Published: 27 September, 2007, 07:06
Edited: 27 September, 2007, 07:06
Classic stereotypes about Russians and how they live are getting a new lease of life from film makers and creators of computer games.
The latest David Cronenberg movie looks at how the Russian mafia takes over London. Unsurprisingly, it's full of sex, violence and prostitution. “The Eastern Promises” opens in London at the end of October.
The film portrays Russia as a fatherland of cruelty and crime. There's no mention of Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky and the Bolshoi Theatre.
The heroes in the movie use foul language, sing Russian songs, drink vodka, eat borsch and generally embody the worst stereotypes about Russia.
The actor David Papava plays a Chechen killer seeking revenge on the Russian who murdered his brother. Papava has lived in London for 10 years. He says the subject of bad Russians is back in fashion.
“Unfortunately the TV, the press and the cinema create this kind of image, which is very unfortunate. We well know there was a great cultural life in Soviet Union ,” said David Papava.
But it’s not just the movies. A recent computer game “World in Conflict” is set in 1989. It looks at a “what if” scenario, where the Soviet Union does not collapse, but instead pursues a course of war to stay in power. Another game – “Call of Duty 4” – is due out at the end of the year. It is also about fighting with Russians.
Gamers say the Russians in the games like drinking vodka and shooting people.
“I think it is depressive and it should be different. I do not think we all came here to be looked at as part of the mafia or as part of some prostitute country – we are highly educated people and we have lots of things to share of our culture which is the biggest cultural society in the world,” said Natalia Rozhina, who considers herself a Londoner after spending 15 years building a new life in England.