House of Fools (2002) Dom durakov (original title)

Director:

Andrey Konchalovskiy

Writer:

Andrey Konchalovskiy

Release Date:

6 December 2002 (Russia)

Genre:

Drama | Music | Romance | War

Plot:

In the midst of the Chechen War, a remote psychiatric institution is left without staff leaving the patients to fend for themselves. Based on a true story.

Plot Keywords:

Patient | Chechen | Chechen War | Soldier | Russia

Awards:

4 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Yuliya Vysotskaya	...	Zhanna
Yevgeny Mironov	...	Officer
Sultan Islamov	...	Ahmed
Stanislav Varkki	...	Ali
Elena Fomina	...	Lucy
Marina Politseymako	...	Vika
Rasmi Dzhabrailov	...	Makhmud
Vladimir Fyodorov	...	Karlusha
Vladas Bagdonas	...	Doctor
Anatoli Adoskin	...	Fucue
Gevorg Ovakimyan	...	Goga (as Georgi Ovakimyan)
Ruslan Naurbiyev	...	Chechen Commander Vakhid
Bryan Adams	...	Himself
Cecilie Thomsen	...	Lithuanian Sharpshooter
Tigranui Chakryan	...	Karapetovna
Margarita Zykova	...	Baba Vera
Jonas Baublis	...	Bibika
Anatoliy Zhuravlyov	...	Boxer
Aleksandr Seleznyov	...	Fyodor the Drunk
Magomed Zurabov	...	Afghani
Ibragim Bekov	...	Yusouff
Tamerlan Dzeitov	...	Askhab
Denis Nadtochiy	...	Vityok the Male Nurse
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Pavel Grachev	...	Himself (archive footage)

Directed by
Andrey Konchalovskiy

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Andrey Konchalovskiy

Produced by
Felix Kleiman	....	producer
Andrey Konchalovskiy	....	producer
Sergei Khramtsov	....	co-producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Eduard Artemev

Cinematography by
Sergey Kozlov

Film Editing by
Olga Grinshpun

Production Design by
Lyubov Skorina

Costume Design by
Svetlana Volter

Sound Department
Stepan Bogdanov	....	sound re-recording mixer
Ilya Kacherzhuk	....	sound editor
Andrei Korinsky	....	sound editor
Vladimir Oryol	....	sound
Yevgeni Terekhovsky	....	sound

Visual Effects by
Aleksandr Polevoy	....	visual effects supervisor
Dmitriy Tokoyakov	....	digital compositor
Ilya Vostrov	....	modelling artist

Other crew
Guy Courtecuisse	....	post-production manager
Alina Gulyaeva	....	assistant to director

Production Companies

• Bac Films
• Hachette Première
• Persona

Distributors

• Argentina Video Home (2004) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2004) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Hachette Première
• Istituto Luce
• Paramount Classics (2003) (USA) (subtitled)
• Production Center of Andrei Konchalovsky (2010) (Russia) (all media) (CIS)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2004) (Argentina) (all media)

Special Effects

• Cinemateka

Also Known As:

"Dom durakov" - Russia (original title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some violence and nudity

Runtime:

Italy:104 min (Venice Film Festival) | USA:104 min | Argentina:104 min

Country:

Russia | France

Language:

Chechen | Russian

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Canada:14A | France:U | USA:R | Argentina:16 | Portugal:M/12

Company:

Bac Films

Movie Connections:

References King of Hearts (1966)

Soundtrack:

Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman

House of Fools

Russian film. Set during the Siberian liberation effort of the mid 1990's. A rebel army seizes a mental institution, believing that it has been abandoned. Lots of interesting characters, including a woman who believes that Canadian pop singer Bryan Adams is her fiancé. Adams has a small reoccurring role during her fantasy sequences. The best way I can describe this film is to imagine the third act of "28 days later…" where the protagonists are taken in by the army post, yet replace all those zombies with very likable mental patients. It's also filmed on digital so it has a similar look to "28 days later…" This film is notable for its stark realism (i.e., natural acting and believable characters and situations). The music plays a vital role too, and is often used to break away from "the suspended disbelief," or I should say that it's used to call to attention that we are only watching a movie. I know that contradicts what i just said about the stark realism. I guess this film is bi-polar, which is for an obvious reason.