Kirill Serebrennikov on Directing Ben Whishaw as a Russian Punk Poet ‘Who Wanted to Start a War Against the Entire World’ in ‘Limonov: The Ballad’
variety.comNick Vivarelli International Correspondent Russian auteur Kirill Serebrennikov (“Leto,” “Petrov’s Flu,” “Tchaikovsky’s Wife”) is back in the Cannes competition with “Limonov,” an epic about Russian punk poet Eduard Limonov that the director describes as “probably the most complicated project in my life.” Based on the best-selling book by Emmanuelle Carrere, “Limonov” delves into the story of its titular character who lived many lives.
He was an underground writer in the Soviet Union who escaped to the U.S. where he became a punk-poet and also a butler to a millionaire in Manhattan. “Eddie” then became a literary sensation in Paris before returning to Russia where he morphed into a charismatic dissident party leader with rock star status, only to be incarcerated by Vladimir Putin.
Serebrennikov was shooting “Limonov” in Moscow on Feb. 24, 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine. The director – who himself has had troubles with Putin – was able to leave the country and eventually complete the rest of the shoot in Europe.
Serebrennikov spoke to Variety about how history came crashing in on set and what it was like to direct Ben Whishaw to play this quintessentially Russian character. Talk to me about having to relocate the “Limonov” shoot when the war broke out I remember when were forced to stop we were all crying on the New York set that had been built in Moscow.
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