Zhmurki (2005)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Aleksey Balabanov

Writers:

Aleksey Balabanov (writer)
Stas Mokhnachev (writer)

Release Date:

2 June 2005 (Russia)

Genre:

Comedy | Thriller

Tagline:

For those who survived the 90s

Plot:

Sergei and Simon have to deliver a suitcase full of heroin to Mikhalych or else they will be killed...

Plot Keywords:

Heroin | Shot In The Head | Black Comedy | Racial Slur | Russian Mafia

Cast

Aleksei Panin	...	Sergei
Dmitriy Dyuzhev	...	Simon
Nikita Mikhalkov	...	Sergei Mikhajlovich
Sergei Makovetsky	...	Koron
Viktor Sukhorukov	...	Stepan
Dmitri Pevtsov	...	Lawyer
Kirill Pirogov	...	Executioner
Aleksey Serebryakov	...	Doctor
Andrei Merzlikin	...	Referent / Mikhalych's Assistant
Yuri Stepanov	...	Kaban
Grigoriy Siyatvinda	...	Eggplant
Anatoli Zhuravlyov	...	Bala
Garik Sukachyov	...	Brain
Andrey Panin	...	Architect
Aleksandr Bashirov	...	Man Tied to the Chair

Also Known As:

Жмурки (Russia)
Blind Man's Bluff (USA)
Kavardak (Russia) (working title)
Untitled Aleksei Balabanov Project (Russia) (working title)

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

Russia

Language:

Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Filming Locations:

Nizhny Novgorod, Russia

Company:

Kinokompaniya CTB

Trivia:

Approximately 50 liters of fake blood were used in the film.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: The many continuity lapses and other apparent technical errors are a matter of deliberate stylistic choice in this pastiche of 1990s Russian-Mafia movies.

Quotes:

Simon: Let's kill the negro. I don't like them.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Pulp Fiction (1994)

Guy Ritchie's movie in Russian

The movie shows how modern authority figures gained their power and capital. A lot of them came from not so clean jobs and the movies shows details of that.

Two guys - Simon (Duzhev) and Sergey (Aleksey Panin) - are working for a local mobster (Mikhalkov) as negotiators (extortion specialists actually) and killers. They are not brain surgeons and are quick to pull out a gun, which always puts them in different awkward situations. Considering there are competitors such as crooked cop, local dumb criminals and other low-life element, Simon and Sergey are in for a fun ride... Expect lot of gunshots and a sea of blood.

The movie has gathered a great number of Russian cinema stars even in episodic roles (Andrey Panin is an architect, Andrey Krasko is an unlucky neighbor, Dmitriy Pevtzov is a drug-dealing lawyer, etc.), which makes the movie so much fun to watch. Under a virtuoso management of the director Aleksey Balaganov all characters are simply dumb and extremely standardized, which makes it look like a joke.

Just like Guy Ritchie's movies this one can not really be taken too seriously. On the other hand it's too much dark humor and too much blood to be considered a comedy.

Just keep in mind that it is a true biography of some today's Russian politicians. Perhaps, that will leave you thinking.

p.s. "The Russian Ethiopian" is absolutely hilarious!