The Russian Film 'Gogol', Where a Frail Literary Youth Confronts Demons

One day, my brain suddenly demanded some nourishment. It said, 'You're lacking in Russian language components lately.' So, I asked my buddy Gemini, 'I want to watch a Russian movie, can you give me a recommendation?'

Among the candidates suggested, the one that piqued my interest the most was 'Gogol'.

'Gogol' (Original title: Гоголь) is a dark mystery fantasy film produced between 2017 and 2018. The general story follows a young Nikolai Gogol before he became a successful writer, as he becomes a detective (investigator) and pursues the mystery of a series of murders occurring in a certain village. As of December 2025, it is available on Amazon Prime Video. It is a trilogy.

I love Russia. But I'm terrible with printed text.

I have long been interested in Russia, and I studied history and the Russian language in college. However, I am not at all familiar with Russian literature.

I know that Dostoevsky's 'Crime and Punishment' and 'The Brothers Karamazov' are as thick as blunt weapons. That's because my literary-minded classmate used to swing them around when she was angry. But I have no idea what the stories are about.

In the first place, I'm bad with printed text and can't read books. I'm the kind of person who can fall asleep after reading just three lines. My Japanese literature classes were always the perfect, side-effect-free sleeping pills.

So, even though I know 'Ah, Nikolai Gogol (Николай Гоголь),' and I know he's a writer and how to spell his name, I don't know what era he lived in or what kind of works he wrote.

But that doesn't matter at all.
The handsome guy on the package cover with the shoulder-length bob, who looks like he has a very unfortunate life, is probably Mr. Gogol. I don't know for sure, though. I like the visuals, so it's OK (the reason will be explained later). Just thinking about this frail boy who looks like he could collapse from anemia at any moment speaking in Russian is enough to satisfy me before I even watch it.

The Japanese titles are all too long

All three 'Gogol' films have Japanese dubbed versions. That's quite rare.According to what I heard from Gemini later, it's not actually that rare these days.
The voice actor for the protagonist, Gogol, is none other than Toshiyuki Morikawa. He played Watson in the super-famous detective work 'Sherlock Holmes,' and it seems his casting was decided in connection with that. That just goes to show how much enthusiasm the distributor had for this work.

However, they were a bit too enthusiastic with the Japanese titles.

1. 'Gogol: The Black Knight and the Sacrificial Beauties'
(Original title: Гоголь. Начало)
2. 'Gogol II: The Witch's Curse and the Summoning of the Viy'
(Original title: Гоголь. Вий)
3. 'Gogol III: The Risen and the Final Battle'
(Original title: Гоголь. Страшная месть)

They are even more embellished than 'Harry Potter and the...', and because the font size and Roman numerals were hard to see, I couldn't tell at a glance where to start watching.

The correct answer is 1, 'The Black Knight and the Sacrificial Beauties,' which is 'Начало (Beginning)' in the original title. I would have known immediately if they had written it in Russian.

Also, unfortunately, unlike 'Harry Potter,' where each story is self-contained, this 'Gogol' series splits a single sequence of events into three parts—beginning, middle, and end—so the mystery isn't solved unless you watch it all the way to the end. It cuts off at a super intense moment with 'to be continued...' and if you start from 2, it just displays 'Chapter 3...' without any proper summary. It's a trap for first-time viewers.

In Russia, after the theatrical run, it was re-edited into a TV drama series and broadcast in 6 chapters and 8 episodes. I think it would have been much better if they had used that format in Japan as well.

Also, when I saw the title and thought, 'Is this a supernatural ability battle mystery like 'Neuro: Supernatural Detective'?', I was corrected by my buddy Gemini, who said, 'You mean 'Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro',' right?'

Gogol is not a demon like Neuro, so he doesn't torture criminals with supernatural powers. He is just an ordinary man who aspires to be a novelist, possessing a special skill that is 'too frail for a detective,' which is that he has gruesome precognitive dreams at crime scenes and collapses on the spot. He is just an ordinary man.

He buys back the books he wrote with confidence but didn't sell at all from bookstores around town and burns them in his home fireplace. He drowns his sorrows in alcohol. He falls in love at first sight with a beautiful married woman who is actually a reader of his books and praised the content highly. He is loved by a yandere beauty who met a tragic end and became a water spirit (ghost), and as a result, he is seen talking to thin air (because she is invisible to others).

'Dark One' (Тёмный) is what he's called, but he's just a normal, slightly sensitive young man of about 20—well, it's understandable if people think he's a weirdo, a madman, or a chuunibyou from the outside. But he is kind-hearted and tries his best, so he becomes liked by all his companions. The audience (me) watching him feels the same way.

It's even more fun if you have some background knowledge

Although it has the drawback that you can't reach the resolution just by watching one film, I felt that the content was a perfect 100 out of 100 as an entertainment film????.

The characters that appear are all eccentric, and the classic 'Oso-Russia' trope of 'I'll send you all to Siberia!' also pops up. The screen is dark, there's plenty of blood, and you can enjoy beautiful women, eroticism (?), and occult themes like the Cthulhu Mythos. The contrast between the big city of Saint Petersburg, which is riding the wave of modernization to keep up with Western Europe (though it still has that gloomy atmosphere typical of Russia), and the super rural village bound by old customs is also interesting. The little props and the fashion are full of the atmosphere of the time, making them fun just to look at.

And, if you know Russian culture, you can enjoy this film even more.

The film is set around 1828-1829 in Saint Petersburg and the village of Dikanka in the Poltava region of Ukraine.
As introduced in the work, the story is based on Gogol's book 'Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka' (Вечера на хуторе близ Диканьки) . The title of the second film,

'Viy', is also one of his works, and it is originally a terrifying creature from Slavic mythology. If you have read Gogol's works, you will be able to recognize the eccentric characters and think, 'Oh, it's that person!'

It seems that Alexander Petrov, who plays Gogol, was cast after the director put a wig on him and thought, 'Doesn't he look like a portrait of Gogol?'

Actually, Alexander Petrov is the same person who played Ivushkin in my favorite Russian film 'T-34'. No wonder his face looked familiar, and I thought he was cool. The gap between that and this sentimental, cowardly guy is just too huge.

Well, this film is a great work in that you can enjoy it even without knowing any of that.

There is no end to the trivia you can find in this film.
It makes me, who hated reading so much, think that I might want to pick up a book and wonder, 'I wonder what it was like in Gogol's actual book?' I want to write as many articles about this film as possible. I've already written one, after all.

And, my original goal was Russian listening practice.
The Russian in the dialogue wasn't that difficult... I think. Even with a gap of over 10 years, it's surprising how much I still remember.

I was so impressed that I forgot to read the Japanese subtitles as the timid protagonist Gogol gradually opened his heart to those around him and his (Russian) way of speaking changed little by little. I might just be imagining that (mishearing), though.

The fan wiki is really comprehensive and even includes behind-the-scenes photos from the shoot, so if you've finished watching the film, please take a look at that too.