# Limonov: The Ballad

**Limonov: The Ballad** (Russian title «Лимонов. Баллада»; also released as «Лимонов, баллада об Эдичке», Limonov, the Ballad of Eddie) is a 2024 biographical drama film directed by Kirill Serebrennikov about the Russian writer and political activist Eduard Limonov. It is an adaptation of Emmanuel Carrère's 2011 novel *Limonov*, and it competed for the [Palme d'Or](https://www.edgepedia.org/palme-dor) at the 77th Cannes Film Festival in May 2024.<sup>[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/limonov-the-ballad/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://www.proficinema.com/questions-problems/reviews/detail.php?ID=396239&logout=yes)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[3](https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2024/05/19/au-festival-de-cannes-la-rencontre-fragmentee-de-kirill-serebrennikov-avec-edouard-limonov_6234248_3246.html)</sup>  The film is a French, Italian, and Spanish co-production, runs 138 minutes, and stars [Ben Whishaw](https://www.edgepedia.org/ben-whishaw) as Limonov.<sup>[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/limonov-the-ballad/)</sup>

| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and cast | Directed by Kirill Serebrennikov; Ben Whishaw plays Eddie (Limonov), Viktoria Miroshnichenko plays Elena<sup>[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/limonov-the-ballad/)</sup> |
| Source | Adaptation of Emmanuel Carrère's novel *Limonov* (P.O.L, 2011), winner of the Prix Renaudot<sup>[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/limonov-the-ballad/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[3](https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2024/05/19/au-festival-de-cannes-la-rencontre-fragmentee-de-kirill-serebrennikov-avec-edouard-limonov_6234248_3246.html)</sup>  |
| Production | Italy, France, Spain; 138 minutes; screenplay by Serebrennikov, Pawel Pawlikowski, and Ben Hopkins<sup>[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/limonov-the-ballad/)</sup> |
| Premiere | 19 May 2024, Cannes Film Festival, In Competition for the Palme d'Or<sup>[2](https://www.proficinema.com/questions-problems/reviews/detail.php?ID=396239&logout=yes)</sup> |
| Filming | New York sets built in Moscow, then dismantled and rebuilt in Riga after Russia's invasion of Ukraine<sup>[4](https://www.afisha.ru/article/news-prodyuser-mario-dzhanani-rasskazal-o-semkah-filma-limonov-ballada-ob-edichke-kirilla-serebrennikova/)</sup> |
| Budget and gross | Budget over $10 million; worldwide gross $380,440<sup>[5](https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/05/12/celebrated-russian-director-to-make-eduard-limonov-biopic-a77648/pdf)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[6](https://www.kinopoisk.ru/film/771307/)</sup>  |
| Reception | Metacritic Metascore 61 (generally favorable); Kinopoisk rating 6.3; IMDb 5.8<sup>[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/limonov-the-ballad/critic-reviews/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[6](https://www.kinopoisk.ru/film/771307/)</sup>  |

## Spoilers

### The subject and its source

The film follows Eduard Limonov, born Eduard Savenko in 1943 and died in 2020, a poet, novelist, and political agitator whose life crossed the second half of the twentieth century: an underground literary figure in Moscow under Brezhnev, an émigré in New York in the 1970s who worked as a butler to a Manhattan millionaire, a fashionable writer in Paris in the 1980s, and after his return to Russia the co-founder of the [National Bolshevik Party](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-bolshevik-party), followed by imprisonment in a Siberian colony.<sup>[8](https://biff.kr/eng/html/archive/arc_history_view.asp?kind=history&m_idx=75910&page=1&pyear=2024&sec=399)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[5](https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/05/12/celebrated-russian-director-to-make-eduard-limonov-biopic-a77648/pdf)</sup>  The Cannes synopsis describes him as "a revolutionary militant, a thug, an underground writer, a butler to a millionaire in Manhattan" and "a switchblade waving poet, a lover of beautiful women, a warmonger, a political agitator and a novelist who wrote of his own greatness."<sup>[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/limonov-the-ballad/)</sup>

The film's literary basis is not Limonov's own scandalous 1979 novel *It's Me, Eddie* but Carrère's biographical novel *Limonov*, published by P.O.L in 2011, which received the [Prix Renaudot](https://www.edgepedia.org/prix-renaudot) and wide critical attention.<sup>[5](https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/05/12/celebrated-russian-director-to-make-eduard-limonov-biopic-a77648/pdf)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[3](https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2024/05/19/au-festival-de-cannes-la-rencontre-fragmentee-de-kirill-serebrennikov-avec-edouard-limonov_6234248_3246.html)</sup>  Carrère, who had crossed paths with Limonov several times but never spoken with him, introduced the book in 2011 with a summary of its subject: "a hoodlum in Ukraine, an idol in the Soviet underground during Brezhnev, a beggar and then valet to a billionaire in Manhattan, a hipster writer in Paris, a lost soldier in the Balkan wars."<sup>[9](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2024/limonov-brought-to-the-screen-by-kirill-serebrennikov/)</sup> Although Carrère took no part in writing the screenplay, he appears in the film in a short scene in which, playing himself, he is rudely rebuffed by Limonov.<sup>[3](https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2024/05/19/au-festival-de-cannes-la-rencontre-fragmentee-de-kirill-serebrennikov-avec-edouard-limonov_6234248_3246.html)</sup>

## Production

**Development and casting.** The project was reported in May 2022, when the Russian film and theater director Kirill Serebrennikov began work on the biopic with the British actor Ben Whishaw, a BAFTA winner, in the lead.<sup>[5](https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/05/12/celebrated-russian-director-to-make-eduard-limonov-biopic-a77648/pdf)</sup> The first screenplay version was written by Ben Hopkins and Pawel Pawlikowski, and Serebrennikov then reworked it.<sup>[4](https://www.afisha.ru/article/news-prodyuser-mario-dzhanani-rasskazal-o-semkah-filma-limonov-ballada-ob-edichke-kirilla-serebrennikova/)</sup> Whishaw had become known internationally through *Perfume: The Story of a Murderer*; Viktoria Miroshnichenko, of *Beanpole*, plays the poet Yelena Shchapova, Limonov's wife, under the name Elena.<sup>[4](https://www.afisha.ru/article/news-prodyuser-mario-dzhanani-rasskazal-o-semkah-filma-limonov-ballada-ob-edichke-kirilla-serebrennikova/)</sup> The supporting cast includes [Tomas Arana](https://www.edgepedia.org/tomas-arana), Corrado Invernizzi, Evgeny Mironov, Andrey Burkovsky, Maria Mashkova, Odin Lund Biron, and [Sandrine Bonnaire](https://www.edgepedia.org/sandrine-bonnaire).<sup>[6](https://www.kinopoisk.ru/film/771307/)</sup>

**Shooting in Moscow and Riga.** Half the material, covering the early and late stages of Limonov's life up to about 2004, was filmed in winter in Moscow, where the crew reconstructed New York; for the New York episodes of the 1980s the production moved to Europe.<sup>[4](https://www.afisha.ru/article/news-prodyuser-mario-dzhanani-rasskazal-o-semkah-filma-limonov-ballada-ob-edichke-kirilla-serebrennikova/)</sup> After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, filming was transferred from Moscow to Riga, and work was suspended for several months before resuming in August 2022; producer Mario Gianani said the New York sets were dismantled in Moscow and rebuilt in Riga.<sup>[4](https://www.afisha.ru/article/news-prodyuser-mario-dzhanani-rasskazal-o-semkah-filma-limonov-ballada-ob-edichke-kirilla-serebrennikova/)</sup> The Moscow Times reported a budget of more than $10 million.<sup>[5](https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/05/12/celebrated-russian-director-to-make-eduard-limonov-biopic-a77648/pdf)</sup> The film is Serebrennikov's first in English; in an interview he explained the choice pragmatically: "We had Italian producers, adapting a French author's book, with a Russian director, so it felt logical and natural to speak English as our working language."<sup>[10](https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/kirill-serebrennikov-limonov-the-ballad-interview)</sup>

The creative team includes the cinematographer Roman Vasyanov, the composer Massimo Pupillo, and the editor Yuriy Karikh; production companies include Wildside, Chapter 2, Hype Studios, and [Pathé](https://www.edgepedia.org/pathe), with producers Mario Gianani, Lorenzo Gangarossa, Dimitri Rassam, and Ilya Stewart.<sup>[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/limonov-the-ballad/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[11](https://www.hypestudios.com/projects/limonov)</sup>

## Approach and title

Serebrennikov has been explicit that the film is not a documentary biography. In a May 2024 interview he said the word "ballad" in the title is key: it is a story about "not quite Limonov," built on Limonov's autobiographical texts and on Carrère's novel.<sup>[12](https://meduza.io/feature/2024/05/31/snimat-kino-pro-cheloveka-kotoryy-strelyaet-po-lyudyam-nevynosimo-ya-skazal-chto-pro-etu-chast-ego-zhizni-prosto-ne-hochu-znat)</sup> Asked whether Limonov was a hero or a villain, he answered: "For me, he was a Russian Joker. A person with several faces who multiple times would die and be reborn in a new body, environment, and nation, starting a new life each time."<sup>[13](https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/07/15/director-kirill-serebrennikov-on-eduard-limonov-russia-fascism-and-violence-a85672)</sup> He also said he wanted to show "how a creative personality becomes a character of war," and that Limonov is "like a metaphor for Russia."<sup>[13](https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/07/15/director-kirill-serebrennikov-on-eduard-limonov-russia-fascism-and-violence-a85672)</sup> In the Rogerebert interview he said he chose to focus on New York and on the love story with Yelena Shchapova, "the woman who was his main love."<sup>[10](https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/kirill-serebrennikov-limonov-the-ballad-interview)</sup>

## Release and reception

The film premiered on 19 May 2024 at Cannes, where it screened in the Official Selection's main competition; it was Serebrennikov's fourth film In Competition, after *Leto* (2018), *Petrov's Flu* (2021), and *Tchaikovsky's Wife* (2022).<sup>[2](https://www.proficinema.com/questions-problems/reviews/detail.php?ID=396239&logout=yes)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[9](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2024/limonov-brought-to-the-screen-by-kirill-serebrennikov/)</sup>  It opened in French cinemas on 4 December 2024.<sup>[14](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/article/2024/12/15/kirill-serebrennikov-filmmaker-war-has-killed-freedom-and-culture-in-russia_6736078_30.html)</sup> It was not shown in Russia; Serebrennikov said release there was impossible because the film contains material forbidden in the country, including the mention of Limonov's political party and a homosexual sex scene.<sup>[14](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/article/2024/12/15/kirill-serebrennikov-filmmaker-war-has-killed-freedom-and-culture-in-russia_6736078_30.html)</sup> Worldwide box office reached $380,440.<sup>[6](https://www.kinopoisk.ru/film/771307/)</sup>

**Critical response.** On Metacritic the film scored 61, in the "generally favorable" band, from nine reviews: five positive, three mixed, and one negative.<sup>[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/limonov-the-ballad/critic-reviews/)</sup> The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw gave it 80 and called it "an exhilarating, alarming look at that much discussed subject: the Russian soul"; Variety's Jessica Kiang gave it 30, writing that the film "might not be a total misapprehension of the mercurial, charismatic and infuriating Eduard Limonov, but it is at least a mispronunciation."<sup>[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/limonov-the-ballad/critic-reviews/)</sup> [Le Monde](https://www.edgepedia.org/le-monde)'s Cannes review judged the portrait incomplete, arguing that by removing the complexities of Russian history the film flattens those of the character.<sup>[15](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/article/2024/05/22/kirill-serebrennikov-delivers-incomplete-portrayal-of-eduard-limonov-at-cannes-film-festival_6672330_30.html)</sup> On Kinopoisk the film holds a user rating of 6.3 from about 4,830 votes, with 17 positive and 10 negative critic reviews counted on the site.<sup>[6](https://www.kinopoisk.ru/film/771307/)</sup>

## References

1. [LIMONOV – THE BALLAD, Festival de Cannes film page](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/limonov-the-ballad/)
2. [Канны 2024: «Лимонов, баллада об Эдичке», ProfiCinema](https://www.proficinema.com/questions-problems/reviews/detail.php?ID=396239&logout=yes)
3. [Au Festival de Cannes, la rencontre fragmentée de Kirill Serebrennikov avec Edouard Limonov, Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2024/05/19/au-festival-de-cannes-la-rencontre-fragmentee-de-kirill-serebrennikov-avec-edouard-limonov_6234248_3246.html)
4. [Продюсер Марио Джанани рассказал о съемках фильма «Лимонов, баллада об Эдичке», Афиша](https://www.afisha.ru/article/news-prodyuser-mario-dzhanani-rasskazal-o-semkah-filma-limonov-ballada-ob-edichke-kirilla-serebrennikova/)
5. [Celebrated Russian Director to Make Eduard Limonov Biopic, The Moscow Times](https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/05/12/celebrated-russian-director-to-make-eduard-limonov-biopic-a77648/pdf)
6. [Лимонов. Баллада (2024), Кинопоиск](https://www.kinopoisk.ru/film/771307/)
7. [Limonov: The Ballad critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/limonov-the-ballad/critic-reviews/)
8. [Busan International Film Festival archive: Limonov: The Ballad of Eddie](https://biff.kr/eng/html/archive/arc_history_view.asp?kind=history&m_idx=75910&page=1&pyear=2024&sec=399)
9. [Limonov brought to the screen by Kirill Serebrennikov, Festival de Cannes](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2024/limonov-brought-to-the-screen-by-kirill-serebrennikov/)
10. [Craziness and Contradiction: Kirill Serebrennikov on "Limonov: The Ballad", RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/kirill-serebrennikov-limonov-the-ballad-interview)
11. [Limonov. The Ballad, Hype Studios](https://www.hypestudios.com/projects/limonov)
12. [Интервью Кирилла Серебренникова о Лимонове и «Лимонове», Meduza](https://meduza.io/feature/2024/05/31/snimat-kino-pro-cheloveka-kotoryy-strelyaet-po-lyudyam-nevynosimo-ya-skazal-chto-pro-etu-chast-ego-zhizni-prosto-ne-hochu-znat)
13. [Director Kirill Serebrennikov on Eduard Limonov, Russia, Fascism and Violence, The Moscow Times](https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/07/15/director-kirill-serebrennikov-on-eduard-limonov-russia-fascism-and-violence-a85672)
14. [Kirill Serebrennikov, filmmaker: 'War has killed freedom and culture in Russia', Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/article/2024/12/15/kirill-serebrennikov-filmmaker-war-has-killed-freedom-and-culture-in-russia_6736078_30.html)
15. [Kirill Serebrennikov delivers incomplete portrayal of Eduard Limonov at Cannes Film Festival, Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/article/2024/05/22/kirill-serebrennikov-delivers-incomplete-portrayal-of-eduard-limonov-at-cannes-film-festival_6672330_30.html)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 2023 and 2024 › Titles H to N*

*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*

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