He's a Dragon

He's a Dragon or He is Dragon (Russian: Он – дракон, romanized: On – drakón), also in English territories titled as I Am Dragon, and in Germany Dragon: Love is a Scary Tale, is a 2015 Russian 3D romantic fantasy adventure film written and directed by Indar Dzhendubaev and produced by Timur Bekmambetov's company Bazelevs. The two main roles are played by Maria Poezzhaeva and Matvey Lykov.[1][2] The film is loosely based on Marina and Sergey Dyachenko's 1996 fantasy novel The Ritual.

He's a Dragon
Theatrical release poster
RussianОн – дракон
Directed byIndar Dzhendubaev
Written by
  • Sergey Dyachenko
  • Indar Dzhendubaev
  • Aleksey Arsenev
  • Roman Nepomnyashchy
Based onThe Ritual
by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko
Produced by
Starring
CinematographySergei Trofimov
Edited byMaria Likhachyova
Music bySimon Finley
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release date
  • December 3, 2015 (2015-12-03) (Russia)
Running time
110 minutes[2]
CountryRussia
Languages
  • Russian
  • English
Budget$18 million
₽300 million
Box office
  • $10,495,305
  • ₽126,557,888 (Russia, February 2016)[3]
  • CN¥60.1 million (China)[1]

The action takes place in a fictional fantasy world, which is a stylistic fusion of Medieval Russia with Scandinavian, Celtic and Eastern traditions. The plot is about Princess Miroslava (Poezzhaeva) being abducted by a dragon and carried away to its lair on a remote island, where she encounters a mysterious young man named Arman (Lykov).[4]

The film was theatrically released in Russia by Bazelevs Distribution on December 3, 2015, in RealD 3D,[5][2] followed by streaming on Netflix. It was the highest-grossing Russian film at the international box office in 2016.[6][7][8]

Plot

In the Kievan Rus' of European epics, the people live in fear of a dreadful dragon who terrorizes a local village and its people. In order to appease the dragon, the villagers sacrificed young maidens in a ritual and they sing an ancient song to summon the dragon. The dragon abducts one of the maidens, but one brave knight travels to the dragon's island to rescue his love. When he discovers that she is already dead, the knight and dragon fight a fierce battle in which the dragon is defeated. The knight frees his people from fear and becomes known as the dragon slayer. The dreaded ritual is transformed into a wedding ceremony.

Many years later, the young Princess Miroslava (Maria Poezzhaeva), Mira for short, is betrothed to Igor, the dragon slayer's grandson. Her father and her sister Yaroslava think she is immature because she still likes fairy tales and playing with toys. Mira is placed on a boat deck in her wedding finery to be sent across the water to her future husband, Igor, but as Igor pulls her boat toward him, his people sing the ancient ritual song at their wedding. The dragon, who was thought to have been dead, captures Mira from the ceremony and takes her to his island.

Mira is held prisoner in a cave where she meets a young man who cannot remember his name. Mira believes he is another prisoner and calls him Arman (Matvey Lykov), but she soon discovers that Arman is the dragon who abducted her. He lives in human form, holding back the inner beast, but sometimes turns into a dragon against his will. As a dragon, Arman is unable to control himself.

Wishing to become human, Arman shows Mira the island and gives her a place to create a home while she waits for Igor to rescue her. He tells her, as a dragon boy, he was allowed to choose whether to stay human or become a dragon. He chose to remain human until the dragon slayer killed his father. In his grief and rage, he became a dragon, gaining the knowledge of all dragons who had come before him. Realizing that dragons were truly monsters, Arman isolated himself on the island to prevent himself from killing humans. Sensing the uncontrollable transition to dragon form, he would go into the cave where the dragon could not escape and remain there until reverting to human form and almost had his dragon form under control. He abducted Mira because of the ritual song sung at her wedding by villagers believing dragons to be extinct. The song caught Arman off guard and he did not have time to hide in the cave before responding to the song's summons.

Arman wants to live as a man and crush his inner dragon because he is afraid of harming Mira. Mira talks with Arman and teaches him to live as a human. As they get to know one another, Arman and Mira fall in love although Mira is still afraid of the dragon.

The island is bewitched so that only those who are loved by someone on the island can find the way to it. Because Mira's feelings toward Igor change as she fell in love with Arman, Igor meanwhile, searches futilely in a fog. Igor, who does not share his grandfather's bravery, tries to turn back, but his helmsman reminds him of his oath and does not allow him to turn back so that his family name will not be dishonored.

Mira's fear of the dragon causes her to secretly prepare a boat in order to escape. Learning of her preparations, Arman despairs of ever being able to control the dragon and reveals to Mira the real reason why the dragons had brought maidens to the island. Dragons bring young girls to the island so they can burn them to death and from the ashes of each girl a new dragon was born, that is how Arman was born. Arman orders Mira to leave so that she will avoid this fate. But without Mira, Arman does not know how to continue living.

Mira returns home after finding Igor's boat in the fog. She realizes that Yaroslava secretly loves Igor's honorable helmsman, and her father encourages her to follow her heart's desire. While preparing again for her wedding with Igor, Mira realizes that she still loves Arman and cannot live without him, rejecting an infuriated Igor during the ceremony. While on the boat, Mira sings the ritual song to call the dragon. Arman, meanwhile, is ending his life in order to make sure that there will be no more dragons, but changes into the dragon as he hears the song. He recaptures Mira and brings her to the island, intending to burn her. Mira does not show fear to the dragon and confesses her love for him. This allows Arman to finally control himself as a dragon.

Years later, Mira and Arman are living together on the island with their daughter. Mira flies on her dragon-husband, who is no longer dangerous to her, and they live happily ever after.[9]

Cast
  • Maria Poezzhaeva[2] as Princess Miroslava "Mira"
  • Matvey Lykov[2] as Arman / Dragon
    • Ivo Gospodinov as Arman boy
  • Stanislav Lyubshin[2] as Prince, Miroslava's father
  • Ieva Andrejevaite[2] as Princess Yaroslava, Miroslava's older sister
  • Pyotr Romanov[2] as Igor, grandson of the Dragon Slayer, Miroslava's fiancé
  • Andrey Lebedinsky as Igor's helmsman
  • Yola Sanko as old woman-priestess
  • Daria Dubnikova as a bride-victim to the Dragon
  • Victoria Runtsova[2] as a bride (1)
  • Anastasia Dubrovina as a bride (2)
  • Alyona Chekhova[2] as a bride (3)
  • Lyubov Firsova as mother of the bride (1)
  • Yuri Gorin as father of the bride
  • Aleksandr Luchinin as Igor's grandfather
  • Egor Zubarchuk as Arman's father
  • Victor Korolyov as episode
  • Marta Timofeeva as Mira and Arman's daughter

Production

Development

He's a Dragon was the feature film directorial debut of Indar Dzhendubaev. To the post of director he was invited by Timur Bekmambetov, who acted as the main producer of the film. Filming took place in the Black Sea.[10][11]

According to the creators of the film, they have preserved much of the literary original, but at the same time brought new elements to the story.[12]

The film, 85% of which consisted of computer graphics, was drawn with the help of Russian computers.

The posters for the film were created at a 16-hour photo shoot by the photographer Uldus Bakhtiozina.[13] During shooting, only film cameras were used, and the resulting pictures were not subjected to any additional processing, which is an absolute rarity for posters of modern films.

Filming

Principal photography took place at the beginning that August 2014 in Bulgaria is the main scenes were shot on the Black Sea coast and in the picturesque Prohodna cave.

Then the crew will go to the Black Sea coast, in the town of Sinemorets. The Bulgarian stage of filming will end on September 26, 2014, in December 2014 the remaining scenes will be shot in Moscow, Russia.

In the Moscow Pavilions, the initial scenes were completed: the abduction of the main character, flying a dragon, scenes in his den and the finale.

Music

The score was composed by Simon Finley. Russian folk-rock band Melnitsa (ru) recorded a song for the film titled "Rite" (whose title and lyrics reference the novel "The Ritual", on which the film is based). It was, however, not included in the final film. Singer-songwriter Jenia Lubich contributed to the soundtrack with her song Колыбельная тишины (Lullaby of Silence), which plays over the end credits. A music video was released on December 7, 2015, and has over 5 million views on YouTube. The song later appeared on her 2016 studio album Снежно (Snowy).

Post-production

The film's special effects were worked by professionals from the CGF (ru) computer graphics studio, directed by Aleksandr Gorokhov, who had previously been involved in the production of such films.

Release

On November 24, 2015, in Moscow hosted the magnificent premiere took place at the cinema "Karo 11 October". The film was released in the Russian Federation by Bazelevs Distribution on December 3, 2015, and the world premiere of December 4, 2015. The film was released in the United States by 4Digital Media on 6 June 2017.

Marketing

The first trailer was released in the United States in April 2017.[14]

Reception

Box office

The film flopped at the Russian box office, collecting only $1.7 million (114 million rubles), and in view of rentals in other CIS countries – $1.8 million, which is significantly less than the film's budget of $18 million. It, however, had great success at the Chinese box office, grossing CN¥60.1 million, making it the most successful film in China in the history of Russian cinema.[1][15][16][17][18][19][20] It was the overall highest-grossing Russian film at the international box office in 2016.[6][7][8]

Critical response

The film was met with mixed reviews. Such publications as Film.ru,[21] The Hollywood Reporter,[22] Izvestia[23] and Afisha,[24] responded positively to the film. Boris Ivanov, film critic of Film.ru, stated: "From whatever angle you look at it, the Hollywood movie "Twilight" seems like an amateur performance in comparison to "I am Dragon". Even the computer effects in the Russian production are more convincing. From the point of view of the genre, this is an almost impeccable "feminine" romantic fantasy."[22]

Dmitry Ostashevsky, Russian film critic of The Hollywood Reporter, stated: "The computer animation and 3D graphics are so good that you begin to regret that such a cool dragon (that is, by the way, recognised as the most technologically complex virtual character in the whole history of Russian cinema) was chosen for the genre of melodrama and not blockbuster."[22]

Others, in particular Mir Fantastiki,[25] Weburg,[26] and Kino-Teatr,[27] rated it as average. "Russian Gazette" defeated the film, calling it "unimaginably boring", and the script "delusional".[28]

References
  1. "他是龙（2016）". cbooo.cn (in Chinese). Retrieved August 15, 2016.
  2. "他是龙 Он - дракон (2015)". movie.douban.com (in Chinese). douban.com. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
  3. "Сборы".
  4. "I Am Dragon (Он – дракон)". The Idle Woman. August 12, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
  5. Kuznetsov, Petr (22 June 2015). "Тимур Бекмамбетов снимает фильм о любви дракона" [Timur Bekmambetov makes a film about dragon love]. Bloknot Russia (in Russian).
  6. ""Он - дракон" стал самым кассовым российским фильмом за рубежом". EG News Russia (in Russian). 8 February 2017. Retrieved 2020-09-01.
  7. ИВЕРШИНЬ, Анна (2017-02-08). "Картина ставропольского режиссёра стала самым кассовым российским фильмом за рубежом". KP News Russia (in Russian). Retrieved 2020-09-01.
  8. "Cборы российских фильмов в международном прокате в 2016 году выросли вдвое" [International movie box office doubles in 2016 doubles]. Interfax (in Russian). December 29, 2016.
  9. Kalyabina, Evgenia (January 5, 2016). "He is a Dragon". A myblog.arts site.
  10. ""Он — дракон": первый тизер нового проекта Бекмамбетова" [He's a Dragon: the first teaser of Bekmambetov’s new project] (in Russian). mail.ru. 22 June 2015.
  11. "Кинокомпания Бекмамбетова снимает фэнтези о драконе и силе любви" [Bekmambetov's film company removes fantasy about the dragon and the power of love] (in Russian). russkiymir.ru.
  12. Smolyakova, Diana (22 June 2015). "Премьера: тизер фильма Тимура Бекмамбетова "Он – дракон"" [Premiere: teaser for Timur Bekmambetov’s film He's a Dragon] (in Russian). sobaka.ru.
  13. "Новости компании - 04.12.2015". t-platforms.ru. Archived from the original on 2016-01-31. Retrieved 2017-04-23.
  14. "I Am Dragon (2017) Movie Trailer". YouTube. 4Digital Media.
  15. "Triumph of Russian film He Is a Dragon in China". russkiymir.ru. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
  16. "Novel Russian fare hits screens - Chinadaily.com.cn". China Daily News. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
  17. "Российский фильм "Он – дракон" стал кассовым хитом в Китае". Gazeta Russiaa (in Russian). Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  18. ""Он - дракон" стал самым кассовым российским фильмом за рубежом". Российская газета. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  19. "Российский фильм "Он — дракон" выйдет в прокат в Китае". www.russia.org.cn. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  20. ""ОН – ДРАКОН" стал самым популярным российским фильмом в Китае". Bazelevs (in Russian). Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  21. Ivanov, Boris (November 26, 2015). "Рецензия на фильм Он – дракон: В когтях страсти" [Review of the film He's a Dragon: In the clutches of passion]. Film.ru (in Russian).
  22. "КиноПоиск". www.kinopoisk.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  23. Rogova, Anastasiya (December 2, 2015). "Сказка для современных принцесс" [Fairy tale for modern princesses]. Izvestia (in Russian).
  24. Dolin, Anton (December 3, 2015). "Он – дракон Индара Джендубаева: Зверь сердечный" [He's a Dragon Indar Dzhendubaev: Beast heart]. Afisha (in Russian).
  25. Ptashkina, Ekaterina (December 4, 2015). "Он – дракон: Фэнтези про стокгольмский синдром" [He's a Dragon: A fantasy about the Stockholm syndrome]. Mir Fantastiki (in Russian).
  26. Ilyukhin, Kirill (December 4, 2015). "Он – дракон: Драконам нужны принцессы" [He's a Dragon: Dragons need princesses]. Weburg (in Russian).
  27. Polibentseva, Anna (December 3, 2015). ""Он – дракон": Слово о френдзоне Игореве". Kino-Teatr.Ru (in Russian).
  28. Aleksei Litovchenko (December 2, 2015). "Любить скучно" [Love is boring]. Russian Gazette (in Russian).
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