The Witness: Russia-Ukraine War Propaganda Film Fails at the Box Office

2023-09-03 03:20:51

RussiaThe box office of the Russia-Ukraine war propaganda film was dismal, spending hundreds of millions and only earning tens of millions. It was reported that there were two or three kittens in the theaters of the film.

The British Guardian reported that the film “The Witness” (The Witness, tentative translation) is the first Russian film regarding the Russian invasion.UkraineIt cost 200 million rubles (approximately NT$60 million) to produce. Unexpectedly, over two weeks since its premiere on August 17, the total revenue was less than 14 million rubles (approximately NT$4.5 million), and the box office was terrible.

“Witness” narratesRusso-Ukrainian WarBelgian violinist Kohan, trapped in Kiev, witnessed “the inhuman and bloody crimes and provocations committed by Ukrainian nationalists”. As a witness to this conflict, Cohan decides to expose the “truth” to the world. There’s even a Ukrainian commander in the film carrying around Adolf Hitler’s autobiography, Mein Kampf.

The two-hour film is full of Kremlin lies to justify the invasion of Ukraine, including Russian President Vladimir Putin’s call for “denazification” on the eve of deploying troops, as he tries to paint Ukraine as an infiltrated “Nazi” nation”.

Earlier, Russia called on the domestic film industry to produce more films praising the actions once morest Ukraine, and films like “The Witness” came into being.

However, although the Kremlin has strengthened its internal publicity efforts, the effectiveness is open to question.

Ivan Philippov, the creative director of the film company AR Content, said in an interview, “Russia’s internal propaganda is everywhere, state-run TV stations, streets, and schools at all levels. No wonder people don’t want to spend money to go to the theater to watch the same thing.”

On the other hand, most Russians tend to turn a blind eye to the war. According to the Levada Center, an independent Russian polling organization, nearly 40% of the Russian people do not take the initiative to understand the developments in Ukraine, and only 23% “closely follow” the war.

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