A Driver for Vera (2004)
"Voditel dlya Very" (original title)

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

Director:

Pavel Chukhray

Writer:

Pavel Chukhray

Stars:

Igor Petrenko, Elena Babenko, Bogdan Stupka

7 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

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

Storyline

The film is set during 1962 in Sevastopol, Crimea, then a secret Navy Base in the Soviet Union. General Serov (Stupka) hires Viktor (Petrenko), a cadet from the Kremlin Guard to work as his private chauffeur. In a jet-black "ZIM" limo, Viktor is chauffeuring the General's disabled daughter Vera (Babenko). Viktor is oblivious to the hidden agenda of the KGB agent Saveliev (Panin), who manipulates everyone behind the scenes in the old rivalry between the Army and KGB.

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Russia Ukraine

Language:

Russian

Release Date:

29 July 2004 (Russia)

Also Known As:

A Driver for Vera

Filming Locations:

Crimea, Ukraine

Box Office

Budget:

$3,300,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Channel 1+1, Channel One Russia, Prodyuserskaya Firma Igorya Tolstunova

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min 114 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

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.

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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?

User Reviews

This movie is not genuine

This movie is a mere imitation of another Oscar-winning movie Utomlyonnye Solntsem (1994) (aka "Burnt By The Sun"). In places Voditel Dlya Very was boring and you could guess what is going to happen next. The villain was so obvious that I simply don't understand why positive characters did not do anything about him. Even though the whole idea of the plot is not new, I would appreciate this movie if it portrayed the events taking place in late thirties or forties during the Stalin's era. But I do NOT believe that such events could possibly unfold in late sixties. Although I did not like the movie, I must admit that actors played well. And there are beautiful sceneries depicted.