“The Boy’s Word”: what the series is about and why they want to ban it

On November 9, Zhora Kryzhovnikov’s series “The Boy’s Word” was released on the Wink and Start online platforms. Blood on the asphalt.” The main character, a teenager from an intelligent family, joins a youth organized crime group (OCG) to protect himself from the attacks of boys from school. How the series became popular among teenagers and why it outraged officials is in the Kommersant reference.

Who directed “The Boy’s Word.” Blood on the asphalt”

The series “The Boy’s Word. Blood on the Asphalt” is marked with an age limit of 18+. It tells about the life of youth groups in Kazan in the late 1980s. The heroes of the series organize criminal gangs, divide territory and start fights.

The series was directed by Zhora Kryzhovnikov, who became famous after the release of the films “Gorko!” and “Best Day Ever.” The project was released by the film company Toomuch Production together with NMG Studio, one of the producers was Fyodor Bondarchuk (“Lord of the Wind”, “Attraction”, “Inhabited Island”, “9th Company”). The main roles were played by Ivan Yankovsky (“Swamp”, “Fire”, “World Champion”), Sergei Burunov (“Policeman from the Rublevka”, “House Arrest”, “Relatives”) and young actors Ruzil Minekaev, Leon Kemstach and Anna Peresild.

The script was written based on the book by Robert Garayev “The Boy’s Word. Criminal Tatarstan 1970–2010.” It was published three years ago by Individuum and is dedicated to teenage gangs in Kazan that flourished in the late Soviet period. Youth organized crime groups were then called the “teenage plague” or the “Kazan phenomenon” in the press. The creators of the series hired Robert Garayev as a consultant.

How did viewers greet the series?

In September 2023, at the New Season online cinema festival, the series “The Boy’s Word. Blood on the Asphalt” was recognized as the most anticipated release of the year. On the Wink site, about a million viewers watched it in the first three days after the premiere.

As of December 3, “The Boy’s Word” ranks fourth in the ranking of the best TV series on Kinopoisk (the list is automatically ranked based on user voting). The film received a 9.1 out of 10 based on 221 thousand ratings. In the rating of TV series, “The Boy’s Word” is ahead only of “Breaking Bad,” “Seventeen Moments of Spring” and “Game of Thrones.” Users of the Start platform rated it 9.6, Wink viewers rated it 9.7 out of 10.

The song “Pyala” (translated from Tatar as “Glass” from Tatar) by the Russian group “Aigel”, which became the soundtrack, was on the second line of the world Shazam chart. In a foreign music recognition application, it was searched for over half a million times. In Russia, “Pyala” topped the Yandex Music rating and the domestic Shazam top.

On TikTok, posts under the hashtag #slovopatsana collected 3.8 billion views. As a result, on November 10, the NTV channel announced that it would show “The Boy’s Word. Blood on the asphalt” in the new season.

What happened in Sarmanovo

After the series was released, Russian teenagers began to stage fights from the series and post videos on the Internet. On November 27, 2023, the Tatarstan-24 TV channel published video, which later became the most famous. It shows teenagers from the Sarmanovsky district jostling, playing snowballs and catching up to the song “Grey Night”. According to the TV channel, teenagers make such meetings and post videos on Telegram. The chats are named after the formerly famous groups from Tatarstan “Zhilka” and “Hadi Taktash”. The song “Grey Night” is also heard in the series “The Boy’s Word”.

How officials greeted the series

In Tatarstan, dissatisfaction with the series arose even when searching for suitable locations for filming. The filmmakers planned to conduct all the filming in Kazan, but due to objections from local activists and officials, they moved it to Yaroslavl.

Discontent grew sharply after teenagers began posting videos of re-enactments of the shooter. On November 28, 2023, the Ombudsman for Children’s Rights in Tatarstan, Irina Volynets, asked Roskomnadzor to check the series “The Boy’s Word. Blood on the asphalt” for compliance with “state policy to preserve and strengthen traditional Russian spiritual and moral values.” In her opinion, Zhora Kryzhovnikov’s project about teenage gangs in Kazan contributes to the “spread of criminal ideology”, romanticizes and justifies organized crime groups. Irina Volynets separately noted that minors were able to see the project, despite the 18+ restrictions. The Ombudsman for Children’s Rights in the Moscow Region, Ksenia Mishonova, also spoke out against the screening.

On December 1, the head of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, said that the series does not correspond to the politics of the region. “We went through this, and we have no right to allow the events of the past to repeat,” he said. At the same time, Tatarstan Prosecutor Albert Suyargulov said that it is necessary to deal not with the series “The Boy’s Word” itself, but with how it is presented, and with how certain forces are trying to use this project.

Who publicly defended the series

November 29 military correspondent Yuri Kotenok supported creators of “The Boy’s Word,” noting that the series does not romanticize criminal groups, but reminds that the wrong choice results in prison or death. According to him, the series can become “an obvious guide to the topic of ‘what is good and what is bad’.”

On November 30, ex-coach of the Russian national football team and the Kazan team “Rubin” Leonid Slutsky on the air of the “Comment.Preview” show named The series “The Boy’s Word” is a masterpiece. He also expressed hope that all eight episodes will be shown.

December 1, Russian State Duma deputy Evgeny Popov wrote on his channel that what is happening in the series is reminiscent of the situation in his native Vladivostok 30 years ago. “Stay away from the series. It is our life. And she is like that, thank God, in the past. Personally, I will do everything to ensure that such dark times never return,” the deputy wrote.