”
PR and political technology specialist Oleksandr Bukhtiyar, who himself comes from Mariupol, expressed his indignation. He was outraged by the episode where the heroine advises her son to lie about his origin and say that they were hiding in Azovstal. Bukhtiyar emotionally turned to to the authors of the tape:
“Have you at least been to Azovstal?” Do you know what happened there? Do you understand what it means to get married and become a widow in three days on Azovstal? Can you imagine what went through those who fled on foot from the occupied territories under the bombs?”.
With your thoughts shared also journalist Alina Dorotyuk:
Studio “Kvartal 95” announced a new film – the premiere will be on March 27 on the big screens. But the trailer, which once again alludes to the inferiority of Ukrainians, does not make you want to watch another “film master class” from the creators of “Servant of the People”.
The authors of the film themselves promise that their picture will become a kind of “vaccination from the Russian world.” According to them, the film tells the story of a Ukrainian woman who lived under occupation for ten years. During this time, she was not only “brainwashed”, but she herself began to spread sick ideas and fakes about Ukraine. According to the plot, as a result of unforeseen circumstances, the heroine ends up in the west of Ukraine, where the collision with reality completely turns her worldview. What will her future fate be and will she be able to challenge everything she believed in before?
Well, the main thing is that it doesn’t work out, as always – they came in with a brilliant idea, and in the end they turned it into… Well, or, as I like to say: “We started with health, we finished with peace.”
She also drew attention to the figure of director Oleksiy Kyryushchenko, who previously worked in Russia on the TV series “My Beautiful Nanny”, where Ukrainians were portrayed in a caricaturally humiliating manner.
“The biggest paradox of this story is the director’s name. Oleksiy Kyryushchenko. The same one who once filmed “My Beautiful Nanny” in Russia – a series where Ukrainians were shown as idiots. And now the director has made a comedy where Russians will be portrayed as idiots. So who are the idiots here – I still don’t understand.” added Dorotiuk.
However, despite the wave of criticism, part of the audience supported the film. Among them is Oleg Turko from Uzhhorod, who named a tape “powerful and worthy of viewing not only by Ukrainians, but also by foreigners.” He was impressed by the professional cinematography, the acting of the actors, the atmosphere that brought tears to his eyes, as well as the carefully selected costumes.
“In general, in my opinion, the film is very powerful and worth watching not only by Ukrainians, but also by residents of other countries. An interesting plot, excellent work by the cameramen, professional performance by the actors (the audience was moved to tears in some places) and well-chosen costumes.
By the way, I was lucky enough to shoot in one of the shots, where the main character is kidnapped and put in a minibus by her husband – an FSB agent, and taken to Budapest. The film perfectly conveys the color of Transcarpathia, and the shots in Uzhgorod itself were very well shot, where the most beautiful locations of our city were shown.” – he wrote on Facebook.
Nadia Semenets, a resident of Mukachevo, also positively assessed the film, noting the beauty of Transcarpathian landscapes and a touching atmosphere. According to her, the film “completely conveys the present” and should be shown abroad:
“I cried throughout the film – our entire history today, everything as it really is, those shots, war, people, betrayal. I have such an opinion about the film that it should be seen by everyone abroad, first of all, necessarily before the screening, if Europe misses it.”
It should be noted that the Council for State Support of Cinematography under the State Cinema of Ukraine granted permission to the Kvartal 95 studio to use other languages, including Russian, in the film “Rasha Goodbye”. About this it is said in the decision based on the results of the council meeting. According to the conclusion, the share of lines in other languages in the film should not exceed 9.85% of the total duration of all expressions of the participants of the tape.
This is not the first time that “Quarter 95” projects have caused controversy. We will remind you that in 2024, the audience sharply criticized the scene from the New Year’s episode, where the displaced woman “siSkadovska” appeared, comically trying to speak Ukrainian. Due to the negative reaction, the sketch was quickly removed from the air.
