Limonov: The Ballad

Limonov: The Ballad is a 2024 film directed by Kirill Serebrennikov. It is based on Emmanuel Carrère's 2011 book Limonov, a novelized biography of the Russian dissident writer and politician Eduard Limonov, who founded the National Bolshevik Party.

The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, where it premiered on 19 May 2024. Vision Distribution is scheduled to release the film in Italy on 5 September 2024.

Premise
A revolutionary militant, a thug, an underground writer, a butler to a millionaire in Manhattan. But also a switchblade waving poet, a lover of beautiful women, a warmonger, a political agitator and a novelist who wrote of his own greatness. Eduard Limonov's life story is a journey through Russia, America and Europe during the second half of the 20th century.

Cast

 * Ben Whishaw as Eddie
 * Viktoria Miroshnichenko as Elena
 * Tomas Arana as Stephen
 * Corrado Invernizzi as Lonya
 * Evgeniy Mironov as Kuznetsov
 * Andrey Burkovskiy as Poet
 * Maria Mashkova as Anna
 * Odin Lund Biron as Ethan
 * Vadim Stepanov as Model
 * Vlad Tsenev as Waiter
 * Sandrine Bonnaire as Radio Interviewer
 * Céline Sallette as Intellectual
 * Louis-Do de Lencquesaing as Intellectual
 * Ivan Ivashkin as poet
 * Odin Biron as Ethan
 * Donald Sumpter as Eddie's father

Production
In 2017, Paweł Pawlikowski adapted Emmanuel Carrère's biographical novel Limonov (2011), based on the life of Eduard Limonov, into a screenplay. Pawlikowski planned to direct the film adaptation but revealed in 2020 that he lost interest in the character and abandoned plans to direct.

Release
Limonov: The Ballad was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on 19 May 2024. It is scheduled to be released in Italy on 5 September 2024 by Vision Distribution. Pathé is scheduled to release the film in France on 19 February 2025.

Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 70% based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100 based on 9 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.