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IMDbPro

Dovlatov

  • 20182018
  • PG-13PG-13
  • 2h 6m
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
2K
YOUR RATING
Dovlatov (2018)
Watch ’Trailer [OVS]’
Play trailer2:21
1 Video
55 Photos
  • Biography
  • Drama
The film actions unfold in 1971, telling about the four days of life of famous writer Sergei Dovlatov. The film raises the eternal issue of the Russian and European culture - the issue of mo... Read allThe film actions unfold in 1971, telling about the four days of life of famous writer Sergei Dovlatov. The film raises the eternal issue of the Russian and European culture - the issue of moral choice.The film actions unfold in 1971, telling about the four days of life of famous writer Sergei Dovlatov. The film raises the eternal issue of the Russian and European culture - the issue of moral choice.
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
2K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Aleksey German Jr.
  • Writers
    • Aleksey German Jr.(screenplay)
    • Yulia Tupikina(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Milan Maric
    • Danila Kozlovskiy
    • Helena Sujecka
Top credits
  • Director
    • Aleksey German Jr.
  • Writers
    • Aleksey German Jr.(screenplay)
    • Yulia Tupikina(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Milan Maric
    • Danila Kozlovskiy
    • Helena Sujecka
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 10User reviews
    • 70Critic reviews
    • 68Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 5 wins & 10 nominations

    Videos1

    Trailer [OVS]
    Trailer 2:21
    Trailer [OVS]

    Photos55

    Dovlatov (2018)
    Dovlatov (2018)
    Dovlatov (2018)
    Dovlatov (2018)
    Nikolay Marton and Yuriy Utkin in Dovlatov (2018)
    Danila Kozlovskiy in Dovlatov (2018)
    Svetlana Khodchenkova and Milan Maric in Dovlatov (2018)
    Svetlana Khodchenkova and Milan Maric in Dovlatov (2018)
    Piotr Gasowski and Svetlana Khodchenkova in Dovlatov (2018)
    Svetlana Khodchenkova and Milan Maric in Dovlatov (2018)
    Piotr Gasowski, Svetlana Khodchenkova, and Milan Maric in Dovlatov (2018)
    Piotr Gasowski, Elena Lyadova, and Milan Maric in Dovlatov (2018)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Milan Maric
    Milan Maric
    • Sergei Dovlatovas Sergei Dovlatov
    Danila Kozlovskiy
    Danila Kozlovskiy
    • Davidas David
    Helena Sujecka
    Helena Sujecka
    • Elena Dovlatovaas Elena Dovlatova
    Eva Gerr
    • Katya Dovlatovaas Katya Dovlatova
    Artur Beschastnyy
    Artur Beschastnyy
    • Iosif Brodskiyas Iosif Brodskiy
    Anton Shagin
    Anton Shagin
    • Anton Kuznetsovas Anton Kuznetsov
    Svetlana Khodchenkova
    Svetlana Khodchenkova
    • Actress - Dovlatov's friendas Actress - Dovlatov's friend
    Elena Lyadova
    Elena Lyadova
    • Young editoras Young editor
    Igor Mityushkin
    • Sholom Shvarts - artistas Sholom Shvarts - artist
    Piotr Gasowski
    Piotr Gasowski
    • Semyon Aleksandrovichas Semyon Aleksandrovich
    Tamar Hovhannisyan
    • Nora Dovlatova - Sergei Dovlatov motheras Nora Dovlatova - Sergei Dovlatov mother
    • (as Tamara Oganesyan)
    Anna Yekaterininskaya
    • Deputy director of the plantas Deputy director of the plant
    • (as Anna Ekaterininskaya)
    Sergei Tolstov
    • Factory Newspaper Editoras Factory Newspaper Editor
    • (as Sergey Tolstov)
    Hanna Sleszynska
    Hanna Sleszynska
    • Editor of Literary Magazineas Editor of Literary Magazine
    Maria Järvenhelmi
    Maria Järvenhelmi
    • Finnish touristas Finnish tourist
    • (as Mari Yarvinkhelmi)
    Grigoriy Dantsiger
    • Dovlatov's friendas Dovlatov's friend
    Igor Korovin
    • Dovlatov's friend - artistas Dovlatov's friend - artist
    Nikolai Shatokhin
    • Dovlatov's friendas Dovlatov's friend
    • (as Nikolay Shatokhin)
    • Director
      • Aleksey German Jr.
    • Writers
      • Aleksey German Jr.(screenplay)
      • Yulia Tupikina(screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Connections
      Features Romantyczni (1970)

    User reviews10

    Review
    Top review
    5/10
    Dovlatov
    One of the highlights of the 68th Berlin International Film Festival was the film Dovlatov, directed by Alexei German Jr.

    Sergei Dovlatov is a rather well-known writer in Russia, but not so famous in the West, and is mostly associated with the circle of friends of Joseph Brodsky. Alexei German chose to depict only four days of Sergei Dovlatov's life in 1971. The film was a co-production between Russia, Poland and Serbia. The cinematographer was Lukasz Zal, known for his work on Oscar winner Ida.

    The film is made in a non-hurried pace. What is depicted is the everyday life of a writer who unsuccessfully tries to get published, while working as a journalist. The first impression after watching this film is that the director intentionally exaggerated the misery of Soviet-era life. The scenery is too bleak and life is too poor, for example, later in his life Sergei Dovlatov wrote in a letter that his flat in St. Petersburg was better than his American flat. Also the depiction is not accurate. This concerns the small details such as styles of cars and important events described in the film. In particular, the episode with the officers of OBKhSS (Department Against Misappropriation of Socialist Property) chasing the poor artist, portrayed by Danila Kozlovsky, with red IDs is completely fantasy. First of all, OBKhSS was an organization which only investigated large-scale economical crimes and it was out of their jurisdiction to chase after petty criminals. Another segment with the suicide of an office worker does not have any factual basis concerning Dovlatov's real life or have anything to do with his writings. Also, neither Sergei Dovlatov's heavy drinking nor womanizing is shown in the film, as everyone else imbibes except him. Dovlatov tries to impose the point of view that the artists who were not union members were nothing. However, this is not true.

    German obviously wanted to present Sergei Dovlatov as a victim of the Soviet regime. However, he was not a rebel or a non-conformist as for example Aleksander Solzhenitsyn. Dovlatov lived in Russia by it's rules and legally emigrated.. He worked as a journalist and wrote commissioned articles. Aleksander Solzhenitsyn was physically thrown out of the Soviet Union and stayed a non-conformist till the end of his life.

    A person who did not live in the Soviet time and is not too familiar with the life there, after watching the film can receive a false impression of that period. At the press conference German defended modern Russia. Somehow his film illustrates the contrast between 1970s Soviet era and Putin's Russia, where, as German said there is no antisemitism, no censorship. However in Soviet times Russia was more rich with talents than today. I told Alexei German Jr. about this when we met in Berlin on the 18th of February 2018. There is no plot or dramatic conflict in the film and it is too long to hold the viewers attention. It is quite natural that a writer wants to get published, but 99% of the time it does not happen very quickly and does not have anything to do with Soviet reality. The question rises about the intentions of the film; perhaps for some people it is beneficial to represent Soviet Russia as a miserable and scary place with no creative freedom. At the press conference German spoke that spoke that some people and forces try to demonize Russia. While it is partially true, with this film he himself demonizes the Soviet Union and with it, inadvertently, modern Russia, because present-day Russia inherited a lot of the Soviet times.

    Some of the positive aspects of the picture include the acting of Milan Maric, who is charismatic and creates an interesting character, however according to the testimonies of his many friends, the real Dovlatov was much more brutal and humoristic. The most vivid supporting role was by Danila Kozlovsky, who played the tragic role of an artist who earned money by selling goods on the black market. He did the best of his part, although the events happening to him are pure fantasy.

    A.German tries to convince the audience that Dovlatov was not published because of that particular time of stagnation when talents were not appreciated and the arts were controlled by people who did not understand anything in it. It is interesting to compare the film with modern Russia, where there are a lot less of great writers and directors then in the period of stagnation, despite German saying that there is no censorship today. That Dovlatov considered himself to be a better poet than Yevtushenko is his own very personal opinion, which is very far from reality. Only time can prove if Dovlatov will continue to be a popular writer alongside the great writers of Russia. The fate of an artist or a poet is a difficult one in all countries, and many writers superior to Dovlatov experienced hardships with publishing their works.

    The Soviet time is shown as shabby, hopeless and wretched, which is also blown out of proportion in the picture. At the press conference, German said that there is no censorship or anti-Semitism today in Russia. But in reality, the time of the 1960-1970s bore the peaks of Russian creativity in all fields of art. All the best writers, poets, ballet dancers, directors, all of them worked in the 1960-1970s, including Alexei German Sr., without whom there would be no Alexei Alexeevich German. Lack of open censorship does not equal the flourishing of arts.

    I was surprised that he tried to make a hero out of Sergei Dovlatov for his immigration. He immigrated legally and nothing threatened him. I compared the emigration of Nureyev, who was given a seven year sentence for betrayal of homeland. On the other hand, Dovlatov peacefully followed his wife and child. If he had not become an alcoholic, he would have been alive during the Perestroika and could have returned to Russia as Edouard Limonov did. Because of this the film lacks drama, despite German's attempts of creating tragedy with fictional characters where there is none.

    Alexei German Jr., has a great cast in the film, which includes newcomer Milan Maric, and also well-known actors Danila Kozlovsky, Svetlana Khodchenkova and Elena Lyadova. However, their parts are quite weak, in spite of the big potential of their actors. Kozlovsky, is especially unlucky lately with his roles - in the film Matilda he played the villain who was kept in an aquarium and later burned alive, the role was completely senseless and stupid. In the film Dovlatov, Danila Kozlovsky did his best, but his role was also absurd. Elena Lyadova had a completely insignificant part despite her great acting talent.

    Overall Dovlatov is a mediocre film about a mediocre writer for a mediocre audience.
    helpful•29
    24
    • indiecinemamagazine
    • Feb 22, 2018

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 26, 2018 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • Russia
      • Poland
      • Serbia
    • Official sites
      • Official site (Japan)
      • TVP VOD
    • Languages
      • Russian
      • Spanish
      • Finnish
    • Also known as
      • Довлатов
    • Filming locations
      • St. Petersburg, Russia
    • Production companies
      • SAGa
      • Metrafilms
      • First Channel
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Gross worldwide
      • $2,187,653
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      2 hours 6 minutes

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