Goncharov (meme)

Goncharov is an Internet meme surrounding a nonexistent 1973 mafia film of the same name. Goncharov was imagined by Tumblr users as a joke, often with the tagline "the greatest mafia movie ever made". It is usually described as a mafia film set in Naples, with the involvement of director Martin Scorsese. Those discussing the film have devised a fictionalized cast including Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, John Cazale, Gene Hackman, Cybill Shepherd and Harvey Keitel. Goncharov originated when a Tumblr user posted a picture of a pair of "knockoff boots" that featured details suggesting the film's existence in place of a brand label. This post was reblogged in August 2020 with a joking allusion that Goncharov was a real film; this is generally regarded as the genesis of the meme. The meme went viral in November 2022 after a poster for Goncharov was created and shared online. This sparked an elaborate fiction of its narrative content and production, described in posts on Tumblr and elsewhere as though the film were real. Goncharov has inspired an online fandom, received significant coverage in the media, and garnered responses from notable individuals, including eventually Scorsese himself, generally playing along with the meme.