Moviegoers have been passionate about goncharov (1973), a lost Martin Scorsese film with a four-star cast (Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Harvey Keitel). The only downside: This movie supposedly forgotten after being rejected at the 46th Academy Awards in 1974 doesn’t exist.
goncharovwhich has become the top trend on Twitter and Tumblr, is the pure creation of Internet users, who have created a mythology from scratch around this ghost movie, born from a meme.
It all started with a photo posted on Tumblr showing a pair of boots designed for the US release of gomorrah by Matteo Garrone in 2009, who had been supported by Martin Scorsese. On the trunk, Matteo Garrone is renamed Matteo JWHJ0715. the title of the movie gomorrah is also misspelled in goncharov – and a meme was born.
The mythology is now so precise and pointed, with dozens of articles analyzing fake footage, that many are now convinced the movie really exists.
What are you talking about goncharov according to your imagination? In Naples in the early 1970s, in a world where the Soviet Union has disappeared, Goncharov (who would be played by Robert De Niro), a Russian assassin who is also a nightclub manager, tries to carve out a place for himself in crime. organized.
As his marriage to his wife Katya (Cybill Shepherd) breaks down, he becomes closer to a friend of his, a banker named Andrey (Harvey Keitel).
Meanwhile, Katya succumbs to the advances of another woman, Sofia (Sophia Loren). Then another prominent character intervenes: Ice Pick Joe (John Cazale), a psychopathic killer who murders his victims with an ice pick. The film, which revolves around the recurring theme of the clock, ends with Katya killing Goncharov with the help of Ice Pik Joe.
Al Pacino (as Mario Ambrosini) and Gene Hackman (Valery Michailov) complete the cast of this “history of crimes, betrayal and love”, considered the “best mafia film ever made”, according to what they say from fake posters posted in the last few days on social networks
Video games created by Internet users
If the meme has been known since August 2020, it is thanks to the Czech illustrator Alex Korotchuk who turned on social networks, when the latter imagined on November 19 a fake poster for goncharov. Tumblr users immediately took advantage of it to very quickly develop a mythology around the movie.
In a matter of days, the Archive of Our Own site, dedicated to fan fiction, has already registered more than 500 entries. Two video games around the film were created by Internet users, according to the Inverse site. Several netizens have composed theme songs for the film. An Indian musician even posted his sheet music on Tumblr. And there are countless fake VHS, trailers, and fake gifs.
On social networks, Internet users inspired by movie scenes like The Godfather II to bring this imaginary film to life. Lynda Carter, the unforgettable star of Wonder Woman in the 1970s, she got into the game herself and shared a photo showing her with Fonzy actor Henry Winkler in an alleged preview of goncharov in Los Angeles.
queer reinterpretation
It is especially among illustrators that the fascination for goncharov seems the most tenacious. Artist Shouty had fun imagining scenes with Sofia and Katya. “I saw again goncharov (1973) and I did some drawings of my favorite scenes”, the artist wrote on Instagram. “These flashbacks break my heart every time,” replied one surfer. “Sofia and Katya should have ended up together,” added the illustrator.
many critical texts analyzing imaginary scenes goncharov they have begun to flourish. Some texts have come to decipher the queer themes of the film. Many illustrators have been inspired by him to offer gay reinterpretations of goncharov.
“Goncharov was inexplicably ahead of his time, and his contribution to film history is remarkable. Rarely has a film offered so many varied and interconnected stories. It’s unimaginable that so few people have seen it.” said Tumblr on his Twitter account.
On the Letterbox site, which collects movie reviews written by Internet moviegoers, the site’s administrators were forced to remove several real reviews of the fake movie, reports the New York Timeswhich cites testimonials from moviegoers who have fallen into the trap of goncharov.
As internet users get caught up in the game, some are beginning to feel the situation is unpleasant. First, Neil Gaiman. The famous British novelist, known for SandmanHe has been receiving messages on social networks from fans for several days asking for his opinion on goncharov. “Please enough”, implored.
This phenomenon around goncharov It is not uncommon on the Internet. A few years ago, a fake musical inspired by ratatouille had had immense success on TikTok. Many netizens also believed that a movie titled shazaamwith basketball player Shaquille O’Neal in the title role, it actually existed.
This phenomenon, also called the “Mandela effect”, designates “the collective memory of something that, in the commonly accepted reality, does not exist,” he points out. Timewho sees in it a manifestation of “post-truth”, “a concept according to which we have entered a period in which personal opinion, ideology, emotion, belief prevail over the reality of the facts”, according to the larousse.
The phenomenon did not go unnoticed by Martin Scorsese. The director himself was informed of the existence of the film by his daughter Francesca, who posted a screenshot on TikTok from a conversation with his father. “Did you see that?” she asked him. The teacher’s response was unequivocal: “Yes. I made this film many years ago.”
Source: BFM TV
