Director Roman Mikhailov wrote a script about a poker game in a day

At the second Open Russian festival of auteur cinema “Winter” the premiere of the film “Let’s go with you to Macau” by Roman Mikhailov took place. The officials, who threatened to issue a distribution certificate for only one week while the film was being screened, were forced to abandon their idea, since experts did not find any threat in the film.

This is the fifth film in two years by the director, who for some reason was not present at the premiere. On the eve of the premiere, it became known that the film received a distribution certificate and was assigned the 18+ category.

According to the plot, law student Oleg, played by Oleg Chugunov, lives with his mother and stepfather. One fine day he learns that his father, played by Roman Mikhailov himself, has been released from prison. Because of his passion for poker, he lost everything, lost his apartment, his family. Father reveals to Oleg the unfamiliar world of big poker and underground casinos located in the most unexpected places, right down to the basements of a convenience store.

According to producer Yulia Vityazeva, Oleg is deprived of a father, and when their communication takes place in the “card field”, because there is no other, he enters this gate. Oleg is not a gambling addict. He just loves his father.

In the film, in addition to Mikhailov’s “gang”, moving from film to film, and this is Fyodor Lavrov and Alexey Ryazantsev (they are now perceived as Robak and Lagashkin – if there is one in the film, then the other will soon appear), Yulia Marchenko, real players in poker. Roman Mikhailov himself mastered the game in a short time, which is why the idea came that he would star in the role of the father. Hastily teaching someone else the art of playing cards, the ability to hold them beautifully, seemed like a crazy idea.

“During filming, Roman put himself in a gambling state. Who can spin chips like that? We decided that no one. So he played the main role,” says Yulia Vityazeva. And yet, playing the main role is not Roman’s best idea. There was not enough breathing for a long distance.

The hero of the novel is obsessed with gambling addiction. He is not interested in anything other than the game. But he lost his former skills. New, young players have arrived who have a completely different approach to business. They don’t act on instinct. And the old tricks in the card game no longer work. Sergei is essentially written off as scrap. He will end up in a mental hospital.

In the best hours of their lives, father and son walk through the streets of St. Petersburg, which are beautifully shot, as beautifully as possible in a film made like an amateur movie. The son is ready to move mountains to save his father, and rescues him from a mental hospital and pays off his debts.

Roman Mikhailov works quickly. He shot the film in 9 shifts and with a minimal budget, which only Yakut filmmakers can boast of.

Producer Yulia Vityazeva said that according to the plan, Roman has 11 films, and many want to star in him. Usually it happens like this: they throw out a cry, and people come. Even Slava CPSU starred in Macau.

The film was shot by cameraman Alexei Rodionov, who worked on all five films by Roman Mikhailov, and, as it turned out, out of love for art, for free. According to him, all these films are actor-centric, everything is centered around the actors, and the text grows through them. There is no totalitarianism on the site.

When starting work, Alexey watched the cult film about poker “Rounders” with Matt Damon and John Malkvich. According to him, Roman Mikhailov was so immersed in the topic that he wanted to write a book about poker. The scene in the psychiatric hospital where he deduces the formula is not nonsense, but a theory that he deduced. And I wrote a script about poker in a day. There was an idea to make a series about him, but they didn’t go through with it and limited themselves to a full-length film.

Mikhailov’s secret is this: everyone acts with him for love, not for money. According to Yulia Vityazeva, there are tiny rates for young artists, and adult actors – producers of Mikhailov’s films – are filmed for free. The team adheres to the principle of mystical communism: whoever needs money, they give it.

The film begins with a scene that does not continue, leaving the audience with questions. The heroine deliberately pours coffee on the floor. Why is she doing this? The answer can be found on Roman Mikhailov’s channel.

Roman Mikhailov, a graduate of the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Moscow State University, studied homological and homotopy algebra, the theory of group rings and categories. He recently said goodbye to scientific activities, wrote seven books, and staged more than ten performances. He is a laureate of the Andrei Bely Prize. He made his film debut in 2022 with “A Tale for Old People” together with Fyodor Lavrov. He is a supporter of poor cinema. It does not receive any funds from the state or sponsors.