Leningrad, 1938. The Stalinist machine is running at full throttle, seeking out enemies of the state and executing the innocent. One of the executioners is the well-respected Captain Volkonogov, but he soon realizes the heinous nature of the system of which he has become a part. On a sudden impulse, he decides to seek out the relatives of his victims and to ask for forgiveness, even though he risks soon being silenced.
Leningrad, 1938. The Stalinist machine is running at full throttle, seeking out enemies of the state and executing the innocent. One of the executioners is well-respected Captain Volkonogov, who one day realizes the heinous nature of the system of which he has become a part. On a sudden impulse, he decides to seek out the relatives of his victims and to ask for forgiveness, even though he risks being silenced. Can executioners get into heaven? This brisk thriller, enlivened by the use of horror tropes, tries to find traces of human conscience beneath layers of an ideology that turns people into corpses even before they die. Shown in competition at Venice, the film stands out thanks to a convincing performance by Yuriy Borisov, the chilling humor, and the way it pays homage to Russian absurdist art.
Vojtěch Kočárník
126 min / Color, DCP
Director Natasha Merkulova, Aleksey Chupov
/ Screenplay Natasha Merkulova, Aleksey Chupov, Mart Taniel
/ Dir. of Photography Mart Taniel
/ Music Elena Stroganova, Matis Rei
/ Sound Matis Rei
/ Editor François Gedigier
/ Art Director Sergey Fevralev
/ Producer Valeriy Fedorovich, Evgeniy Nikishov, Aleksandr Plotnikov
/ Production Place of Power, LOOK FILM
/ Coproduction Homeless Bob Production, Kinovista
/ Cast Yuriy Borisov, Timofey Tribuntsev, Aleksandr Yatsenko, Natalya Kudryashova
/ Sales Memento International
Natasha Merkulova (1979, Orenburg, Russia) and Aleksey Chupov (1973, Russia). Joint filmography: Intimate Parts (Intimnye mesta, 2013), About Love. Adults Only (Pro lyubov. Tolko dlya vzroslykh, 2017), The Man Who Surprised Everyone (Chelovek, kotory udivil vsekh, 2018), Captain Volkonogov Escaped (Kapitan Volkonogov bezhal, 2021).
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