The Last Minister

The Last Minister
Promotional poster
Genre	Black comedy Political satire
Created by	Roman Volobuev
Written by	Roman Volobuev Lena Vanina Dmitry Minaev (Season 2)
Directed by	Roman Volobuev
Starring	Yan Tsapnik Olga Sutulova Sergey Epishev Sofia Lebedeva
Country of origin	Russia
Original language	Russian
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	31
Production
Producers	Aleksandr Tsekalo Olga Filipuk Dmitriy Nelidov
Production location	Moscow
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	24-46 minutes
Production company	Sreda
Original release
Network	KinoPoisk HD
Release	March 26 (2020-03-26)[1] – May 23, 2020 (2020-05-23)

The Last Minister (Russian: Последний Министр, translit. Posledniy Ministr) is a Russian dark comedy television series made by Sreda for KinoPoisk streaming service.[2] As of 2024, two seasons have been produced, plus a 40-minute Christmas special.[3] Season 2 premiere episode was screened at the Kinotavr Film Festival on September 25, 2021[4] with the rest of the season starting to air on December 2 same year.[5] In February 2022 the show permanently went off the air at the request of its show-runner Roman Volobuev[6][7] in protest against Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Premise

Tikhomirov, a well-meaning but hapless apparatchik in grips of mid-life crisis is appointed to run Russia's Ministry of Long-term planning - a small, underfunded, understaffed and generally ignored state agency. With a team consisting of sycophants and corrupt cynics he embarks on an idiotic quest to make Russia great again.

Cast and characters

Main

• Yan Tsapnik as Tikhomirov, Minister of Long-term planning
• Olga Sutulova as Nechaeva, a corrupt 1st Deputy Minister
• Sergey Epishev as Vikentyev, an insane 2nd Deputy Minister
• Sofia Lebedeva as Sonya, a naive intern who's rapidly rising through the Ministry's ranks
• Anna Shepeleva as Ingeborge, a permanently pregnant Minister's personal assistant
• Alexey Zolotovitsky as Dudar, director of the Ministry's Directorate for External Communications
• Darya and Ekaterina Nosik as Lutch and Skotch, diabolical twins who run Ministry's Analytical Department
• Sergey Styopin as Ukhov, an undercover FSB agent who is believed to be the Ministry's fire safety officer
• Elvira Kekeyeva as Gemma, the Ministry's HR officer
• Alexandra Drozdova as Lera, Sonya's assistant (Season 2)

Recurring

• Nelli Uvarova as Raisa, Minister's ex-wife and concrete tycoon
• Olga Dibtseva as Larisa, a biathlete and Minister's mistress
• Polina Fedina as Kira, Minister's teenage daughter
• Fyodor Lavrov as Plotnikov, a functionary from the Prime Minister's Office
• Farhad Guseinov as Nodir, Minister's personal driver
• Alisa Khazanova as Antonova, a detective with the Investigative Committee of Russia (season 2; guest season 1)
• Grigoriy Kaninin as Smirnov, a federal investigator and Antonova's partner (season 2; guest season 1)
• Alexander Iliyn as X, prime minister's chief of staff
• Roman Volobuev as Y, head of the Department of External Policy
• Ekaterina Vilkova as Z, head of the Department of Internal Policy (season 2)
• Konstantin Murzenko as Father Vitaliy, a liaison with the Russian Orthodox Church
• Ekaterina Gorina as Oksana Gerasimenko, an investigative reporter for Telegraph, Russia's only surviving newspaper (season 1)
• Ekaterina Steblina as Polina Nemirovskaya, a Moscow correspondent for The Guardian (season 2; guest season 1),
• Andrey Merzlikin as Vasya, Minister's childhood friend and a former gangster
• Yuri Tsurilo as Ranevskiy, the Governor of Saratov Oblast

Guests

• Konstantin Bogomolov as Fyodor, a Russia's only Oscar-winning filmmaker (seаson 1)
• Anna Chipovskaya as Redkina, a vice president of Pornhub (seаson 1)
• Anton Bagmet as Zakhar, a writer (seаson 1)
• Viktor Kulyukhin as Snegirev, a filmmaker (seаson 1)
• Vadim Lobanov as Vladimir Pozner (seаson 1)
• Odin Biron as Edward Snowden (season 2)
• Alexander Gorchilin as Andrey Zvyaginsev (season 2)
• Sergey Gilev as Igor F. Baranoff, Alaskan separatist (season 2)
• Timofey Tribuntsev as the voice of Prime Minister (seаson 1)
• Aleksandr Bashirov as Prime Minister (seаson 2)
• Andrey Arzyaev as Leskov, First Vice Premier (seаson 2)

Episodes

Season	Episodes		Originally released
			First released	Last released
1	15		March 26, 2020 (2020-03-26)	May 23, 2020 (2020-05-23)
2	16		December 2, 2021 (2021-12-02)	February 26, 2022 (2022-02-26)

Season 1 (2020)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	1	"The Idiot (Parts I and II)"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev, Lena Vanina & Dmitriy Nelidov	March 26, 2020 (2020-03-26)
2	2	"Civil Society"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev, Lena Vanina & Roman Nepomnyashchiy	April 3, 2020 (2020-04-03)
3	3	"Hochwälder's Hamster"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev & Lena Vanina	April 3, 2020 (2020-04-03)
4	4	"Metaphor of Childhood"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev, Lena Vanina & Roman Nepomnyashchiy	April 6, 2020 (2020-04-06)
5	5	"Benevolent Paws"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev & Lena Vanina	April 11, 2020 (2020-04-11)
6	6	"Love Is"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev & Lena Vanina	April 14, 2020 (2020-04-14)
7	7	"I Won't Be Back"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev & Lena Vanina	April 18, 2020 (2020-04-18)
8	8	"The Bigger Picture"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev & Lena Vanina	April 21, 2020 (2020-04-21)
9	9	"A Sober Way"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev & Lena Vanina	April 25, 2020 (2020-04-25)
10	10	"The Return"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev & Lena Vanina	May 5, 2020 (2020-05-05)
11	11	"Panda Strategy"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev, Lena Vanina & Roman Nepomnyashchiy	May 9, 2020 (2020-05-09)
12	12	"20 Minutes"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev	May 12, 2020 (2020-05-12)
13	13	"Soul State"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev & Lena Vanina	May 16, 2020 (2020-05-16)
14	14	"Heartland"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev & Lena Vanina	May 19, 2020 (2020-05-19)
15	15	"Shadow On the Wall"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev	May 23, 2020 (2020-05-23)

Season 2 (2021)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
16	0	"The Short Day"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev	December 26, 2020 (2020-12-26)
17	1	"No One Promised It Would Be Easy"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev & Dmitriy Minaev	December 2, 2021 (2021-12-02)
18	2	"Petting Zoo"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev & Dmitriy Minaev	December 2, 2021 (2021-12-02)
19	3	"A Better Tomorrow"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev & Dmitriy Minaev	December 2, 2021 (2021-12-02)
20	4	"Ministry of Fear"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev & Dmitriy Minaev	December 11, 2021 (2021-12-11)
21	5	"Nostalghia"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev & Dmitriy Minaev	December 18, 2021 (2021-12-18)
22	6	"Russian Spring"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev & Dmitriy Minaev	December 25, 2021 (2021-12-25)
23	7	"First on the Moon"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev & Dmitriy Minaev	January 1, 2022 (2022-01-01)
24	8	"Citizen X"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev & Dmitriy Minaev	January 8, 2022 (2022-01-08)
25	9	"Unit B"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev & Lena Vanina	January 15, 2022 (2022-01-15)
26	10	"Biopic"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev & Dmitriy Minaev	January 22, 2022 (2022-01-22)
27	11	"The New Ethics"	Roman Volobuev & Polina Fedina	Roman Volobuev & Dmitriy Minaev	January 29, 2022 (2022-01-29)
28	12	"The Voice of Mordor"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev & Dmitriy Minaev	February 5, 2022 (2022-02-05)
29	13	"Provisional"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev & Dmitriy Minaev	February 12, 2022 (2022-02-12)
30	14	"Volga Gambit"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev & Dmitriy Minaev	February 19, 2022 (2022-02-19)
31	15	"The Last Draft"	Roman Volobuev	Roman Volobuev	unaired (unaired)

Production

Background

Producer Aleksandr Tsekalo started developing a comedy about corrupt bureaucrats originally known as The Ministry[8] in 2015.[9] The pilot was written by Pavel Bardin[10] with Maksim Pezhemsky slated to direct.[11] Due to high level of political censorship on Russian broadcast TV Tsekalo was unable to find a network willing to commission the show,[12][10] but  the emergence of streaming services eventually allowed him to sidestep the obstacle. In 2018 Roman Volobuev and Lena Vaninа were signed to write a 15-episode first season with Volobuev directing.[9]

Writing

Volobuev described The Last Minister as "an Aaron Sorkin show were everyone has irrevocably lost their conscience".[13] Some of the show's characters and ideas were borrowed[11] from Volobuev and Vanina's aborted series Zavtra about Russia’s liberal opposition unexpectedly winning presidential elections in 2018.[14]

Filming

The show's first season was filmed in 2019 over period of 3 months mostly on soundstage in Moscow.[15] Principal photography on the second season started in October 2020.[16]

Reception

Critical response

The show's first season won acclaim from Russian critics for its absurdist setting,[17][18] writing[19] and visual stile.[20] Mikhail Trofimenkov of Kommersant called it “the one comedy to capture and preserve the spirit of ‘era of stability’ (an ironic Russian moniker for Putin's years in power)[21]”. It was also praised for breaking an unofficial ban on LGBTQ characters on Russian TV by making one of its main protagonists — Nechaeva — a closeted lesbian.[22]  Some outlets criticised the series for relying too heavily on inside jokes[23] and playing safe with its political subject matter.[24] Ogoniok’s Andrey Archangelsky called out show’s writing team for “falling too much in love with their own characters, effectively becoming their hostages” and eventually “drifting away from the subjects of big politics, greed and power-lust towards much safer and well-trodden melodramatic story[25]”.

Awards

For its first season The Last Minister was nominated for APKiT Awards in a Best Comedy Series category.[26]

Second season was nominated for National Web Industry Awards in three categories: best series, best director and best actor.[27]

Censorship controversy

After Season 2 was completed in early 2021 its release was delayed, pre-production on the planned Season 3 was also halted.[28] According to the BBC investigation[29] the show was deemed ‘politically problematic’ because of episodes depicting a fictional secession of Saratov Oblast from the Russian Federation and satirising a real-life criminal case against the former Khabarovsk Krai Governor Sergei Furgal. A week after BBC Russian Service broke the story Season 2 air date was announced.[30] KinoPoisk CEO and show’s executive producer Olga Filipuk later denied censorship claims citing “boring aspects of repertoire planning, nothing as dramatic as being banned or unbanned”[31] as a sole reason for Season 2 being delayed.

Going off the air in protest against Russian invasion of Ukraine

Season 2 finale slated to air on February 23, 2022 was shelved indefinitely in protest against Russian invasion of Ukraine.[32] In a statement posted on Twitter Roman Volobuev wrote that this was done at his request since he no longer saw it possible to make light-hearted jokes about Russian politics.[33] He also called out show’s supposed fans among Russian government officials: ‘Horror films should be made about you, not comedies. Go take a look in a mirror, check if your reflection still looks human’.[34]

References

1. Official Trailer on YouTube (In Russian)
2. "The Last Minister", on Vokrug.tv
3. "Трейлер: новогодний эпизод сериала "Последний министр" Романа Волобуева". Афиша. Retrieved 2020-12-30.
4. "«Кинотавр-2021»: сериалы фестиваля, которые вам точно стоит посмотреть". GQ Россия (in Russian). 2021-09-28. Retrieved 2021-11-13.
5. "Премьера второго сезона "Последнего министра" состоится 2 декабря". ТАСС. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
6. "Режиссер Волобуев попросил остановить показ своего комедийного сериала из-за войны". www.znak.com. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
7. Brassard, Jeffrey (2022-12-22). "Satire in Putin's Russia: Cynical Distance as a Tool of State Power". VIEW Journal of European Television History and Culture. 11 (22): 54–65. doi:10.18146/view.287. ISSN 2213-0969.
8. ""Ведомости" узнали о планах "Яндекса" по созданию собственных сериалов". Rusbase (in Russian). Retrieved 2020-06-19.
9. ""Злость, вранье, перекладывание ответственности — в режиссерской профессии": Роман Волобуев о сериале "Последний министр"". Meduza. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
10. "Александр Цекало: "Актеры снимаются у нас практически бесплатно"". Mir Novostei (in Russian). Retrieved 2020-06-19.
11. "Роман Волобуев: "Я хотел, чтобы "Последний министр" был эпической ампирной комедией" — Статьи на КиноПоиске". КиноПоиск (in Russian). Retrieved 2020-06-19.
12. ""Последний министр": Роман Волобуев — о том, как сделать политический сериал в стране без политики". The Village. 2020-04-07. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
13. "8 российских сценаристов — о своих фильмах и профессии — Статьи на КиноПоиске". КиноПоиск (in Russian). Retrieved 2020-06-19.
14. Walker, Shaun (2015-03-06). "Satirists seek crowdfunding to kickstart political comedy in Putin's Russia". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
15. Идиот, кипяток, Россия: Репортаж со съемок сериала Романа Волобуева «Последний министр», КиноПоиск HD
16. "Роман Волобуев объявил о старте съемок второго сезона сериала КиноПоиск HD "Последний министр" — Новости на КиноПоиске". КиноПоиск (in Russian). Retrieved 2020-12-30.
17. "Деятельный идиот. Как "Последний министр" Романа Волобуева высмеивает российских чиновников | ForbesLife". Forbes.ru. 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
18. "Первый взгляд на сериал "Последний министр"". kanobu.ru. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
19. "Какие российские сериалы стоит смотреть". Meduza. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
20. ""Последний министр": посмотрите, что происходит с Россией в сериале Романа Волобуева". BURO. (in Russian). Retrieved 2020-06-21.
21. "Чин чина потешай". Коммерсантъ. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
22. Kuvshinova, Maria (2020-06-11). "Ирина Горбачева, Ольга Сутулова и lesbian vibes в российском кино". kimkibabaduk (in Russian). Retrieved 2020-06-21.
23. ""Последний министр": Страна победившего сканворда". Кино-Театр.РУ. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
24. ""Последний министр": офисный ситком про законодательные инициативы". Российская газета. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
25. "Карточный домик районного масштаба". Огонёк. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
26. "Премия АПКиТ 2021: шорт-лист". www.proficinema.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2021-03-21.
27. "Номинанты 2021". premia-w.ru. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
28. Щербинина, Ольга (2021-11-17). "Второй сезон "Последнего министра" стартует 2 декабря. "Би-би-си" сообщало, что у сериала "возникли проблемы" — Кино и сериалы на TJ". TJ. Retrieved 2021-11-18.
29. ""У нас запрет на реальность". Почему в российском кино и сериалах все больше табу". BBC News Русская служба (in Russian). Retrieved 2021-11-13.
30. "Вышел долгожданный трейлер второго сезона "Последнего министра". Уф, мы уже и не надеялись!". Meduza (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-01-16.
31. Кузьмин, Женя (2021-12-29). "Большое интервью TJ с "Кинопоиском": где Гарри Поттер, как работают алгоритмы, прошёл ли "волшебный период" для сериалов — Интернет на TJ". TJ. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
32. "Протесты против вторжения в Украину". Медиазона (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-03-08.
33. "Roman Volobuev". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
34. "Roman Volobuev". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-02-26.

External links

• The Last Minister at IMDb
• The Last Minister on kinopoisk.ru
• The Last Minister on Mubi