Voditel dlya Very (2004)

Director:

Pavel Chukhraj

Writer:

Pavel Chukhraj (writer)

Release Date:

29 July 2004 (Kazakhstan)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A General, who had sent for a cadet from the Kremlin Guard to work as his personal driver, decided to marry him to his physically disabled daughter

Awards:

7 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Igor Petrenko	...	Viktor
Yelena Babenko	...	Vera (as Alyona Babenko)
Bogdan Stupka	...	General Serov
Andrey Panin	...	Adjutant Saveliev
Yekaterina Yudina	...	Maid Lida
Marina Golub	...	Zinaida
Valeriy Barinov	...	General Klimenko
Natalja Gudkova	...	Anzhela
Alisa Grebenshchikova	...	Red
Dimitri Vysotsky	...	Cuban comrade Rojes
Aleksei Zelensky	...	1st Detective
Aleksandr Mezentsev	...	Hospital Doctor
Vladimir Koval	...	Gynecologist
Sergei Udovik	...	2nd Detective
Aleksandr Shavrin	...	Forensic Pathologist

Also Known As:

Водитель для Веры (Russia)
A Driver for Vera (International: English title)
Vodij dlya Viry (Ukraine)

Runtime:

105 min | Czech Republic:114 min (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)

Country:

Russia | Ukraine

Language:

Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Filming Locations:

Crimea, Ukraine

Company:

Channel 1+1

Trivia:

The film was the Official selection from Ukraine for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film 2005, but the Academy did not consider it for nomination because of Russia's large inputs in the movie production.

Quotes:

Vera: Do you love me?
Viktor: I do.
Vera: Sometimes I think that you don't.
Viktor: So what, what should I do to make you believe? Jump from a rock? Shoot myself?
Vera: Just swear... swear in the name of mother. Well! You swear?
Viktor: I swear!
Vera: In the name of mother?

The Best I've Seen in Years

"The Driver for Vera" is simply excellent cinematography. The pace and intensity of this two-hour film is such that you don't notice passage of time. It's like dozing off and waking up from an intense dream where for a few seconds you don't know who you are or where you are. If a regular Hollywood production is like leisurely afternoon tea with some sweets, this film is like taking shots of espresso every minute for two hours. In the first few seconds the movie grabs your attention, your emotions, your very soul, and holds that grip until the very finale (in my case, it's been about 24 hours since I watched the film and I am still under the grip). The background scenery (Moscow and Sevastopol of the early 1960's) is spectacular and the music is extremely powerful. In the geopolitical background there is the power struggle between the figures of the police, the army, and the special services, a struggle that ensued in the power void after Stalin's death. Career, ambition, love, sex, power, violence, birth and death are a devilish mix in the film's shockingly realistic story line.