The final hours in the life of the famous Russian poet revisited by Bakur Bakuradze.
On a rainy day in 1841, Mikhail Lermontov (played by standup comedian Ilya Ozolin)—a not very tall young man with a ridiculous hair style—starts his day as usual: breakfast, a trip to the forest with friends, deep conversations. But one thing is out of the ordinary. In just a few hours Lermontov will have a duel with Nikolai Martynov (Evgeniy Romantsov), who was once his friend but has now become an irreconcilable enemy.
Without trying to retell the famous poet’s biography, nor fill his last day with drama, Bakur Bakuradze shows Lermontov as a vulnerable, sensitive man, and hides meanings in things that remain unsaid and in montage cuts. A forest walk on horseback proves more important than conversations that circle around champagne for breakfast and past love stories. In the calm, hypnotic meditation of the film it is easy to forget that we are witnessing the poet’s last day and we hope for a happy ending.
«Lermontov»
Director: Bakur Bakuradze
Russia, 2025. 104 min.
18+