Innocent Creatures is based on comic stories by Arkady Averchenko, a famous Russian writer of early 1900s, who had a style similar to O’Henry or Mark Twain.
The film is both very amusing and touching. In each of the story an adult changes very fast after he meets a child: first he feels awkward, then funny, then becomes very amiable and both of them gradually become friends.
The situations look quite realistic for the time of the early 1900s. A little girl from a rich family meets a callous thief near her house. They make friends and unexpectedly she invites him to show her home. Or a little boy from a noble family hates his new tutor, but soon they find a common language and become good friends.
“I admire Averchenko’s elegant style with lots of funny unexpected situations”, says general producer Jury Berdnikov. “Coincidentally we have taken advantage of an unusually long, warm and sunny Indian summer in Russia with amazingly dramatic colors of the surrounding landscapes. The weather is so good that actors enjoy exterior shoots under the open sky. This provides a special sunshine state of mind and adds to our film.”
Jury Berdnikov, who graduated from actor’s faculty of VGIK (Russian Film Academy) and Director’s Advanced Courses of GITIS (Russian Theatre Academy) is not only the producer of this film. He is also an actor and со-director of Evgeny Yulikov.
“In a way we have much in common with Evgeny: we love jokes and anecdotes. This boosts our creative potential.”
Script: Evgeny Yulikov, Pavel Zobnin (based on Arkady Averchenko’s stories)
D.O.P: Sergei Kulishenko
General Producer: Jury Berdnikov
Starring: Alexey Panin, Jury Kuznetsov, Anton Presnov, Zhenya Zhigailova, Vikenty Troshin, Olga Khokhlova.
Production: “Russkii Medved (Russian Bear)” Film Company with support of Russia’s Federal Agency Of Culture And Cinematography.
Premiere: early 2008
[…] Moscow-based “Russkii Medved (Russian Bear)” Film Company wraps shooting and editing simultaneously two full-length family comedies Troublemaker and Innocent Creatures. […]