Forbidden Empire

"The truth is in you"

2014 2h 8m RU

😐

5.9

MID

★5.9TMDB · 349

ThrillerAdventureMysteryFantasy

Synopsis

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Early 18th century. Cartographer Jonathan Green undertakes a scientific voyage from Europe to the East. Having passed through Transylvania and crossed the Carpathian Mountains, he finds himself in a small village lost in impassible woods. Nothing but chance and heavy fog could bring him to this cursed place. People who live here do not resemble any other people which the traveler saw before that. The villagers, having dug a deep moat to fend themselves from the rest of the world, share a naive belief that they could save themselves from evil, failing to understand that evil has made its nest in their souls and is waiting for an opportunity to gush out upon the world.

“The truth is in you”

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Cast

Jason Flemyng
Jonathan Green
Aleksey Chadov
Petrus
Agniya Ditkovskite
Nastusya
Yuriy Tsurilo
Sotnik
Olga Zaytseva
Pannochka
Aleksandr Yakovlev
Overko
Igor Jijikine
Dorosh
Valeriy Zolotukhin
Yavtukh

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Oleg Stepchenko
Writers: Oleg Stepchenko, Alexander Karpov, Nikolai Gogol
Languages: English, Russian
Countries: Russia, Czech Republic, Ukraine

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 12 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Russian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: Russia, Czech Republic, Ukraine.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Viy Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Oleg Stepchenko, shot by Yaroslav Pilunskyi. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Petr Zelenov shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Jason Flemyng and Aleksey Chadov and Agniya Ditkovskite carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The truth is in you".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Oleg Stepchenko directs. Yaroslav Pilunskyi behind the camera. Petr Zelenov cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in Russia, Czech Republic, Ukraine. Dialogue in English, Russian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 12 years ago.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Russian.
3International production across 3 countries: Russia, Czech Republic, Ukraine.
4Part of the "Viy Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by Oleg Stepchenko, shot by Yaroslav Pilunskyi. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Editor Petr Zelenov shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Jason Flemyng and Aleksey Chadov and Agniya Ditkovskite carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "The truth is in you".
9IMDB entry: tt1224378 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Yaroslav Pilunskyi
Editing: Petr Zelenov
Production design: Arthur Mirzoyan
Costume design: Jarmila Konečná
Makeup / hair: Pyotr Gorshenin
VFX supervisor: Dmitriy Tokoyakov
Sound: Arcady Noskov
Stunt coordinator: Jiří Kuba
Runtime: 128 min · 2h 8m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $26,000,000
Box office: $34,592,118
Return: 133% of budget
Original language: RU
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Forbidden Empire (2014)

Part of

Viy Collection

Viy (known internationally as Forbidden Empire and in the UK as Forbidden Kingdom), is a 2014 dark fantasy film produced by Russian and Ukraine Film Group and Marins Group Entertainment. This was followed in 2019 by a sequel entitled Journey to China: The Mystery of Iron Mask. Both films star Jason Flemyng and Charles Dance. The sequel also features Rutger Hauer (in one of his final films before his death), Jackie Chan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Helen Yao. The film series is loosely based on the Nikolai Gogol story of the same name, which tells of the exploits of Cartographer Jonathan Green.

Also by

Oleg Stepchenko

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What people are saying

Dark Jedi2015-09-20
★ 7/10
This movie is probably quite unknown by most people. I certainly had never heard of it when I stumbled on it. It is a quite entertaining little fantasy / supernatural / crime movie though. I am actually not sure what to classify at as. It starts of as a fantasy movie but is it really? The cinematics of this movie is very good. For me it was the main part contributing to the enjoyment. The small world of these villagers is cinematically beautiful, dirty and gritty at the same time. The characters themselves with their enormous moustaches and weirdly cut hair are great. The special effects will perhaps not win any awards but they were good nonetheless. I especially liked the transformation scene during the meal somewhere in the middle of the movie. The story is a bit of a roller coaster ride and sometimes it felt a bit disjointed. It was not really obvious why one scene or event was followed by another at all times. But then, taking into account the later events in the movie it was perhaps ment to be a bit disjointed and “dreamy” and I have to confess that I was extremely tired when watching this movie. The ending was a bit of a surprise. This is where the movie kind of went from a fantasy movie to more of a crime story. I have to say that I did not really see that coming until it was about to fall in my lap. There are definitely worse ways of spending two hours in the evening, especially if you like movies that are not the typical mainstream Hollywood fare.
CinemaSerf2024-05-30
★ 6/10
It seems to be that if your name is "Jonathan" then maybe you ought to avoid Romania? This one is called "Green" (Jason Flemyng) and he is trying to do some intricate cartography between Europe and Asia. With his stagecoach equipped with all mod cons - including some cleverly mounted reins for the horses and a candle-lit trundle wheel at the back, he sets off into the Carpathian mountains where his wheels, quite literally, come off and he finds himself in a community that has done all it can to fortify itself from the evils of the outside world! He can write - and that's not a good sign as he is quickly condemned as a devil worshipper. Luckily, there are still a few folks around who know the difference between his scribblings and satanic incarnations and gradually he starts to have a bit of fun amongst this eclectic bunch whilst helping them to realise that like charity, evil usually begins at home too! I actually quite enjoyed the premiss of this, but the execution is all over the place and the budget really does limit the potency of the visual effects that are quite creative just very clearly manipulated. Flemyng looks like he is having some fun and there's even a be-wigged Charles Dance along to top, tail and narrate the adventure as it moves along. Mysticism, magic and gadgets galore feature and though I can't quite recommend it, it's not terrible.
patient12025-10-02
★ 8/10
If this is a remake, then I must find the original story and any films created from this story. It has all the earmarks of a great Brothers Grimm tale. Even when you think you know what is going on, you're only following breadcrumbs that have been laid before you. There will be no more telling of its storyline or content from me here. To ALL folk story lovers and scary whimsical tales, this is a MUST watch film. Absolutely a Delicious Scary Tale for all lovers of the genre...