Goncharov (1973): the Cinematic Masterpiece that Never Existed
Picture courtesy: Flickr
Over the past couple of weeks, a film has captivated the internet. And apparently, it has been around for decades, waiting for the world to discover its artistry. The title of the film: Goncharov, a New Hollywood-era film directed by Martin Scorsese in 1973—the mastermind behind award-winning blockbusters such as Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1990), and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) to name a few. Starring renowned actors such as Robert De Niro and John Cazale from The Godfather, Goncharov is a post-Cold War-era mafia film that has become the subject of intense critical analysis and spawned countless pieces of fanfiction.
It is an underrated masterpiece that has managed to slip past the public eye until now—mainly because it doesn’t exist. Goncharov was not created by Scorsese in 1973; it is an elaborate joke and/or creative project (the line blurs) created by the Tumblr community two years ago.
The joke originated in 2020, when Tumblr user zootycon posted an image of a pair of knock-off boots. The label on the boots contained a promotional message for Gomorrah, Scorsese’s 2008 mafia film. ‘Gomorrah’, however, was erroneously spelled as ‘Goncharov’—which happens to be a Russian surname. Other users quickly picked up on the joke, especially when one user commented, ‘this idiot hasn’t seen goncharov’. This year, on 18 November, it resurfaced when Tumblr user beelzeebub created and shared an elaborately photoshopped poster for Goncharov, with several acting stars copy-and-pasted from other mafia films, complete with the tagline ‘Winter Comes to Naples’. Since then, there has been a flurry of reviews lauding the masterpiece and its cinematography, with several digital artists creating fanart for the characters. A 44-page Google Doc now exists, where members of the public contribute to a detailed ‘analysis’ of the film—an activity known as ‘gonching’. The process is almost akin to collaboratively creating a new film. Of course, participants cannot state explicitly that they are ‘creating a new film’; after all, Goncharov was created decades ago.
This, then, is the plot of Goncharov: after the fall of the Soviet Union, the titular character leaves the Russian mafia with his wife Katya to start a new life in Naples, but their dark past and complex relationships with those around them threaten to crush their hopes for a safer, more idyllic future. There is some heavily implied homoeroticism between Goncharov and his partner Andrey; likewise between Katya and her employee Sofia. There is one celebrated, highly symbolic scene where Katya and Sofia share a pomegranate and an apple while they ‘discuss themes of Eve and Persephone’. This is the intricate level of detail that the online community has reached.
Tumblr, the company, has also taken part in the joke, deeming the film ‘inexplicably ahead of its time’ in one of their posts. Even Martin Scorsese himself is in on it. ‘I know’, he said when questioned about the film in late November. ‘I made that film years ago’.
In a way, Goncharov is a sign that the internet facilitates imagination, rather than repressing it. A Harris poll conducted in 2020 showed that Gen Z may be the most creative existing generation, with 56% of Gen Z individuals considering themselves creative, as compared to 44% among the older generations. This is the age of social media, where content creators can easily promote their material to a global audience and where people can collaborate on projects across time and space. The fact that such a highly specific situation could generate any discussion at all—a pair of knock-off boots with a misspelt ad—shows that people can now express their creativity through increasingly unique channels.
Tumblr, of course, moves fast when it comes to ideas. Discussions around the film might peter out into silence, or it could result in the creation of an actual film, as hopefully suggested by some participants. If the Google Doc is any indicator, it seems that the project is still in full swing. No one knows how long Goncharov will continue to captivate people, but for now, happy gonching.