Gerard Depardieu filming in Arkhangelsk
The outdoor museum Malye Korely has been chosen as location for a 19th century Siberian village in a new French-Russian film about Rasputin.
The French actor Gerard Depardieu is to play the lead role in a new film about the life and times of the eccentric Russian monk Grigory Rasputin. Earlier this week, the film crew and actors were in Arkhangelsk to shoot parts of the film, Dvinaland.ru writes.
The French actor said he was happy the filming gave him opportunity to see such a beautiful place as Arkhangelsk and such a magnificent museum as Malye Korely. – It is very good that you managed to preserve the old houses’ spirit, he said to Arkhangelsk Governor Ilya Mikhalchuk.
Most of the filming will take place in St. Petersburg but the segment being shot now in northern Russia is meant to simulate Siberia where Rasputin grew up. The film is provisionally titled Raspoutine, the French version of the monk’s surname.
Rasputin famously wormed his way into the royal couple’s confidences by treating their hemophiliac son Alexei. Some critics claim he helped bring about the monarchy’s downfall (which happened a year after he died) by discrediting them.
