In the 15 years since its founding, Star Media has grown into an international media group and distribution powerhouse, with a catalog boasting more than 7,500 hours of content available in more than 60 countries worldwide. But the company remains true to its roots as a production house, and its focus is still on the production of high-end content with an emphasis on series that boast both local and international appeal, according to Star Media president Vlad Riashyn.
The company’s portfolio of local content includes more than 65 series and feature films. Currently in production is a Russian-language adaptation of the hit Israeli crime drama “Kvodo,” whose American remake, “Your Honor,” starring Bryan Cranston, aired on Showtime. The series follows a powerful judge whose son kills a motorcyclist in a hit-and-run accident. When the victim turns out to be the son of a local mafia kingpin, the judge and his son find themselves...
The company’s portfolio of local content includes more than 65 series and feature films. Currently in production is a Russian-language adaptation of the hit Israeli crime drama “Kvodo,” whose American remake, “Your Honor,” starring Bryan Cranston, aired on Showtime. The series follows a powerful judge whose son kills a motorcyclist in a hit-and-run accident. When the victim turns out to be the son of a local mafia kingpin, the judge and his son find themselves...
- 6/22/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
The original 3D alien invasion movie was a box-office success in Russia last year.
Russian production and sales outfit Art Pictures Studios is beginning pre-sales in Cannes on the sequel to Fedor Bondarchuk’s sci-fi blockbuster Attraction.
The original 3D alien invasion movie was a box-office success in Russia last year. Art Pictures Studio’s head of sales Anna Strunevskaya has confirmed that the script for the second film is complete and that shooting will begin this summer. Bondarchuk is again set to direct and some of the original cast members including Irina Starshenbaum and Oleg Menshikov are set to return.
Russian production and sales outfit Art Pictures Studios is beginning pre-sales in Cannes on the sequel to Fedor Bondarchuk’s sci-fi blockbuster Attraction.
The original 3D alien invasion movie was a box-office success in Russia last year. Art Pictures Studio’s head of sales Anna Strunevskaya has confirmed that the script for the second film is complete and that shooting will begin this summer. Bondarchuk is again set to direct and some of the original cast members including Irina Starshenbaum and Oleg Menshikov are set to return.
- 5/8/2018
- ScreenDaily
The original 3D alien invasion movie was a box-office success in Russia last year.
Russian production and sales outfit Art Pictures Studios is beginning pre-sales in Cannes on the sequel to Fedor Bondarchuk’s sci-fi blockbuster Attraction.
The original 3D alien invasion movie was a box-office success in Russia last year. Art Pictures Studio’s head of sales Anna Strunevskaya has confirmed that the script for the second film is complete and that shooting will begin this summer. Bondarchuk is again set to direct and some of the original cast members including Irina Starshenbaum and Oleg Menshikov are set to return.
Russian production and sales outfit Art Pictures Studios is beginning pre-sales in Cannes on the sequel to Fedor Bondarchuk’s sci-fi blockbuster Attraction.
The original 3D alien invasion movie was a box-office success in Russia last year. Art Pictures Studio’s head of sales Anna Strunevskaya has confirmed that the script for the second film is complete and that shooting will begin this summer. Bondarchuk is again set to direct and some of the original cast members including Irina Starshenbaum and Oleg Menshikov are set to return.
- 5/8/2018
- ScreenDaily
Fedor Bondarchuk’s sci-fi drama serves up striking cityscapes and decent special effects but feels slightly tired
Fedor Bondarchuk is the Russian director who has emerged from the shadow of his celebrated father, Sergei, as a commercial force: his Afghanistan war movie 9th Company (2005) – avowedly inspired by Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down – made its mark, though his gung-ho 3D action film Stalingrad (2013) was misguidedly macho and gamer-ish. Now he has made this moderate sci-fi invasion movie, with special effects that are serviceable, if not exactly state-of-the-art. A big spaceship lands with an almighty crash on Moscow’s tough housing district Chertanovo: some very striking cityscape shots of bleak high-rise buildings, here, eerier than any UFO. An alien divests himself of his giant-bug exoskeleton, taking human form as a handsome young guy, Hijken (Rinal Mukhametov), who entrances Yulya (Irina Starshenbaum) the teen daughter of the military honcho tasked with repelling...
Fedor Bondarchuk is the Russian director who has emerged from the shadow of his celebrated father, Sergei, as a commercial force: his Afghanistan war movie 9th Company (2005) – avowedly inspired by Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down – made its mark, though his gung-ho 3D action film Stalingrad (2013) was misguidedly macho and gamer-ish. Now he has made this moderate sci-fi invasion movie, with special effects that are serviceable, if not exactly state-of-the-art. A big spaceship lands with an almighty crash on Moscow’s tough housing district Chertanovo: some very striking cityscape shots of bleak high-rise buildings, here, eerier than any UFO. An alien divests himself of his giant-bug exoskeleton, taking human form as a handsome young guy, Hijken (Rinal Mukhametov), who entrances Yulya (Irina Starshenbaum) the teen daughter of the military honcho tasked with repelling...
- 1/18/2018
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
'The alien's exoskeleton was a long job. We made a clip where we found the movements of various animals, insects and snakes and selected the movements we liked' Photo: Art Pictures Fedor Bondarchuk Photo: Denis Ishtokin As part of the first Fipresci colloquium on Russian cinema in St Petersburg, actor-turned-director Fedor Bondarchuk took part in a Q&A about his film Attraction. The Russian blockbuster, which was a box office hit in his home country and opened London's Russian Film Week this month, tells the story of alien Hijken (Rinal Mukhametov) who gets into trouble when his spacecraft is shot down over Moscow. As he tries to recover a vital part of his ship, he enlists the help of teenager Yulya (Irina Starshenbaum), who also happens to be the daughter of a high-ranking army colonel (Oleg Menshikov). As the attraction between the Yulya and Hijken grows, so do the problems...
- 11/23/2017
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
"It depends on what they do next." Another new trailer has launched for the epic Russian alien arrival sci-fi action movie titled Attraction. We posted three different trailers for this movie all through last year, since it opened in Russia in January of this year. It's just now getting a UK release next January, which is why they've launched their own UK trailer. This is my kind of sci-fi - the VFX are top notch, the concept seems exciting and entertaining, the aliens (and their ship) look cool, I'm really looking forward to this (still). The film stars Oleg Menshikov, Alexander Petrov, Rinal Mukhametov, and Irina Starshenbaum. "The drama unfolds in the ruins of a working-class suburb overwhelmed by the disaster, as the military struggles to control fear, anger, and the eventual clash between Earth and visitors from another galaxy." Take a look. Here's the newest UK trailer (+ UK poster) for Fedor Bondarchuk's Attraction,...
- 11/9/2017
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
[Editor's Note: This is the first of our coverage of the Edinburgh International Film Festival!]
A slick, big-budget Russian sci-fi film from director Fedor Bondarchuk, Attraction begins with a meteor-shower passing over Moscow which causes an alien spaceship - silently observing the Earth in order to assess our worthiness as candidates for first-contact - to crash-land in the city. As the military swing into action, citizens begin to panic, and we're witness to the aftermath of this historic event.
Attraction is a sort of ensemble-piece, following the lives of high school student Yulya (Irina Starshenbaum), Yulya's boyfriend Artyom (Alexander Petrov) and her father, Colonel Lebedev (Oleg Menshikov), who happens to be in charge of the military operation [Continued ...]...
A slick, big-budget Russian sci-fi film from director Fedor Bondarchuk, Attraction begins with a meteor-shower passing over Moscow which causes an alien spaceship - silently observing the Earth in order to assess our worthiness as candidates for first-contact - to crash-land in the city. As the military swing into action, citizens begin to panic, and we're witness to the aftermath of this historic event.
Attraction is a sort of ensemble-piece, following the lives of high school student Yulya (Irina Starshenbaum), Yulya's boyfriend Artyom (Alexander Petrov) and her father, Colonel Lebedev (Oleg Menshikov), who happens to be in charge of the military operation [Continued ...]...
- 6/27/2017
- QuietEarth.us
Exclusive: Stalingrad director Fedor Bondarchuk is enticing distributors with his ambitious IMAX 3D feature Attraction.
Art Picture Studio has announced several eye-catching new deals on the action/sci-fi survival movie, due to be released in Russia early next year, in which aliens descend on Moscow.
Capelight has now come on board to take the German rights, while other major territories that have been closed include Japan (Presidio) and South Korea (Lumix Media).
Steffen Gerlach, co-owner of Capelight, commented about the deal: “We released Hardcore Henry earlier this year theatrically and German fans are really excited about the new wave of Russian action films, so we are really proud to present Attraction, the next Russian sci-fi blockbuster, to the German audience on the big screen in 2017.”
During Cannes in May, Art Picture Studio struck an exclusive deal with Chinese company H.G.С. Entertainment Limited for a simultaneous opening of Attraction in Russia and China on 10,000 screens.
Attraction...
Art Picture Studio has announced several eye-catching new deals on the action/sci-fi survival movie, due to be released in Russia early next year, in which aliens descend on Moscow.
Capelight has now come on board to take the German rights, while other major territories that have been closed include Japan (Presidio) and South Korea (Lumix Media).
Steffen Gerlach, co-owner of Capelight, commented about the deal: “We released Hardcore Henry earlier this year theatrically and German fans are really excited about the new wave of Russian action films, so we are really proud to present Attraction, the next Russian sci-fi blockbuster, to the German audience on the big screen in 2017.”
During Cannes in May, Art Picture Studio struck an exclusive deal with Chinese company H.G.С. Entertainment Limited for a simultaneous opening of Attraction in Russia and China on 10,000 screens.
Attraction...
- 11/23/2016
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
How does this looks so awesome?! Another trailer has debuted for Russian alien arrival movie Attraction, or Prityazhenie, about a giant craft that crash lands in Russia. We featured two original trailers for this a few months ago, and this new trailer has even more footage of the alien creatures and their spacecraft. The film stars Oleg Menshikov, Alexander Petrov, Rinal Mukhametov and Irina Starshenbaum. It's made by the same guy who made Stalingrad and will be presented in IMAX 3D (at least in Russia) when it opens. The action really ramps up near the end, and it actually looks impressive. The VFX are better than most Hollywood movies, and the whole thing has an epic feeling to it. I'm excited to see this! Might be good. Here's the third official trailer (+ poster) for Fedor Bondarchuk's Attraction, found directly on YouTube: You can still watch the first two trailers for Attraction here,...
- 11/21/2016
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Whoa! This looks cool. A new teaser trailer has debuted for a Russian alien invasion/arrival movie called Attraction. We've also added the original teaser along with the new trailer, since this is the first time we've encountered this film. There's some awesome footage in this, mainly the original arrival and crash in a city. The ship design is incredibly unique, and I love the way it looks as it crashes down. The film stars Oleg Menshikov, Alexander Petrov, Rinal Mukhametov and Irina Starshenbaum. It's made by the same guy who made Stalingrad and will be presented in IMAX 3D (at least in Russia) when it opens. The newest teaser actually reveals the aliens, which are huge creatures without a discernible face, making me even more intrigued. Along with Guardians, there are some impressive action movies coming out of Russia these days. Here's the first two teaser trailers (+ poster) for Fedor Bondarchuk's Attraction,...
- 9/30/2016
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Exclusive: Fedor Bondarchuk and Dmitry Rudovsky have revealed their production slate in Cannes.
Fedor Bondarchuk [pictured] and Dmitry Rudovsky’s Art Pictures Studios, the Russian outfit behind the epic war movie Stalingrad, has announced details of its new slate.
Art Pictures’ new flagship project is sci-fi epic Attraction, which is in production and due to be released in IMAX theatres next year. During the market, the film has been sold to China.
The company also has a host of other new projects: Pavel Lungin’s psychological thriller Queen Of Spades; 3D animation Kikoriki: Legend Of The Golden Dragon; and comedies Anyone But Them, When Your Dog Is Your Matchmaker and Love On The Roof.
Attraction, which Bomdarchuk is directing, centres aliens descending on Moscow and the impact on civilization. The cast includes Oleg Menshikov and Alexander Petrov.
Further news of the films will be given at a Roskino new projects showcase in Cannes, which runs through...
Fedor Bondarchuk [pictured] and Dmitry Rudovsky’s Art Pictures Studios, the Russian outfit behind the epic war movie Stalingrad, has announced details of its new slate.
Art Pictures’ new flagship project is sci-fi epic Attraction, which is in production and due to be released in IMAX theatres next year. During the market, the film has been sold to China.
The company also has a host of other new projects: Pavel Lungin’s psychological thriller Queen Of Spades; 3D animation Kikoriki: Legend Of The Golden Dragon; and comedies Anyone But Them, When Your Dog Is Your Matchmaker and Love On The Roof.
Attraction, which Bomdarchuk is directing, centres aliens descending on Moscow and the impact on civilization. The cast includes Oleg Menshikov and Alexander Petrov.
Further news of the films will be given at a Roskino new projects showcase in Cannes, which runs through...
- 5/17/2016
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
Ukrainian-born actress Milla Jovovich arrives for the screening of the movie 'Utomlyonnye Solntsem 2: Predstoyanie' (The Exodus - Burnt by the sun 2) during the 63rd Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, 22 May 2010. The movie by Russian director Nikita Mikhalkov is presented in competition at the Cannes Film Festival 2010, running from 12 to 23 May. Epa/Christophe Karaba (L-r) Russian actor Oleg Menshikov, Russian actress Nadezhda Mihalkova and Russian director Nikita Mikhalkov arrive for the screening of the movie 'Utomlyonnye Solntsem 2: Predstoyanie' (The Exodus - Burnt by the sun 2) during the 63rd Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, 22 May 2010. The movie by Nikita Mikhalkov is presented in competition at the Cannes Film Festival...
- 5/22/2010
- by James Wray
- Monsters and Critics
Just a heads up to everyone that follows these articles each Sunday. I will be in France for the Cannes Film Festival for the next two Sundays and I have no way of predicting just how exactly this article will turn out for the next two weeks. I will certainly post something wo you have a place to post, share and discuss what you watched, but my contribution may be limited.
I may just post links to the coverage of the Festival to that point as I hope to be reviewing and watching a lot of movies, but perhaps a couple of those won't get their own article and will wind up here. Nevertheless, just a heads up so you know what to expect. Now for this week's movies...
Burnt by the Sun (1995) Quick Thoughts: I paid $10 for this one from Amazon.com's Video On Demand service thanks to a...
I may just post links to the coverage of the Festival to that point as I hope to be reviewing and watching a lot of movies, but perhaps a couple of those won't get their own article and will wind up here. Nevertheless, just a heads up so you know what to expect. Now for this week's movies...
Burnt by the Sun (1995) Quick Thoughts: I paid $10 for this one from Amazon.com's Video On Demand service thanks to a...
- 5/9/2010
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
You all remember this title, right? But we are here today to talk about Burnt by the Sun 2, or, a sequel to well known Nikita Mikhalkov’s 1994 film.
Burnt By The Sun 2: Exodus
This Russian drama film is scheduled to compete for the Golden Palm at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.
It’s a World War II epic with a budget of 55 million dollars, which makes it the most expensive Russian film ever since Soviet times! The sequel was divided into 2 parts: Burnt by the Sun 2: Exodus and Burnt by the Sun 3: The Citadel.
So, the film is about an aged professor and his wife, the pre-revolutionary intellectuals, and of a military leader, the hero of the Bolshevik revolution and Civil War, as well of his young wife and charming little daughter. There is also a family friend-turned traitor and executioner of the family.
A summer day of 1936 begins carelessly and calmly,...
Burnt By The Sun 2: Exodus
This Russian drama film is scheduled to compete for the Golden Palm at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.
It’s a World War II epic with a budget of 55 million dollars, which makes it the most expensive Russian film ever since Soviet times! The sequel was divided into 2 parts: Burnt by the Sun 2: Exodus and Burnt by the Sun 3: The Citadel.
So, the film is about an aged professor and his wife, the pre-revolutionary intellectuals, and of a military leader, the hero of the Bolshevik revolution and Civil War, as well of his young wife and charming little daughter. There is also a family friend-turned traitor and executioner of the family.
A summer day of 1936 begins carelessly and calmly,...
- 5/5/2010
- by Fiona
- Filmofilia
Although it was expected since Cannes "hearts" Sean Penn, Doug Liman must be pinching himself over the news of being included in the Main Competition, and in the company of the three names of Leigh, Kiarostami and Mikhalkov. After all, when you consider he made Jumper, then Fair Game might be a powerful political film. Out of today's 16 films named in the Main Comp (still at least 5 or maybe 6 more films to be named at a later date), it would appear that Mikhalkov's might be in the running for the longest run time. Here are four of the 16. - Although it was expected since Cannes "hearts" Sean Penn, Doug Liman must be pinching himself over the news of being included in the Main Competition, and in the company of the three names of Leigh, Kiarostami and Mikhalkov. After all, when you consider he made Jumper, then Fair Game might be a powerful political film.
- 4/15/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
The first film won the Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 94, and while I yet to see it, I'm wondering how Mikhalkov will bring his beloved characters into a post-war premise and if he'll make some kind of social commentary about current day politics. What we do know is that this will be an epic in scope. - #64. The Exodus - The Fortress: Burnt by the Sun 2 Director: Nikita MikhalkovWriter(s): Rustam Ibragimbekov and Mikhalkov Producers: Nikita MikhalkovDistributor: Rights Available. The Gist: Taking place in post-war Russia, this revisits the characters of Mitya (Oleg Menshikov) and Col. Kotov (Nikita Mikhalkov) who were “killed” in the original film....(more) Cast: Mikhalkov as Col. Sergei Petrovich Kotov. Why is it on the list?: The first film won the Grand Prize at the Cannes...
- 1/14/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
Who needs holidays? Make your own with the birthdays of movie people.
Parker, Oleg and Vlad the Impaler (as interpreted by Gary Oldman)
Today's Birthdays 11/08
1431 Vlad the Impaler would have turned 578 years old today if not for that stake through the heart. To be accurate, his exact birthday is unknown but sometimes he's listed on this date which probably has something to do with...
1847 Bram Stoker who wrote the original Dracula, which gave Vlad the immortality that he had mythically already won as the original nosferatu... vampyr. The cinema loves him harder and deeper than Lucy Harker ever could.
1900 Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone With the Wind. She didn't have to impale anyone or renounce heaven to achieve immortality. She just had to write one mammoth book. The movie based on her novel is still the highest grossing film of all time when adjusted for inflation. One of only four films...
Parker, Oleg and Vlad the Impaler (as interpreted by Gary Oldman)
Today's Birthdays 11/08
1431 Vlad the Impaler would have turned 578 years old today if not for that stake through the heart. To be accurate, his exact birthday is unknown but sometimes he's listed on this date which probably has something to do with...
1847 Bram Stoker who wrote the original Dracula, which gave Vlad the immortality that he had mythically already won as the original nosferatu... vampyr. The cinema loves him harder and deeper than Lucy Harker ever could.
1900 Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone With the Wind. She didn't have to impale anyone or renounce heaven to achieve immortality. She just had to write one mammoth book. The movie based on her novel is still the highest grossing film of all time when adjusted for inflation. One of only four films...
- 11/8/2009
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
IndieWire Precious takes the audience prize at Toronto. Could this season be another like the Slumdog last when everything was a foregone conclusion before the big night. If so, zzz and uh-oh. The buzz is so deafening now it might sadly become one of those movies where everyone's opinions are pre-formed and no one's can fully be trusted. Hate it when that happens (but I am totally dying to see the film. Very soon. very soon)
Quiet Earth Concept art for Mute, the follow up to Duncan Jones Moon
Pop Culture Nerd wonders if you'll go to the Harry Potter theme park. My god, not me. I'll be so relieved in 2011 when it's all finally over. Next!
Cinema Styles has a fascinating take on Francis Ford Coppola's One From the Heart. I love reading modern takes on this movie
NY Times Robert De Niro and Spike Lee are developing...
Quiet Earth Concept art for Mute, the follow up to Duncan Jones Moon
Pop Culture Nerd wonders if you'll go to the Harry Potter theme park. My god, not me. I'll be so relieved in 2011 when it's all finally over. Next!
Cinema Styles has a fascinating take on Francis Ford Coppola's One From the Heart. I love reading modern takes on this movie
NY Times Robert De Niro and Spike Lee are developing...
- 9/20/2009
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
instead of a tues top 10, a 25.
I did this once for the actresses but I'm always giving the ladies their due. So, here's to the silver screen men that have enriched my movie-life. I admit up front that I haven't investigated Classic Hollywood actors to the extent I've investigated their leading ladies, so this list is highly subject to change the more old movies I see in my life.
Nathaniel's 25 all time favorite leading men
In no particular order and extremely subject to change
Gene Kelly | Tony Leung Chiu-Wai |
Montgomery Clift | Jeff Bridges | Paul Newman
Jude Law | James Dean | William Holden | Gene Hackman | Rock Hudson
Jack Lemmon | Gael García Bernal | Ewan McGregor | James Stewart | Gregory Peck
Steve Martin | Marlon Brando | Jack Nicholson | Burt Lancaster | Richard Burton
Brad Pitt | Johnny Depp | Cary Grant | Warren Beatty | William Hurt
Because sometimes you just want to name names
The list is not comprehensive, not set in stone,...
I did this once for the actresses but I'm always giving the ladies their due. So, here's to the silver screen men that have enriched my movie-life. I admit up front that I haven't investigated Classic Hollywood actors to the extent I've investigated their leading ladies, so this list is highly subject to change the more old movies I see in my life.
Nathaniel's 25 all time favorite leading men
In no particular order and extremely subject to change
Gene Kelly | Tony Leung Chiu-Wai |
Montgomery Clift | Jeff Bridges | Paul Newman
Jude Law | James Dean | William Holden | Gene Hackman | Rock Hudson
Jack Lemmon | Gael García Bernal | Ewan McGregor | James Stewart | Gregory Peck
Steve Martin | Marlon Brando | Jack Nicholson | Burt Lancaster | Richard Burton
Brad Pitt | Johnny Depp | Cary Grant | Warren Beatty | William Hurt
Because sometimes you just want to name names
The list is not comprehensive, not set in stone,...
- 8/29/2009
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Rome -- The Locarno Film Festival said Wednesday that it will give its career award to Italian actor Toni Servillo during this summer's 62nd edition.
Servillo, who won wide acclaim for his portrayal of iconic Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andriotti last year in Paolo Sorrentino's award-winning "Il Divo," is a two-time best actor winner at the David di Donatello awards, Italy's highest film honor.
Festival officials said that Servillo -- who will turn 50 during the Aug. 5-15 Locarno event -- will take part in a Q&A session with audience members. The date for the presentation of Locarno's excellence award was not announced.
Previous winners of the Locarno honor include Oleg Menchikov, Susan Sarandon, John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe, Michel Piccoli and Carmen Maura.
Servillo, who won wide acclaim for his portrayal of iconic Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andriotti last year in Paolo Sorrentino's award-winning "Il Divo," is a two-time best actor winner at the David di Donatello awards, Italy's highest film honor.
Festival officials said that Servillo -- who will turn 50 during the Aug. 5-15 Locarno event -- will take part in a Q&A session with audience members. The date for the presentation of Locarno's excellence award was not announced.
Previous winners of the Locarno honor include Oleg Menchikov, Susan Sarandon, John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe, Michel Piccoli and Carmen Maura.
- 4/8/2009
- by By Eric J. Lyman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Just as the lead character named Tolstoy suffers a little whenever he must own up to not being related to the famous Russian novelist, "The Barber of Siberia" is a sprawling, period epic that suffers in comparison to its rich cinematic and literary heritage. Prospects for a major American distribution deal are dim.
The much-anticipated opening film of the 52nd Cannes International Film Festival, and the first feature from director Nikita Mikhalkov since his Oscar-winning "Burnt by the Sun", "Barber" is ostensibly a love story, but not a very complex or compelling one. At nearly three hours, the mostly English-language film indulges in long sequences of Slavic-style comedy that don't necessarily further the story of an enigmatic American woman's love affair with a charismatic Russian army cadet.
Although she confidently attacks the role, Julia Ormond is allowed to indulge in far too many contemporary nuances in her performance as Jane, a lone woman in Czarist Russia circa 1885 on a mission to help desperate inventor McCracken (Richard Harris) secure funds to finish creating a steam-driven forest-harvesting machine, which he hopes will make him rich. Like most of the cast, she tries to keep the energy level high, but one never feels very connected to her character and rarely laughs with the bemused outsider at her zany hosts.
Oleg Menshikov as Cadet Tolstoy, on the other hand, is terrific as the passionate young man who meets Jane on the train to Moscow. They share some champagne in her compartment and a few laughs as his comrades fumble about. Later, they are both on the street in Moscow when mysterious shooters in black assassinate an official. In one of the film's best scenes, Tolstoy shows he's not the best soldier-in-the-making when he lets one of the assassins go free.
Jane visits McCracken's workshop and watches the old coot almost destroy his invention in one of many comic scenes that fall flat. The plan is for Jane to butter up one Gen. Radkov (Alexey Petrenko) in order to gain access to the grand duke -- a source of completion funds, if you will, for McCracken's tree "barber." Open, aggressive, a smoker and seemingly free to wed, Jane succeeds in charming Radkov, but Tolstoy is thoroughly smitten and obviously a much better match despite his lackluster social status.
From cadets polishing a dance floor to outdoor festivals with vodka-drinking bears to a climactic performance of "The Marriage of Figaro", there are some entertaining moments, but the pacing often slows to a crawl, and the framing device of the story -- Ormond's character revealing to her American Army recruit son his origins -- has weak ongoing gags involving gas masks and crude insults aimed at Mozart.
At one point, Tolstoy risks everything to fight a duel over Jane's honor. But he goes even further down the road to ruin when he becomes convinced she's playing all the angles, which she is. Still, he proposes to her, barely beating Radkov to the punch. She is then forced to reveal that she's not who she seems to be -- certainly not McCracken's daughter, as she claimed -- and relates a horrible fact about her past.
Eventually, as in seemingly all Russian love stories of this size and breadth, the lovers are separated -- he's sent off to prison for attacking Radkov in a jealous fit, and she goes back to the States. Ten years later, she accompanies McCracken to Siberia for a test of his machine and goes searching for Tolstoy, who settled there after serving his sentence.
While visually the film has some nice touches, with Mikhalkov working in widescreen for the first time, the overused narration of Ormond's character doesn't wait for one to absorb the story visually. Time and location titles are also employed needlessly, accentuating the overall stodgy feeling to the storytelling. The director has a splendid cameo as Emperor Alexander III, but Harris is disappointing as the mad inventor -- except for a shot of his character yelling on top of a train steaming through the forests in one of this film's rare transcendent moments, the kind one expects a lot more of from Mikhalkov.
THE BARBER OF SIBERIA
Camera One, ThreeProds.,
France 2 Cinema, Medusa, Barrandov Biografia
Michel Seydoux presents
In association with Intermedia Films
Director: Nikita Mikhalkov
Screenwriters: Rustam Ibragimbekov, Nikita Mikhalkov
Producer: Michel Sedoux
Executive producer: Leonid Vereschagin
Cinematographer: Pavel Lebeshev
Production designer: Vladimir Aronin
Editor: Enzo Meniconi
Costume designers: Natacha Ivanova, Sergey Struchev
Music: Edward Nicolay Artemyev
Color/stereo
Cast:
Jane: Julia Ormond
Tolstoy: Oleg Menshikov
McCracken: Richard Harris
Radkov: Alexey Petrenko
Running time -- 176 minutes
MPAA rating:...
The much-anticipated opening film of the 52nd Cannes International Film Festival, and the first feature from director Nikita Mikhalkov since his Oscar-winning "Burnt by the Sun", "Barber" is ostensibly a love story, but not a very complex or compelling one. At nearly three hours, the mostly English-language film indulges in long sequences of Slavic-style comedy that don't necessarily further the story of an enigmatic American woman's love affair with a charismatic Russian army cadet.
Although she confidently attacks the role, Julia Ormond is allowed to indulge in far too many contemporary nuances in her performance as Jane, a lone woman in Czarist Russia circa 1885 on a mission to help desperate inventor McCracken (Richard Harris) secure funds to finish creating a steam-driven forest-harvesting machine, which he hopes will make him rich. Like most of the cast, she tries to keep the energy level high, but one never feels very connected to her character and rarely laughs with the bemused outsider at her zany hosts.
Oleg Menshikov as Cadet Tolstoy, on the other hand, is terrific as the passionate young man who meets Jane on the train to Moscow. They share some champagne in her compartment and a few laughs as his comrades fumble about. Later, they are both on the street in Moscow when mysterious shooters in black assassinate an official. In one of the film's best scenes, Tolstoy shows he's not the best soldier-in-the-making when he lets one of the assassins go free.
Jane visits McCracken's workshop and watches the old coot almost destroy his invention in one of many comic scenes that fall flat. The plan is for Jane to butter up one Gen. Radkov (Alexey Petrenko) in order to gain access to the grand duke -- a source of completion funds, if you will, for McCracken's tree "barber." Open, aggressive, a smoker and seemingly free to wed, Jane succeeds in charming Radkov, but Tolstoy is thoroughly smitten and obviously a much better match despite his lackluster social status.
From cadets polishing a dance floor to outdoor festivals with vodka-drinking bears to a climactic performance of "The Marriage of Figaro", there are some entertaining moments, but the pacing often slows to a crawl, and the framing device of the story -- Ormond's character revealing to her American Army recruit son his origins -- has weak ongoing gags involving gas masks and crude insults aimed at Mozart.
At one point, Tolstoy risks everything to fight a duel over Jane's honor. But he goes even further down the road to ruin when he becomes convinced she's playing all the angles, which she is. Still, he proposes to her, barely beating Radkov to the punch. She is then forced to reveal that she's not who she seems to be -- certainly not McCracken's daughter, as she claimed -- and relates a horrible fact about her past.
Eventually, as in seemingly all Russian love stories of this size and breadth, the lovers are separated -- he's sent off to prison for attacking Radkov in a jealous fit, and she goes back to the States. Ten years later, she accompanies McCracken to Siberia for a test of his machine and goes searching for Tolstoy, who settled there after serving his sentence.
While visually the film has some nice touches, with Mikhalkov working in widescreen for the first time, the overused narration of Ormond's character doesn't wait for one to absorb the story visually. Time and location titles are also employed needlessly, accentuating the overall stodgy feeling to the storytelling. The director has a splendid cameo as Emperor Alexander III, but Harris is disappointing as the mad inventor -- except for a shot of his character yelling on top of a train steaming through the forests in one of this film's rare transcendent moments, the kind one expects a lot more of from Mikhalkov.
THE BARBER OF SIBERIA
Camera One, ThreeProds.,
France 2 Cinema, Medusa, Barrandov Biografia
Michel Seydoux presents
In association with Intermedia Films
Director: Nikita Mikhalkov
Screenwriters: Rustam Ibragimbekov, Nikita Mikhalkov
Producer: Michel Sedoux
Executive producer: Leonid Vereschagin
Cinematographer: Pavel Lebeshev
Production designer: Vladimir Aronin
Editor: Enzo Meniconi
Costume designers: Natacha Ivanova, Sergey Struchev
Music: Edward Nicolay Artemyev
Color/stereo
Cast:
Jane: Julia Ormond
Tolstoy: Oleg Menshikov
McCracken: Richard Harris
Radkov: Alexey Petrenko
Running time -- 176 minutes
MPAA rating:...
- 5/13/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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