The Silver Skates (, also in some languages known as City of Ice) is a 2020 Russian epic period romantic adventure film directed by Michael Lockshin in his feature directorial debut, with a screenplay written by Roman Kantor, and produced by Petr Anurov. The film is based on the American novel Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge.
The story is mainly set in 1899 and New Year 1900 in Saint Petersburg, capital of the Russian Empire. The city's ice-covered rivers and canals act as broad avenues, traversed on ice-skates and sleds, with markets and winter festivals on the ice. Social classes mix in this winter wonderland, and the courier Matvey crosses paths with the aristocrat Alisa, who is an intellectual girl from a noble family. The film stars Fedor Fedotov and Sonya Priss, alongside Kirill Zaytsev, Yuri Borisov, Aleksei Guskov, Severija Janusauskaite, Yuri Kolokolnikov, Timofey Tribuntsev, and Alexandra Revenko in supporting roles. Also it includes the Irish actress Cathy Belton and French actor Denis Lavant. Principal photography lasted from January to May 2019.
The Silver Skates was chosen as the opening film of the 42nd Moscow International Film Festival, where it premiered on October 1, 2020. A limited theatrical release (due to the covid pandemic) was scheduled for December 10, 2020. The film was also shown in IMAX cinemas. The film collected more than 100 million rubles for the highest-grossing opening weekend of its film screening and brought the total amount of 490.1 million rubles to the show times, despite the covid epidemic quarantine in Russia, compared to a production budget of 500 million rubles.
The global rights to the film were acquired by Netflix. The Silver Skates is the first Russian film to be released on the platform in the Netflix Originals category. The film was No. 1 in many territories, and in the top-10 in Europe and the US.
The film won Best Picture awards at both the Golden Eagle Awards and Producer's Guild awards (2020).
Plot
December 1899; Imperial Saint Petersburg's rivers and canals freeze over, transforming the capital city into a fairytale-like wonderland; the markets-on-ice allows ice skaters to partake in commerce and enjoy various attractions.
18-year-old Matvey Polyakov is an ice-skating courier working for a local patisserie. Thanks to his skill with the heirloom silver skates inherited from his father Petr (named in credits), a lamplighter.
The tsarist minister Nikolai Vyazemsky's daughter Alisa Vyazemskaya chafes against the expectations, customs, and superstition of the upper class; she seeks to study the sciences and chemistry specifically, but is forced to hide her interests from her father, who, like many Russian aristocrats of that time, believes that a woman would be better off without higher education; he believes it "only produces free-thinkers and rebels". Her socialite stepmother Severina Genrikhovna, who believes in occultism such as astrology, dislikes her independent nature and suggests to Nikolai that she should be married off. Knyaz (translated as "Prince") Arkady Trubetskoy, the stern and ambitious Captain of the Guard, seeks her hand in marriage for the wealth inherited from her late mother.
A few days before the dawn of the 20th century, Matvey loses his job due to tardiness, as the street he took was closed for the passage of the aristocratic Vyazemskys. Going home, his father displays a severe and prolonged cough. At Matvey's urging they eventually seek a doctor's opinion, where he discovers that his father has developed late-stage consumption; Doctor Grigoriy Anatoliyevich tells him that to his knowledge, the only chance for a cure is at a German clinic in Baden-Baden, which the Polyakovs could not afford.
With nothing to lose, Matvey seeks out a gang of pickpockets named the Ice Gang, that he encountered on the canals the day he lost his job. Their leader "Alex" is impressed by Matvey's speed and agility; he is a proponent of Marx's ideas about expropriation, which the other members "Mukha", "Gengis", and "Graf" support. Matvey trains with the Ice Gang, learning the sleight of hand inherent to pickpocketing to pay for his father's treatment. The gang steals into the Vyazemsky mansion, where they challenge Matvey to leave a dew graffiti on a window. Matvey climbs onto Alisa's balcony where she confronts him. Matvey spooks her, leaving him burnt by her lamp.
In his first heist, Matvey manages to steal two invitations to a ball on ice in the courtyard of the Saint Michael's Castle, organized by the Imperial Ice Skating Club. After Mukha tries to downplay Matvey's initial success, and Matvey receives a makeover, Matvey and Alex enter the ball; Alex teaching him how to blend in with the nobles so as to reap the golden opportunity. Alisa is also there; she is formally acquainted to Prince Arkady, who had invited her there. Alex and Matvey steals from the assembled nobility, who are entranced by the Prince's display of skating prowess. Alisa and Matvey catch each other and she proposes a deal: Alisa won't reveal Matvey's crimes, but he must assist her in entering the Bestuzhev Courses as a student: according to the law of the time, this requires the consent of a male companion or her father. As the thieves escape, Alex reminds Matvey of his and Alisa's vast difference in class, telling him to "remember where [Matvey] came from". The next day, Alisa feigns a fever; after absconding she meets Matvey outside the college. Although Dmitri Mendeleev himself enthusiastically endorses Alisa's candidacy at the entrance exam, the scheme fails because the consent must be written, and Matvey cannot write. Alisa fumes at their failure, but Matvey connects with her on the return trip to her mansion; she admits that she has little understanding of the lives of the common man and her wealth of privilege, both due to her class, and she openly considers Matvey's invitation of a date.
The heist at the ball proved to be lucrative, however, Matvey's father becomes suspicious of him and the amount of money he gives, eventually rejecting it and the possibility of treatment because of the dishonest work his son committed for them. Matvey quarrels with him; he challenges the existence of God, which his father angrily rebuffs him for, and leaves home to go live with Alex and the gang at their base: a derelict wooden frigate frozen into the ice in the Gulf of Finland. Due to several high-profile losses at the ball, including the Grand duke's heirloom pocket watch (the theft of which Nikolai proclaims to be terrorism), the police plot a sting operation on Prince Arkady's initiative, who've long investigated the Ice Gang.
On Christmas night the Vyazemskys exchange gifts; from Severina, Nikolai receives a "locomobile"; the third such machine in Petersburg, while Alisa receives a cage for her cherished white rabbit who has been troubling her parents. Alisa continues to feign her illness to avoid attending Christmas Mass with her parents. Matvey arrives and takes her on his promised date along the canals where they eventually meet Alex and his girlfriend Margo at a circus. By the end they realize they are in love with each other, kissing on her balcony, but Alisa reveals that she is to be engaged.
The next day, Mukha attempts to pickpocket undercover policeman Aleksander Ivanovich and is handcuffed; the sting operation threatens to ensnare Matvey, Mukha, and Duke, who are on the ice. Alex and Arkady independently oversee the ambush of Guards from a bridge above the canal; Alex tells Genghis to go back home before the Prince notices their presence. In the subsequent chase Duke is captured, while Matvey and Mukha escape and reconcile. The Prince tracks Matvey down and incapacitates him with a hooked staff, but Alex comes to his aid and shoots the Prince's right leg with a Nagant, hobbling him. Matvey decides to return home, where he finds his father has died. He reminisces on the time his father taught him to iceskate and his advice on Matvey's dishonesty, and leaves an oil lamp at his grave.
In the same evening, Alisa and Arkady "volunteer" for the French magician Fourier's performance; Fourier ignites a bowl of fuel using candles that Alisa and Arkady carried and sets his hands ablaze, and tells the audience that the flames do not burn him because of the "compatible energies of Arkady and Alisa". Alisa considers this performance a stupid farce and unveils Fourier's cold flame trick to the assembled nobles in French, humiliating her stepmother. Her father barges into her room, and catches her reading the copy of Kapital that was gifted to her by Alex. Nikolai angrily compares her to the Dekabrists and orders that her library of books be burned; Alisa's governess, the prim Englishwoman Miss Jackson, is taken aback by his outburst and resigns. Miss Jackson reveals that Alisa has inspired her to stop living for the sake of others and choose what she truly wants in life, and tells Alisa the most difficult decisions are sometimes those easiest executed.
Alisa absconds yet again and finds the Ice Gang's hideout with Margo's help. She tells Matvey that the jewelry she has stolen away with could buy train tickets to Paris and the treatment for his father. To this, he remains silent, and Alisa hugs him as a sign of comfort and understanding. Alisa is given Alex's cabin for the night and she asks the accompanying Matvey if he would come with her to Paris, to which he responds with a kiss. They proceed to consummate their love for each other.
As the two talk in bed, the ship is surrounded by the Captain Prince and his men who start a fire that engulfs the ship; the ship's location having been tortured out of the captured Duke. Matvey and Alisa leave the rest of the Ice Gang behind to Alex's displeasure, as he intends to use her as a hostage. Genghis, Margo, and Mukha are captured as they attempt to escape the ship. Alex incapacitates Matvey and executes his plan, demanding assurance of all his comrades' escape (including the traitor Duke) for Alisa's safety, which Arkady gives his word for. During her descent, Alisa's rope harness burns and snaps; she is narrowly caught by Matvey who lowers her down to Arkady. Matvey confronts Alex who defuses Matvey's rage by resigning himself to it. The two cynically observe that the Prince's word proves to be in bad faith, as the assembled police opens fire on them and recaptures the four escapees. Alex tells him to jump overboard as the fire has weakened the ice sufficiently for a water landing. When Matvey asks of him he tearfully replies "the captain leaves last, or he sinks to the bottom". When Matvey insists on waiting Alex replies: "See you on the other side". As they both run off the bowsprit Alex shoots into the air to draw attention to him and allows Officer Ivanovich to shoot him; he sinks into the frigid water and drowns.
Matvey manages to emerge from the sea and falls into a coma before fishermen take him to Anatoliyevich's hospital, who immediately attempts to treat him for hypothermia. The memory of his father restores his will to live; Doctor Grigoriy explains that Mr. Polyakov was brought to the clinic before his death and returns the money Matvey handed over for treatment, which Matvey, respecting his father's wishes, returns most of it.
As New Year's Day approaches, Alisa dissociates after she learns that her father gave full consent to her marriage with Prince Arkady, who tries to win her over.