Sibirskiy tsiryulnik (1998)

Director:

Nikita Mikhalkov

Writers:

Nikita Mikhalkov (story)
Rustam Ibragimbekov (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

20 February 1999 (Russia)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

He's Russian. That explains a lot.

Plot:

Douglas is a foreign entrepreneur, who ventures to Russia in 1885 with dreams of selling a new, experimental...

Plot Keywords:

Russia | Assassination Attempt | Inventor | Vodka | Revolutionary

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Julia Ormond	...	Jane Callahan
Richard Harris	...	Douglas McCraken
Oleg Menshikov	...	André Tolstoi
Aleksei Petrenko	...	General Radlov (as Alexey Petrenko)
Marina Neyolova	...	The mother of Andrei Tolstoi (as Marina Neelova)
Vladimir Ilyin	...	Captain Mokin
Daniel Olbrychski	...	Kopnovsky
Anna Mikhalkova	...	Douniacha
Marat Basharov	...	Polievsky
Nikita Tatarenkov	...	Alibekov
Artyom Mikhalkov	...	Buturlin
Georgiy Dronov	...	Cadet Nazarov (as Georgy Dronov)
Avangard Leontyev	...	Andrei's Uncle (as Avangard Leontiev)
Robert Hardy	...	Forsten
Elizabeth Spriggs	...	Perepyolkina

Also Known As:

Сибирскiй цирюльникъ (Russia)
Il barbiere di Siberia (Italy)
Le barbier de Sibérie (France)
The Barber of Siberia (International: English title)

Runtime:

180 min | Russia:275 min (TV version)

Country:

Russia | France | Italy | Czech Republic

Language:

Russian | English | French | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Finland:K-11 | Netherlands:6 | South Korea:15 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

Aldeia do Meco, Sesimbra, Setúbal, Portugal

Company:

Three T Productions

Trivia:

The actors who played the officers were trained for several months in military academy in Kostroma according to the drill regulations and guard duty of the end of 19 century.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In a scene which takes place in 1905, a US flag is seen with 50 stars. The correct flag would have 45 Stars.

Soundtrack:

Le nozze di Figaro

Critics despise it, I loved it!

I must have an extremely bad taste. Most professional critics have written devastating comments on this film. I just loved it, all 180 minutes of it! Of course, according to the books, you should not mix slapstick and serious drama. Mikhalkov does it and the result completely vindicates him, I feel. Critics should not forget that cinema is about entertainment. Critics blame Mikhalkov because he did not make another high brow artistic film like « Burnt by the sun », but "prostituted" his talent by bowing to the Hollywood taste. I liked both films evenly well, different as they are. Critics say Mikhalkov presented a phony image of old Russia. Of course his billboard image of tsarist Russia is not devoid of clichés and camp, but what a glorious camp it is! Mikhalkov is accused of painting a much too rosy picture of old Russia. But are the Russians (and other people) not entitled to some glimpses of the beautiful Russia that could have been, but somehow never seems able to materialize in this century of gloom ? The critics point out that the film has a lot of formal weaknesses. To the heck with the critics ! The film may not have a very deep message, but I think it illustrates, in a poetic way, the difficulty Russians and Westerners have at understanding each other. Either you love this film, or you ‘d better leave it . When you look at the vote results, you see three quarters of those who voted on this film adore it (scores 8-10), while the others loathe it (scores 1-4). Apparently it is a film you can't be indifferent to.