Statskiy sovetnik

I've read the book "Statskiy sovetnik" before. When i heard the news that a movie is being made on that novel, i was wondering why THAT novel. I was curious how the director would manage to make a dynamic movie on a rather specific and long story. Especially knowing that the director is rather young and some sort of a beginner in making such "BIG" movies. But Filipp Yankovsky had really made it! By the way he is a son of a very famous Russian theater\movie actor - Oleg Yankovsky. Great dialogues and closeups. Famous Russian director - Nikita Mikhalkov, shows GREAT acting skills, playing Prince Pozharsky, sometimes even drawing most of attention from the main character - Fandorin. All characters surely showed their best in this great dynamic movie. Those who are interested in Russian history will certainly gain a lot of experience, because Akunin pays very much attention to all historical details. Great movie!

Adaptation of Boris Akunin's famous novel about 19-th century Russian sleuth Erast Petrovich Fandorin solving an assassination of a hot shot general by a terrorist group called "BG". Directed by young Russian film-maker Filip Yankovski with all-star cast in it.

Finally, after shallow "Azazel" and awful "Turkish Gambit" the audience can view a wonderful piece of film making with some stunning performances. Every single actor does a superb job and demonstrates excellent acting. Mature Erast Fandorin played by Oleg Menshikov is just like the one in the book - daring, unemotional and mysterious. He is quite a silent character in the film, musing most of the time, but the great acting skills of Menshikov are demonstrated in these very scenes. Green played by Konstantin Khabenskii is great as well - nervous, reckless but brave and charming. Nikita Mikhalkov is playing Pojarskii and I have to admit that he is playing his part real well. His character has the most lines. A very controversial character, at times comical and sometimes even devilish.

A few words about cinematography, screenplay and editing. Film has a lot of dark, white and red in it and such mixture of colors makes a picture very organic. Creation of 19-th century Moscow atmosphere was in my opinion achieved with great success: "troika" carriages on snowy streets, glamorous Russian castles and various beautiful costumes. Screenplay and editing are done so well that I didn't even notice how three hours passed. Dialogues are very well written and at the same time they so well spoken that it's a pleasure to listen to them and they don't tend to bore or tire. On the other hand a lot of action takes place and what is the most interesting - the end of the film differs from the same of the novel, so even those who have read the book and thus know the whole story, will still be surprised.

When I've read my first book about Fandorin, I thought "Only Menshikov can play this". That is why since the moment I first heard that Menshikov WILL play Fandorin I was waiting for "Statskiy Sovetnik" to be released and was eager to watch it. And - finally! - my dream came true.

In the beginning I was a bit annoyed by the difference between the movie and the book, though I'm not the person who cares about such things. Then the movie captivated me and I became interested.

The actors' work was brilliant, I especially would like to mention Nikita Mikhalkov, whose portrayal of Pozharsky was absolutely flawless. Konstantin Khabenskiy and Oksana Fandera were very convincing too. The action was rather exciting - at least for me, because for some people long dialogues (or even monologues) can be quite boring. Not for me - I enjoyed every moment.

All in all, when I left the cinema, I was pleased with the movie. But some time later, recollecting the details, I found myself puzzled with the thought of Menshikov's performance. He looked good, he was an ideal Fandorin for me - at least his appearance was suitable - but I got an embarrassing feeling that I saw a ghost, a shadow of Erast Petrovich. It was lifeless, emotionless and insensible. What a disappointment! Fandorin is reserved and self-respecting, NOT nonchalant, haughty and bored of life.

In conclusion I can only say that this is my personal opinion and maybe I simply cannot see the main point of Menshikov's work... But I'm still upset with this Fandorin. I only hope that if there is another movie with Oleg Menshikov playing Erast Fandorin, THAT performance of this undoubtedly talented actor will be different - meaning more lively.

Statski sovetnik is interesting at least because the entire elite of Russian cinema starred here. And the original source is not weak, everyone knows Boris Ankunin. The story itself is simple. Menshikov and Mikhalkov look great, but most of all to watch the still young Konstantin Khabensky. The last series of 4 is somewhat delayed. But even she looks better than the previous 2 films in the trilogy. I don't even understand how so many beautiful actors fit into 1 mini-series.

The main expectations from this movie for me was the image of Fandorin. I must admit that this Fandorin might be quite acceptable for everyone who read Akunin's books about him. Of course, everyone has it's own Fandorin in their mind, but Menshikov did his job pretty well and might be called as "Fandorin for everyone", so - no complains! No complains for all actors(Mikhalkov - bravo) and Yankovsky! For those who read this book, must be satisfied with the movie, because it's close enough to the book and XIX century Russia is also shown quite real. Dark side of the movie - Masa. It looks like it was some kind of amateur actor. Akunin's Masa is much more colorful and, how to say... interesting! Esfir Litvinova, Fandorin's chick, was (IMHO) too modern.