Zhara (2006)

Director:

Rezo Gigineishvili

Writer:

Rezo Gigineishvili (idea)

Stars:

Aleksey Chadov, Artur Smolyaninov, Konstantin Kryukov

1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Aleksey Chadov	...	Aleksey
Artur Smolyaninov	...	Artur
Konstantin Kryukov	...	Kostya
Timati	...	Timati
Anastasiya Kochetkova	...	Devushka s fotoapparatom
Agnia Ditkovskite	...	Nastya (as Agniya Ditkovskite)
Deni Dadaev	...	Deni
Alexander Rapoport	...	Inturist (as Aleksandr Rapopport)
Irina Rakhmanova	...	Ofitsiantka
Tatyana Lyutaeva	...	Mama Alekseya
Viktor Rudnichenko	...	Papa Alekseya
Igor Lysov	...	Otets Kosti
Olga Bolbukh	...	Polina
Mikhail Vladimirov	...	Menedzher bara
Aleksandr Golubev	...	Barmen

Storyline

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [ru]

Country:

Russia

Language:

Russian English Azerbaijani

Release Date:

28 December 2006 (Russia)

Also Known As:

The Heat

Filming Locations:

Moscow, Russia

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Art Pictures Studio

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Tatyana Lyutaeva played the mother of Aleksey (Aleksey Chadov). In real life, she is the mother of Agnia Ditkovskite, who played Nastya.

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Connections

References Scarface (1983)

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Soundtracks

"Olei"
Performed by Nino Katamadze (as Katamadze N.)
(P)Misteriya zvuka

User Reviews

Great interpretation on old theme

I saw this as part of the Russian Film Festival back-to-back with "Day Watch", and i'd have to say that all those people that didn't come to "Zhara (Heat)" as well missed out.

I found this to be great on a number of levels, first and foremost the old routine of having old friends relate to each other once again, but also to be able to see a modern Moscow as perhaps not shown elsewhere. It's the old habit of the more successful foreign films being too stereotyped to be good that gets kicked in this movie, with the only thing that will remind you of Russia being the beautiful women and the shots of vodka.

The central character Llyosha was played exceptionally well, and this is quite simply a warm comedy of sorts, but still plays nicely once you get past the initial "trying so hard" that we can expect for a film out of Eastern Europe with Western undertones.

Watch it if you can, and before it gets adapted by Hollywood (you know it will).