One cannot help but smile—albeit with a touch of poignant bewilderment—at the latest tidings from the theatrical salons. It appears that the great Mikhail Lermontov, that paragon of poetic sorrow, is to be resurrected upon the silver screen, and the task of embodying him has been entrusted to a gentleman known as 'Haski'.

Now, for those of you who dwell in a state of blissful ignorance, this Mr. Haski is not a classically trained thespian, but a 'rapper'—a modern variety of troubadour whose melodies are perhaps more akin to a street brawl than a St. Petersburg soirée. One wonders if the poet's ghost, upon seeing this casting, would simply sigh and return to his eternal slumber.

The production is helmed by Mr. Pavel Lungin, a director of some reputation, who promises us a transformation of the highest order: from a young, ambitious officer, enamoured by love, to a glittering star of the fashionable salons, and finally, a brave warrior leading the 'desperate hundred' amidst the rugged peaks of the Caucasus.

As for the financial arrangements—which, as we know, are the true heart of any society venture—the project demands a sum of six hundred million rubles. The producer, Mr. Anton Malyshev, has most delicately requested another hundred and fifty million, assuring the Cinema Fund that the state's gold shall be treated with the utmost tenderness. One can only imagine the exquisite care with which such a fortune is spent upon the costumes and perhaps a few overly ornate hats for the ladies of the court.

We are told the premiere shall grace us in the summer of 2028. In the meantime, one recalls that this Mr. Haski has a penchant for the dramatic; in the year 2017, he and his troupe were 'shot' during the filming of a music video in some desolate hospital. Such a flair for the macabre may, perhaps, serve him well in depicting the tragic end of our dear poet, though I suspect the real Lermontov preferred a more refined sort of tragedy.