The Potential of Russian Locations

LOST IN RUSSIA, a film directed by Xu Zheng, tells a warm and romantic story in which a mother and her son accidently embark on a journey to Russia together. As the first Chinese film with most of its scenes shot in Russia, it proves the deep relationship between Chinese and Russian people one more time. “The shooting of LOST IN RUSSIA made me realize that there are more possibilities of cooperation between China and Russia in film making,” said Xu Zheng, “I hope our story will attract greater attention from our Russian friends.”

The train K3 from Beijing to Russia in the film exists in reality. Covering a total mileage of 7,692 km, the passenger train has to travel six days and nights before arriving at its destination, representing the longest journey in Chinese railway history. To elaborately present the story and give the audience a sense of reality, the film crew traveled 6-8 hours all the way from Irkutsk to the Lake Baikal, where the temperature was – 40℃ to -30℃, to shoot scenes. Then they went to Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Saratov, coming across various landforms and spectacles throughout the journey. “After we decided to shoot in Russia, we spent a lot of time doing surveys about the shooting sites, co-shooting companies, sites for promotion, as well as distribution.” said Liu Ruifang, producer of LOST IN RUSSIA.

The story of LOST IN RUSSIA is about a mother and her son reconciling with each other in the context of Russia. Director Xu Zheng said, “From the Lake Baikal in winter through Moscow to Saint Petersburg, the film shows many local customs and characteristics of Russian cities, tells a parent-child story of the previous generation. During the filming, we were impressed by Russian filmmakers’ commitment to film and their passion for culture and art.” Over the past hundred years, Chinese and Russian people have been learning from each other and making progress together. Especially after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, singing Soviet songs, reading Soviet novels, and watching Soviet films became extremely popular among Chinese people. The Soviet culture significantly influenced a generation of Chinese people, including their aesthetics of films at the time. Xu Zheng not only incorporated a lot of classic Russian elements such as sceneries reflecting folk customs into the film, but also invited many Russian actors and actresses to act in the film. The shooting was carried out in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, the Lake Baikal, Saratov, etc. Art director Gao Ang revealed that the “Red Star Grand Theater” in the film was actually a local theater in Saratov. Before he found this one, he visited almost all other theaters across Russia. The locals took performance at a theater as a sacred thing, so they would not easily allow the shooting crew to film there. In addition, transporting filming equipment in Russia is also a difficult thing as its logistics service is relatively slow.

On the basis of mutual respect for differences, the Russia co-shooting crew is very cooperative. “The train station staff are also very cooperative,” Gao Ang introduced: “We did lift our scene of the train station onto their real platform for the shooting.” He believes that Russia has already developed a standard film industry system, and the co-shooting companies are highly competent and professional, despite their comparatively slow pace of working.

Stretching across the Eurasian Continent, the territory of Russia spans a vast, miraculous land with magnificent natural scenery and rich cultural foundation. Beneath the ice and snow, brilliant literature and art have been conceived, giving shape to its grand and fantastic architecture. For example, in the film is Vladimir, an old Russian city, which enjoys a time-honored history dating back to 1108, even longer than that of Moscow, and boasts rich tourism resources and historic cultural relics. It is quaint, tranquil, delicate, and gorgeous. The onion-like church cluster and medieval Russian architecture are landmarks here, possessing extremely high historic and cultural value. Vladimir is reputed as one of Russia’s “Golden Ring Cities”. It is also an ideal place for exploring Russia’s splendid architectural culture. The museum featuring wooden architecture and farmers’ everyday life is a local tourists attraction with ethnic characteristics, perfectly reproducing the happy rural life of ancient Russians.

Vladivostok, the most important city in the Russian Far East, was the shooting site for the film SOULMATE. The Tokanev lighthouse that appeared in the film has become a popular destination for tourism enthusiasts. The century-old lantern-shaped lighthouse stands alone on a narrow peninsula at the entrance to Vladivostok Harbor. At high tide, the path to the lighthouse is flooded, making it look like the end of the sea. Vladivostok is located strategically on the south side of the Muraviev-Amur peninsula, with mountains behind and the Sea of Japan in front of it. Adjacent to its east, south, and west sides are respectively the Ussuri Bay, Big Peter Bay and Amur Bay. The Golden Horn Bay extends from southwest to northeast into inland. Across the East Bosphorus Strait, the Russian Island serves as a natural barrier. Located further ahead is Peter the Great Bay, which is an exceptional natural harbor as no major islands are around.

According to LYUBIMOVA OLGA, Director of the Film Bureau of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, Russia now has a preferential policy for foreign film producers, which is like a tax exemption policy, refunding up to 40% of the filming cost. It is reported that many Chinese films will be filmed in Russia. VALERY KUPEYEV, Director of the Office of the Russian Film Commission, stated that competent authorities in Russia would provide full assistance and support for these projects.

 (Editor: Guan Yu)