Russian Culture Ministry represented by the first deputy minister Vladimir Aristarkhov has commented on the scandal around  the historical film "Mathilda".

      The Ministry will not take into account the results of the expertise of Alexei Uchitel’s film about Tsar Nicholas II and famous ballerina Mathilda Kschessinskaya. Scandal around the film, which will go on screen in October 2017, broke long before its release. The expertise was demanded by the State Duma deputy Natalya Poklonskaya before anybody even watching the film.

      On April 23 the film editing was completed. Despite the negative expertise result, the film director Alexei Uchitel decided not to change or remove a single scene from the film. Polemics were stirred by the image of the Russian Tsar Nicholas II as shown in the film. The last ruler of tsarist Russia, canonized by the Orthodox Church, will come before the viewers as an immoral person.

      It will be recalled that a number of Russian actors and cultural figures spoke up in support of the “Matilda” film crew in the winter of 2017.