The premiere of the film-ballet “Usher”, the music for which was written by the leader of the “Auktyon” group

Today in the cinema “October” there will be a premiere screening of the film-ballet “Usher”, the music for which, together with his longtime partner Igor Krutogolov, was written by the leader of the “Auktsyon” group Leonid Fedorov. Igor Gavrilov explains why this event is unique in many ways.

The wide distribution of the film Ashera, created by choreographer Anna Ozerskaya in alliance with cameraman Alana Da Silva, has not yet been announced, as well as its placement on video platforms. But not only this makes the Moscow premiere unique. The film-ballet is based on the album Asher by Leonid Fedorov and Igor Krutogolov, recorded in 2020, and it has not been published anywhere, although Fedorov has released several newer works since then. Officially, the authors are not going to publish this music. It will only exist within the movie. The film is both a choreographic opus captured by the camera and an access point to music, which can be easily imagined as a collection of tracks with melodies and verses. Poetry, in fact, was the starting point of this venture. Unlike other albums by Fedorov and his projects, in which the texts of the band member (and the father of the author of the film) Dmitry Ozersky, Anri Volokhonsky and the Oberiuts most often sound, in this case the songs were based on the poetic cycle of Mikhail Korol “Songs of the Felled Ashera”.

Mikhail Korol is an Israeli poet, local historian and culturologist. Ashera, also known in various traditions as Ishtar and Astarte, is a Middle Eastern pagan goddess of mercy, prosperity and fertility. Ashera’s symbol is a tree, but if you dig deeper, you will find that on a symbolic level, Ashera intersects with the menorah, the menorah, which serves as one of the symbols of Judaism, which can be found in every synagogue and in any Jewish home. The cycle “Songs of the Felled Ashera” consists of nine monologues by Ashera, in which she explains why the gods from neighboring religions are not dear to her: the Phoenician Baal, the Ugaritian Yammu, the Assyrian Shamshu and other characters whose names are easier to find in the works of historians and archaeologists.

Ashera’s explanations are quite human, material in nature. The sharp-tongued goddess practically smears each of the lovers on ancient stones, describing their dubious male virtues, physical and moral shortcomings. And only in the tenth monologue, Ashera speaks of the only love of his life – the Jewish god, whose name is usually denoted by the “tetragrammaton”, a combination of letters – Yud-Hey-Vav-Hey: “I love him, fiery, beautiful, unique, fair, merciful. , regretting nothing. And don’t you dare call the name of my only Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey in front of me.”

At first glance, such a heap of specific information is an obvious barrier between the audience and the work. However, the verses of Michael the King are full of the most accessible images: “Yammu, I don’t love the god Yammu, just as I don’t like to read Kuprin’s “Pit”. Tired, tired of the snot abyss. Please don’t bother me, man!” Or: “I don’t love, I don’t love the god Tammuz, this Adonis with the physiognomy of Tom Cruise.”

The plot about a woman in search of the only love and about humanity in search of the only god is presented easily and cheerfully, and even with a fair amount of completely justified erotic texture. Just try to sing this: “There is no name sweeter, dearer, more tender, more difficult than His, Yud-Hey-Vav-Hey. I drove him crazy from the Euphrates to the Nile. She brought the people out with Him.” Break your tongue.

Leonid Fedorov and Igor Krutogolov divided the gods of the King equally and never crossed paths in the choice. And it turned out that in this song cycle all the archetypes of Fedorov’s universe are represented. Let’s say the story about Yarikh is told in the style of the musician’s solo albums – in a quiet voice, under the straightforward beat of an acoustic guitar. And behind it comes the typical “Auktsion” (“I don’t like God Bratuna…”) – a nervous groove tied to wind instruments. Igor Krutogolov took things that require wider vocal abilities, up to operatic ones, as in Yammu. They are also quite epic. Obviously, the song base itself led the authors to the theatrical form.

Sabina Grudendijk, a Swede, played the title role in Usher, and the film was filmed in her homeland. For the role of each of the men, Anna Ozerskaya chose brilliant dancers from different countries. Grudendijk’s partners are exceptionally plastic, artistic and charismatic, they do not even have the slightest flaw or reason for irony, and this seems to be a deliberate move by the author of the film. Ashera covers them with what the world stands with the words of Mikhail Korol and the voices of Fedorov and Krutogolov. But the audience (and especially the spectators) admire them without ceasing. The look of the heroine and the look of the viewer are different. We do not understand how and why a woman makes her choice. You just need to come to terms with him.