What a strange world we live in. While out-of-control fires were spreading in Southern California, and millions of TikTok refugees, including me, were migrating to the Chinese government-controlled Rednote and learning Mandarin…I happened to find a Russian love story on Amazon Prime.
I Am Dragon
I Am Dragon is a Russian romantic adventure film from 2015 that was written and directed by Indar Dzhendubaev. I learned about the film on TikTok. It took me a while to find it, but you can watch it on Prime and Peacock Premium. The film is loosely based on Marina and Dergey Dyachenko’s fantasy novel, The Ritual. The film, which stars Mariya Poezzhaeva, Matvey Lykov, Stanislav Lyubshin, Leva Andrejevaite, and Pyotr Romanov, tells the story of a local village that has lived in fear of a dreadful dragon. To placate this dragon, the villagers would offer young girls to be taken as brides to the dragon. These sacrifices continued until a knight was brave enough to kill the dragon. The villages celebrate the Dragon Slayer yearly with a symbolic wedding ceremony.
Years later, Princess Miroslava (Mariya Poezzhaeva) is betrothed to Igor (Pyotr Romanov). We realize two truths right off the bat, young Miroslava is not interested in marrying anyone, and Igor might not be as brave as his grandfather was. When the wedding ceremony begins, Igor’s men sing the ancient dragon song not realizing that dragons still exist. Miroslava is captured by the dragon and held prisoner in a cave along with a fellow prisoner, Arman (Matvey Lykov). Over time, Miroslava and Arman begin to fall in love, but Arman has a dark secret that might cost the princess her life.
Conclusion
I would have never learned about this beautiful film if it wasn’t for TikTok. I Am Dragon is a love story. It is the Russian version of Beauty and the Beast. The acting is perfection, the costumes, the scenery…everything! The film is in English, but you can also use closed captions if you want to learn Russian… after all, thanks to the upcoming TikTok ban, I’m learning Mandarin.
