Miracle (film, 2009, Russia)

Other films with the same or similar title: see Miracle.

"Miracle"

- a film directed by Alexander Proshkin, a participant in the competition program of the 31st Moscow International Film Festival[1], where he was awarded a special prize for directing “Silver George” and other awards. The film was released in theaters on November 12, 2009. The plot of the film is based on the story of a petrified girl named Zoya.

Plot[ | ]

1956 A mother and her daughter Tatyana live in the same house in the city of Grechansk[2]. Both do not believe in God, but in the corner on a shelf there are icons that were inherited from their grandmother. The daughter has a rather rude, masculine character, and the mother is calmer and quieter, so when Tatyana forces her mother to take the icons out of the house, she obediently agrees. Only the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker remains in the house, because the daughter’s lover, who is briefly mentioned at the beginning of the film, is also named Nicholas. The next day, in the morning, a Caesar dove flies into a closed window and, breaking the glass, falls dead on the table. A bird in the house means madness, the mother finds out from a book of omens.

It’s Tatiana’s birthday, and young people come to see her in the evening. The mother is forced to stay on the street, since she is not allowed into the house so as not to interfere with the fun. The young people dance in pairs, and Tatyana takes the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker from the shelf and begins to dance with it in her hands. Suddenly, the frightened guests run out of the house screaming, but Tatyana is not among them.

It turns out that while dancing, Tatyana suddenly froze in place, her limbs seemed to have turned to stone, and when she tried to break the floor, only the instruments themselves broke. At the same time, the girl shows signs of life, for example, weak breathing. A police squad is posted near the house.

Nikolai, a reporter for the regional newspaper Volzhskaya Pravda, visited Grechansk shortly before these events. He has a wife and several other women on the side, including Tatyana. Nikolai is again sent to Grechansk, where the local boss, instead of Tatyana, tries to slip him a girl who supposedly really froze in place, and now feels normal again. Nikolai realizes that he is being deceived. He finds the real Tatiana, holding an icon, and writes an article about her, trying to explain the girl’s “standing” from a materialistic point of view, using terms from a medical encyclopedia. However, the editor-in-chief does not let the article pass, after which Nikolai quits with relief.

Then Khrushchev comes to Grechansk, wanting to personally deal with this “miracle.” Seeing the girl, who had stood there for 128 days by this point, he orders the icon to be taken from her. This is done only by a monk - the son of a local priest, after which the girl comes to life, and Khrushchev flies to Moscow.

Tatyana, accompanied by police officers, is sent to the hospital for examination, where it turns out that she is physically quite healthy. Suspected of conspiring against the Soviet regime, they begin to interrogate her. She does not react to accusations and rudeness, remaining indifferent. For the purpose of intimidation, she is sent to a cell with male prisoners, but in the end the prisoners themselves are frightened when they find out that this is the same Tatyana, about whom by that time many rumors had spread throughout the city.

After the incident, Tatyana is considered crazy and is admitted to a local psychiatric hospital.

"Stone Zoya"

I know this story very well, as it happened in my hometown. I remember that once during a school excursion he showed us the house where this event took place. A popular urban legend tells of Zoya's Stand, also known as "Stone Zoya". According to the stories, the petrification of a person in Samara occurred on December 31, 1956 in house 84 on Chkalova Street. This story became so popular that it gradually spread beyond the city, and then beyond the region. Based on this story, a feature film was made, directed by Alexander Proshkin - “Miracle” - if anyone has watched it, please share your impressions. 1. Orthodox side.

Allegedly, on New Year's Eve, the 56th year, in one of the houses in Samara, a girl vigorously celebrated the New Year holidays with friends, despite the prohibition of her believing mother to have fun during the Nativity Fast.
At one of the evenings, Zoya Karnaukhova, not finding a partner, began dancing with the icon of St. Nicholas, declaring: “If God exists, let Him punish me!” On the third round of the dance, according to eyewitnesses, the wind suddenly rose in the room, everyone present ran out, and Zoya remained motionless in place, clutching the icon to her chest. They couldn’t move her; the girl’s legs seemed to have become fused to the floor. In the absence of external signs of life, Zoya was alive - her heart was beating, but the girl could neither drink nor eat. Friends called an ambulance, but the doctors couldn’t even give an injection because the needle broke on the body. They tried to cut the girl out with part of the floor - there was blood coming from the wooden floorboards, the investigators who were guarding the apartment came out completely gray in the morning. The news of the “petrified Zoya” spread throughout the city. A patrol was posted near the house where the miracle happened, and the police forbade anyone to go inside. However, loud moans from the girl could be heard from the house. Zoya stood motionless for 128 days and came to life after St. Nicholas the Wonderworker himself came to her on Easter and freed her from her illness. On the third day after the holiday, the girl died. 2. Factual side.
“Zoya’s Standing” is officially recognized by the Samara diocese. Until now, pilgrims from all over Russia flock to the holy place. But what happened to the real sinner? According to the neighbor, there was no “stone Zoya”. The owner of the house, which is considered to be “Zoya’s house,” was a woman who drank, and her son was a thief. On that ill-fated evening in January 1956, he had just gathered friends to celebrate his release from prison. There was also a strange girl among them, whom everyone considered a holy fool: she believed in God. She started dancing with the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker - apparently, from the influx of religious feelings. And the windows here are low, without curtains - everything is visible from the street... And just as one nun was passing through the yard, she looked into the room, saw the dance and was offended. He walks further down the street and reviles the girl: “For such a sin you will turn into a pillar of salt!” The people heard and ran to see what was happening. Like in the movie: “Everyone ran - and I ran...” And the hostess of the house immediately began to tell me that a sinner with an icon had become numb in the house, and began to let her into the room for 10 rubles per person. There were other eyewitnesses who confirmed that these were all rumors. And yet, “mass psychosis” has reached incredible proportions. “On January 19, the crowd climbed through the gate shouting: “Where is the stone girl?!” When it got dark, the guests armed themselves with torches and threatened: “Let’s burn this devilish place!” The next day the police were deployed. There is also a short interview on the Internet with a distant relative of Zoya Karnaukhova: - Zoya Karnaukhova? - responded 60-year-old Alexander Pavlovich Karnaukhov. - Yes, it was my aunt, my father’s sister. She used to live in Samara. I was a child when it all happened, and I didn’t really believe in the legend. But Aunt Zoya, being a religious person, talked so much about the miracle that she became obsessed with it. And she herself began to identify herself with that sinner. And the neighbors began to laugh at her—they called her “stone Zoya.” But everyone saw that everything was not right with the aunt’s head, although she was not registered in a psychiatric clinic. Since then, our surname has become undeservedly “famous” throughout the city. And in her old age, my aunt moved to the village of Samarsk and died there from her heart. I don’t have any photographs of her, and there’s no need to write about it... - Alexander Karnaukhov refused to meet with the journalist. Here is a photograph of that very house, and as far as I understand, it still stands in its place. I would like to post it not from the Internet, but I don’t have such an opportunity. The story is really interesting, with secrets, since there are a huge number of versions of this event. You can perceive this story in different ways. My opinion is that there really was something there - I would like to find out what it really was. The main conclusion that listeners should make (IMHO) is that in life it is important to be respectful in any religion, regardless of your own religious affiliation or atheism.

Starring[ | ]

• Maria Burova - Tatiana Skrypnikova
• Sergei Makovetsky - Kondrashov, KGB commissioner
• Konstantin Khabensky - Nikolai Artemyev, journalist
• Polina Kutepova - Natasha, Artemyev's wife
• Alexander Potapov - Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev
• Viktor Shamirov - Father Andrey, priest
• Vitaly Kishchenko - Pershin, police major
• Olga Lapshina - Klavdiya Ivanovna
• Zurab Kipshidze - Albert Vakhtangovich
• Dima Opanasenko - Sasha Golubtsov
• Vyacheslav Batrakov - Uncle Antip
• Natalya Handzyuk - wife of Andrey's father
• Kamil Tukaev - Valerian Grigorievich
• Vladimir Kabalin - carpenter
• Anna Ukolova - Galya
• Timofey Tribuntsev - Pashka
• Sergei Novikov - bishop
• Daria Rumyantseva - false Tatyana

Zoe's standing[ | ]

Main article: Zoe's Stand

The film is based on the story of Zoya's standing. The events took place in 1956 in Kuibyshev. It is alleged that a certain Klavdiya Bolonkina lived in house 84 on Chkalova Street. Her son decided to invite friends on New Year's Eve. Among the invitees was Zoya Karnaukhova[5], who the day before met a young intern named Nikolai, who promised to come to their holiday. When all the friends were with the guys, Zoya still sat alone, Nikolai lingered. When the dancing began, she said: “If my Nikolai is not there, I will dance with Nikola Ugodnik!” And she headed to the corner where the icons hung. The friends were horrified: “Zoe, this is a sin,” but she said: “If there is a God, let him punish me!”

She took the icon and pressed it to her chest. She entered the circle of dancers and suddenly froze, as if she had grown into the floor. It was impossible to move it from its place, and the icon could not be taken out of hand - it seemed to be stuck tightly. The girl showed no external signs of life, but a subtle knocking sound was heard in the area of ​​her heart. The whole city quickly learned about the event, the police were afraid to approach the immobilized Zoya, the doctors could not help: when they tried to give an injection, the needles broke and did not penetrate the skin. The priests also could not help, but then Hieromonk Seraphim appeared. He was able to pull the icon out of Zoya's hands and later said that her standing would end on Easter Day. And so it happened - Zoya stood for 128 days until Easter, which that year was May 6[6][7].

Director Proshkin considers this story not made up. Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin confirms that there is “a lot of evidence” about this “mysterious phenomenon.” Initial information about this story with an attempt to refute it was published on January 24, 1956 in a feuilleton entitled “Wild Case” in the city newspaper “Volzhskaya Kommuna” “by decision of the 13th Kuibyshev Regional Party Conference, convened urgently in connection with religious unrest in city"[5][8].

Movie Miracle

Preface. Not long ago, my grandmother told me a story that happened in the 50s in the city of Kuibyshev, about the so-called “Stone Girl”. She made, as they say, an indelible impression on me; I thought about this phenomenon for a long time and some contradictory feelings lurked in my soul. After some time, my grandmother asked to buy literature on religious topics in Moscow, and then a trip to Optina Pustyn came up at an opportune time. When I walked into the bookstore, as if I knew where to go (although I had never been there) and headed towards the shelf with books, as if I knew exactly what I needed, on the shelf, among many others, there was the book “The Unknown World of Faith” and without hesitation I I took it for my grandmother. I called her in the evening and told her the title of the book, she told me that she had such a book, and that I could keep it... After lying in a pile of educational literature for a couple of months, during my next analysis of “creative clutter”, she took the book, leafed through it and let me think , I’ll take it - there will be something to do on the subway... While reading, I came across a story about that very “Stone Girl”, I read it with interest - I must say, my hair stood on end, it seems like a short story, just a couple of pages, but without unnecessary deviations from the topic .

People say that if you really want to, you can fly into space! A miracle in itself is almost always associated with us mere mortals with something out of the ordinary. For some it is a fairy tale, for others it is a beautiful or scary legend, and for a few it is reality.

31st Moscow Film Festival - opening... June 21 - the first (after the film "Tsar") premiere of Alexander Proshkin's film "MIRACLE", yes, yes, based on that very story...

On the eve of the 19th or 20th I heard in the news that the film “MIRACLE” would be shown, based on real events that occurred in 1956 in one of the cities of the USSR.

My goal is to get to the premiere no matter what! On the morning of the 21st, on the day of the premiere screening, I called the festival cinemas, found out that the film would be in the Oktyabrsky cinema, a pleasant female voice assured - “Come, there are tickets, the show is at 19.00.” The day was still ahead and it was decided first go to the exhibition at Manege, and then quietly head to the cinema... We waddled along Novy Arbat, an hour before the start of the show and... - BUMP - ALL TICKETS SOLD OUT!!! - sounded like a sentence. WELL, I'M NOT ME IF A MIRACLE DOESN'T HAPPEN! The main entrance - sea security guards + those who check the accreditation of journalists and tickets... we're standing there - zero thoughts! Suddenly there was a large crowd with badges around their necks, this is where the advantage of short stature came into play...... and I was in the hall ., waiting for my companion (he was on the street and about two times larger than me), but after some time he also leaked with the Indian delegation. HOORAY!!! – the first cordon has been passed…………………. And then you need to think about how to get to the cinema? - there are people in black!... Having carefully listened to conversations in the crowd, rubbed shoulders with actors and famous people, we understand that we need to go to the dress circle... we stand - we wait... and suddenly next to my husband there is a sweet, wonderful girl - “Who needs an extra biltik” - ISN’T IT A MIRACLE??? I slip between the curtains again, and he’s proud, even with a ticket! Let's sit down - there are tons of people!

The impression from the film is twofold, and even more. It wasn’t entirely clear what the director wanted to say (but at the beginning), so I decided that I needed to think about everything... My rating is a solid four... with a plus. The plot amazed many, especially those who had never heard of this story. Those who were familiar with “The Zoya Effect”, like me, may have been somewhat disappointed... My expectations were a spectacular, creepy and at the same time wonderful story. It turned out to be a story with satirical-religious overtones and the political background of the Khrushchev Thaw. The actors were magnificent - Khabensky, Makovetsky, and others - the acting was amazing. Sergei Makovetsky simply shocked with his acting - many-sided and simply a master of transformation - A SCAG WORTHY OF ADMIRATION! The main thing in this film is that it is really worthy of the festival level (of course, the director and screenwriter have the right to make their own adjustments to the real story, that’s probably the only thing that alarmed me - inconsistencies with the realities of events) I want to talk, discuss, argue about “MIRACLE”, it’s like atheism and love of God, like unbelief and insight... when a person lives an ordinary life and day after day performs the same mechanical actions and rituals, and suddenly at one moment his life takes on a truly real meaning - which, as it turns out, was not there , and that someone “above” has the right to decide, even for the Lord God himself………. Here is the story itself, called “The Zoya Effect” https://anomalia.kulichki.ru/text/738.htm