Playing the Victim (2006)

A young man drops out of university and goes to the police. He's done nothing wrong he just wants a job. A particular job. Playing the victim in murder reconstructions. Maybe by getting close to death he can manage to cheat on his own.

Director:

Kirill Serebrennikov

Writers:

Oleg Presnyakov, Vladimir Presnyakov

Stars:

Yuriy Chursin, Vitaliy Khaev, Marat Basharov

7 wins & 16 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yuriy Chursin	...	Valya
Vitaliy Khaev	...	Captain
Marat Basharov	...	Karas'
Olga Demidova	...	Woman cafe worker
Marina Golub	...	Valya's mother
Anna Mikhalkova	...	Lyuda
Fyodor Dobronravov	...	Valya's father / Uncle Petia
Andrey Fomin	...	Sysoev
Elena Morozova	...	Olya
Natalya Mokritskaya	...	Woman working in swimming pool
Igor Gasparyan	...	Zakirov
Maksim Konovalov	...	Verkhushkin
Aleksey Marchenko	...	Manager of Japanese restaurant
Liya Akhedzhakova	...	Waitress in Japanese restaurant
Aleksandr Ilin	...	Seva

Storyline

PLAYING THE VICTIM is a dark comedy made as a modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Valya, a young student is earning money by representing victims of the crimes during various police investigation. After the criminal has been seized a special group headed by a police captain has to reconstruct the crime scene. The process itself is quite comic and senseless: the criminals are defined already, and everyone knows, that they will be prosecuted. However the regulations still require a special team to imitate the crime once again in the same surroundings. The criminal should fictionally kill the victim (represented by Valya) one more time to confirm their guilt. Valya is drowning in his absurd life going from one terrible crime scene to another. Suddenly he has a vision: his deceased father comes to him in his sleep and tells the scary truth- he was poisoned by his own wife and her lover, who is now Valya's uncle... After this, the whole system of values of Valya's world ...

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Plot Keywords:

murder | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Did You Know?

Connections

References South Park (1997)

User Reviews

Really Something

Very interesting point of view from Kirill Serebrennikov to the theater play of Presnyakov brothers. This picture is definitely above the average movie that made in Russia. Casting is great, every Actor/Actress giving perfect performance. Young and talented Yuriy Chursin playing comic role in very serious way. Movie full of humor and hallucinate animate (black and white) kinda twisted moments that will give to younger audience lots of positive energy. Couple of scenes Monologues actually are unforgettable, Captan in the Japanise restaurant and scene in the swimming pool you'll love it. i'll have to add that movie contains very strong language and some male nudity. Very good cinematography (my opinion) concept is not very clear what makes the whole movie brilliant. This movie you can see not once. I recommend to watch it in a group. It is movie for a genre, because I'm in this genre it is fit for me.

So bottom line if you young have scenes of humor and not afraid of unknown actors (accept of Lia Ahidjakova) this is movie for you.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Russia]

Country:

Russia

Language:

Russian

Release Date:

8 June 2006 (Russia)

Also Known As:

Playing the Victim

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$48,574

Company Credits

Production Co:

New People

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1