Anti-Soviet Ethics and Aesthetics of M. Zakharov’s Film “To Kill the Dragon” in Discussions on Digital Platforms

The study of the temporal transformation of attitudes to the ethical and aesthetic values of the Perestroika era in post-Soviet Russia is proposed through the analysis of the modern audience reception of its film products. Feature films are defined as a source of information about the dominant meanings of the era when they were created. The main attention in this article will be paid to the ethical and aesthetic components of the film "To Kill the Dragon" (directed by M. Zakharov), which was released on Soviet screens in 1988, as well as its reading by Russians in the 21st century. The present research contributes to understanding the nature of the modern perception of ethical and aesthetic ideas, important during the period of Perestroika and encoded in M. Zakharov's film script. The study of the factors of critical (and insufficient) attention to the film now contributes to understanding the relevance of the period of Perestroika for understanding the processes of the 21st century. As a result of the analysis of the modern reception of Mark Zakharov's film in the media space (in particular, in the form of reviews on the Kinopoisk, reviews of Yandex and others), three strategies of audience comment were identified: philosophical, film critical and political science. The analysis of the modern reception of Mark Zakharov's film allows us to conclude not only about its relevance in the 21st century, but also to identify factors that make it difficult to perceive it positively. The film disgusts young viewers with its aesthetics, and experienced ones with its opportunism. The free interpretation of the play by Evgeny Schwartz, the director's departure from the spirit and letter of the original source in our time has become much more sharply criticized. Viewers are upset by Mark Zakharov's lack of a direct forecast of the development of history after the victory over the Dictatorship of the Dragon.