QUICK AND DIRTY: LIVE FROM CANNES

Eduard Limonov (Ben Whishaw) is born “somewhere in the Soviet Union” and grows up between Moscow and Kharkiv (the same one on the headlines of the Ukraine War). He becomes a radical writer, poet and lover. His views of the world are deeply pessimistic, and he possesses an inherent antipathy of all human beings. And he has a nerve, He steals the beautiful Elena (Viktoria Miroshnichenko) from her far more good-looking new boyfriend by slashing his wrists and throwing a tantrum outside their doorstep. And he avoids detention by convincing the authorities to send him abroad into exile instead. He’s very confident of his abilities to piss people off wherever he goes: “can you imagine me writing these horrible things about other countries”, he persuades the officer.

This doesn’t sound like someone with whom you’d want to have a drink, let alone spend two hours with. Cocky is an understatement. Limonov is shockingly arrogant, and thoroughly detestable. He’s particularly demanding about the pronunciation of his name, and infuriated by the French inability to do it right: “It’s Li-MO-nov, not Limo-NOV!!!”. Even Jean-Luc Godard (as portrayed in his biopic from seven years ago), or Sid Vicious, were far more affable. Perhaps unsurprisingly, UK-based Polish filmmaker Pawel Pawlikowski detached himself from the project as a director because he realise that he didn’t like the character enough to make a movie. It is possible to make an engaging and sobering movie about a rogue human being, as long as you don’t memoralise him. The problem is that Limonov – The Ballad sets out to do precisely that: it celebrates a human being who lacked some of the most noble values known to mankind: humility and empathy. This colourful and vibrant movie does very little to criticise its subject, ultimately paying tribute to a futile and empty human being. His portrayal here suggests a provocateur, an anarchist, or a nihilist. It steers away from the neo-fascist accolade often bestowed upon the controversial figure.

Maybe Limonov’s writing skills were truly exceptional and worthy of a movie. That’s something you won’t find out by watching Kirill Serebrennikov’s latest creation though. The film provides limited insight into creative output of its subject. This is first and foremost a movie about the turbulent demeanour and relationships of one individual, his written musings remaining entirely secondary.

At an interminable two hours and 18 minutes, Limonov – The Ballad boasts plush animation, glitzy special effects, fashionable settings, energetic tunes, and a rapturous performance by Whishaw’s performance (the British actor has the looks and the swagger of a young Mick Jagger). These “cool” qualities often work against the film because any type of allegiance with the protagonist – political, intellectual, spiritual or moral – is virtually impossible. The lighting is abundant and the sex scenes numerous, as the film desperately seeks to appeal to mainstream audiences. The language choice is also an indication of the movie’s commercial ambitions, and its disinterest in the culture of the country that Limonov loves so.

It is downright insulting to the intelligence of viewers that someone should make a film about a Russian writer entirely spoken in English. Only three Russian words can be heard in the dialogues: “Glasnost”, “Perestroiska”, and “limonka” (a type of grenade after which Limonov named himself). This is the equivalent to making a movie about Edith Piaf entirely spoken and sung in English. Even the songs here are in the language of Shakespeare. Except for one brief punk Russian tune, most of the soundtrack consists of anglophone artists (particularly Lou Reed).

The narrative is chronological and comprehensible. It is easy to follow the footsteps of our repulsive protagonist as he moves to into exile in New York and then Paris, before before to his native Russia just before the collapse of the Soviet Union. He clarifies during a press conference that he was never a dissident (he simply didn’t like it anywhere). Some dream and allegorical sequences are clumsily injected into the story: Limonov daydreams or murdering his wife, then he dreams of being arrested and also of being assassinated (he is convinced that the government has one of these two fates in store for him, and he’s presumably disappointed to find out that neither would come to fruition). A sex scene with a black homeless man (with the astounding looks of Idris Elba) is so unnatural that it’s cringey. Text at the end reveals that Limonov became a staunch nationalist, to the point of sending his thugs to Crimea in order to help Russia annex the region. and also that he took arms in Donbas. He died just before Russia conducted the large-scale invasion of Ukraine. There is little doubt that he would be elated with joy with the latest developments.

Limonov – The Ballad is showing in the Official Competition of the 77th Cannes International Film Festival.