A doctor in a modern lunatic asylum becomes fascinated with a patient who, although cured of his belief that he is the assassin of Tsar Nicholas II, seems to know more than he should about the murder. As they delve deeper into the past, both men take on roles which will surely again lead to murder. “At that time we didn't know much about the death of the Tsar family. When the nineties came, we began to get some information and I was very excited about the idea of a movie. There are some very dramatic moments in world history, and it is one of them, the moment that will always agitate the artists' souls. But we were the first who've done something of it”, says director Karen Shakhnazarov.
About the film
Details
- Running time
- 1 hr. 38 min.
- Country, year
- Russia, United Kingdom, 1991
- Genre
- Drama
- Language
- Russian, English
- Subtitles
- Lithuanian, English
- Age rating
- N/A
Credits
- Director
- Karen Šachnazarov
- Screenplay
- Aleksandr Borodjanskij, Karen Šachnazarov
- Cinematography
- Nikolaj Nemooljaev
- Music
- Vladislav Shut, John Altman
- Cast
- Oleg Jankovskij, Malcolm McDowell, Armen Džigarchanjan
- More information
- www.imdb.com
Festivals and awards
- in competition
- Grand Prize
- Nika Award for Best Actor (Oleg Jankovskij) and Best Costume Designer.
Director
Karen Šachnazarov
Director, producer and screenwriter Karen Shakhnazarov was born in 1952, Krasnodar, Soviet Union. In 1975 he graduated from Moscow School for Cinematography. His musical comedies Jazzmen and Evening in Gagra made him one of the most commercially successful directors in Russia. Gradually his style became satirical and surrealistic, several of his films dealt with historical topics. He became the Director General of the Mosfilm studios in 1998.
