Ligne de vie (1996)

Director:

Pavel Lungin

Writers:

Vincent Lambert, Alain Layrac (screenplay),

Stars:

Vincent Perez, Tatyana Meshcherkina, Armen Dzhigarkhanyan

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Vincent Perez	...	Philippe
Tatyana Meshcherkina	...	Oksana (as Tanya Meshcherina)
Armen Dzhigarkhanyan	...	Papa
Jérôme Deschamps
Dmitriy Pevtsov	...	Jafar
Vsevolod Larionov	...	Ivan
Aleksandr Pyatkov	...	Le Cuisinier
Vladimir Steklov	...	Pilote Avion
Aleksandr Baluev	...	Vadim
Rasmi Dzhabrailov	...	Ahmed (as Rasmi Djabrailov)
Lev Borisov	...	Le Tailleur
Aleksandr Negreba	...	Rlabol
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Aleksandr Balabushevich	...	Homme Papa (as Alexander Balabouchevitch)
Konstantin Berdikov	...	Le Moustachu
Achir Chakirov	...	Homme Nouzail

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

laying on of hands | party | death | brothel | father daughter relationship | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

France Russia

Language:

French Russian

Release Date:

27 March 1996 (France)

Also Known As:

La ley del miedo

Filming Locations:

Moscow, Russia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Etalon film, IMA Productions, Mosfilm-Service

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Surreal post-com Russian mafia movie

Having seen other films by Pavel Lungin, including 'Oligarkh' and 'Svadba', out of which 'Svadba' is clearly my favorite, I went into this one with high expectations. And I wasn't disappointed in the sense that I haven't lost interest in the story. But it is botched up a little. One scene works and is very powerful indeed, then another just shouldn't be there. Yes, it's surreal madness, from the Central Asian deserts to the post-com Moscow, and it does function as symbolic commentary on trends of new Russian history. But from time to time illogical developments come independently from that endeavor, although they mingle relatively well and thus almost completely disappear in the midst of 'normal' madness. So this is the Russian 'Godfather' indeed, but with a touch of Kusturica as well (think e.g. of 'Underground'), and with minor imperfections. A souvenir from the age that some sociologists, just heard it from a specialist on Russia, characterize as a 'civil war with an extremely narrow battle front, fought over material values'.