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Fact: In 1902 theater director and actor Konstantin Stanislavsky put on stage in the Moscow Art Theater two plays by Maxim Gorky whose scenarios were slums. As part of the preparation for the actors, he took the company to the Khitrov Market in Moscow. At that time, the Khitrov was a rather dangerous place teeming with thieves, prostitutes and murderers and approached with caution even by the police.

The movie takes this episode as starting point, although shows Stanislavsky in the Kitrov without the theater troupe, in the only company of journalist Vladimir Gilyarovsky who is familiar with the slum (as Stanislavsky, Gilyarovsky is a real life character and the script is partly based on his writings).

At this point, the film transitions into a rather free version of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes novella The Sign of Four, with Stanislavsky as a version of Holmes and Gilyarovsky as Dr Watson. There are also counterparts of Professor Moriarty and Inspector Lestrade. The last part of the film introduces some comedic elements. There is a little name dropping; Count Tolstoy is mentioned and playwright Anton Chekhov is given a conversation with Stanislavsky in a luxury restaurant. There is a nice plot twist near the end. The literal translation of the Russian title is Cunning: The Sign of Four.

I didn't find the idea of Stanislavsky as an amateur detective particularly compelling. The film is generally entertaining, but its strong point is the reconstruction of the Kitrov at that time; set and costume design are outstanding and cinematography is excellent both depicting the slums and the aristocratic/intellectual milieu where Stanislavsky lived and worked. All in all, not an outstanding work but an entertaining tale.

I recently went to the cinema by the way.

On the new film by Karen Shakhnazarov called "Khitrovka: The Sign of Four".

I do not want to write in detail about this film, but I will write about it briefly.

The film is based on the book The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle and another short story.

The plot is simple, but quite interesting, two hours looked in one breath.

The tape is reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes and similar films.

Also, the tape keeps in suspense.

The whole viewing, I thought who the killer was, but alas, he was spoiled already in the middle.

About actors: The cast is excellent.

Konstantin Kryukov, Evgeny Stychkin, Alexander Olezhko, as well as Mikhail Porechenkov (only for his sake, I went to the cinema for this film, because I love films with him).

I was pleased with their acting, I was also pleased with the acting of one of the heroines of this film, the acting of the rest was just good.

Also, I want to note the excellent camera work, costumes, and scenery.

In general, I liked the movie.

"Khitrovka: The Sign of Four" is an excellent, interesting detective adventure.

You can watch and relax!

My rating is 9 out of 10.

P. S: By the way, it seems to me that this time Shakhnazarov shot a tape aimed at a mass audience.

I watched his "Anna Karenina" from him and it seems to me that it has already turned out to be less mass-produced, but the film is not bad ("Anna Karenina" I'm 7 and also watched in the cinema) P. S. S: When the film ended, I even wanted to applaud, but I felt shy and did not do it.

Although, the film really deserves them.

Shakhnazarov 👏👏👏 P. S. S. S: Well, I would even go to this movie a second time, pretty cool.

Even with a friend.

Amusing Russian detective movie, adapted from Arthur Conan Doyle's novel The Sign of Four, but replacing Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson for actor and director Konstantin Stanislavsky and journalist Vladimir Gilyarovsky, and London for dangerous and low-class square in Moscow called Khitrovka. Besides the duo, there are colorful character in either major or minor roles. Khitrovka itself is almost a character, always crowded, and it is very nice how director Karen Shakhnazarov (who has other movies I enjoyed from both Soviet era and post-Soviet times, like Zerograd, Ward Number 6, and We are from Jazz) showed in each scene several events happening at the same time.