Stars: Elizaveta Arzamasova, Sergey Garmash, Yang Ge, Kseniya Lavrova-Glinka, Andrey Nazimov, Yan Tsapnik | Written by Andrey Zolotarev | Directed by Alexander Andrushenko
Sometimes there are films that come along that tap directly into my psyche, with plots so ridiculous, so outrageous, that they engage my “must-see” synapses… The Cop Baby is one such film. After all, how could I not want to see a film with a synopsis like this:
Having failed a large covert operation and being cursed by a vengeful fortune teller, Major Chromov is trapped inside a baby’s body. The only way for Major Chromov to return to his body is to finish the operation and hunt down the most dangerous crime boss of the local mafia as a M*******King Cop Baby.
Let’s get this out of the way first… The Cop Baby is no Cop and a Half. Nope, this is not played for laughs,...
Sometimes there are films that come along that tap directly into my psyche, with plots so ridiculous, so outrageous, that they engage my “must-see” synapses… The Cop Baby is one such film. After all, how could I not want to see a film with a synopsis like this:
Having failed a large covert operation and being cursed by a vengeful fortune teller, Major Chromov is trapped inside a baby’s body. The only way for Major Chromov to return to his body is to finish the operation and hunt down the most dangerous crime boss of the local mafia as a M*******King Cop Baby.
Let’s get this out of the way first… The Cop Baby is no Cop and a Half. Nope, this is not played for laughs,...
- 7/2/2018
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
31 projects were presented by nine Russian production houses at a pitching to the Russian Cinema Fund.
Russia’s answer to Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity and an updated, Russian-set adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s The Canterville Ghost were among the 31 film projects presented by nine Russian production houses - the so-called ‘leaders’ - at a pitching to the Russian Cinema Fund (Rcf) this week.
An expert committee gave each of the 31 projects a rating, but the final decision on how much production support - and whether it is a subsidy or conditionally repayable loan - will be decided by the Rcf later in the year.
Sergey Selyanov’s St Petersburg-based Ctb is behind the “first Russian space thriller”, Salyut 7, which would be based on the true story of the rescue mission for the orbital station in 1985. The film is budgeted at RUB320m and Ctb is looking to receive RUB150m from the Cinema Fund.
Ctb’s slate...
Russia’s answer to Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity and an updated, Russian-set adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s The Canterville Ghost were among the 31 film projects presented by nine Russian production houses - the so-called ‘leaders’ - at a pitching to the Russian Cinema Fund (Rcf) this week.
An expert committee gave each of the 31 projects a rating, but the final decision on how much production support - and whether it is a subsidy or conditionally repayable loan - will be decided by the Rcf later in the year.
Sergey Selyanov’s St Petersburg-based Ctb is behind the “first Russian space thriller”, Salyut 7, which would be based on the true story of the rescue mission for the orbital station in 1985. The film is budgeted at RUB320m and Ctb is looking to receive RUB150m from the Cinema Fund.
Ctb’s slate...
- 6/26/2014
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Somewhere between the 40- and 60-minute marks of Nikita Mikhalkov's "12," a sparrow flies through a window into the school gymnasium that's serving as an ad hoc jury room for a supposedly routine Moscow homicide case. This is unusual for one or two reasons, the most obvious of which is that it's the dead of winter. (The window isn't open, mind you; it's broken, as is forcefully pointed out by one juror who sees the gym's sorry shape as emblematic of "40 years of running in place.") This ups the ante for what's already shaping up to be an overstuffed socially conscious allegory with its roots in the American, um, classic "12 Angry Men." "This is it," this viewer thought, a trifle giddily, remembering an old song by King Missile; "this is mystical shit."
Because, really, if you're going to make a self-aggrandizing quasi-allegorical modern epic (160 minutes!) about the state of contemporary Russia,...
Because, really, if you're going to make a self-aggrandizing quasi-allegorical modern epic (160 minutes!) about the state of contemporary Russia,...
- 3/4/2009
- by Glenn Kenny
- ifc.com
How’s this for an odd film pedigree: a remake of a Hong Kong action film, shot in Russian with largely Russian backing with a Swedish director. This is what you’ve got with Newsmakers.
A remake of Johnnie To’s Breaking News with the action transplanted to Russia - reportedly the first ever Russian remake of a Hong Kong film - the film is directed by young Swede Anders Banke, well known is these parts as the director of Swedish vampire film Frostbiten. Banke, it turns out, attended film school in Moscow and is totally Russian fluent, which makes sense of his directing a Russian language film, and the brilliant, period set opening to Frostbiten should put to rest any question as to whether he’s got the technical skills needed to tackle To. He very clearly does.
What Banke also has is a very strong cast. A quick...
A remake of Johnnie To’s Breaking News with the action transplanted to Russia - reportedly the first ever Russian remake of a Hong Kong film - the film is directed by young Swede Anders Banke, well known is these parts as the director of Swedish vampire film Frostbiten. Banke, it turns out, attended film school in Moscow and is totally Russian fluent, which makes sense of his directing a Russian language film, and the brilliant, period set opening to Frostbiten should put to rest any question as to whether he’s got the technical skills needed to tackle To. He very clearly does.
What Banke also has is a very strong cast. A quick...
- 9/22/2008
- by Todd Brown
- Screen Anarchy
12
Venice International Film Festival
VENICE, Italy -- Sidney Lumet turned Reginald Rose's fine play "12 Angry Men" into a splendid movie in 1957 and it has been revisited on stage and television but never better than in Russian filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov's triumphant new film version titled simply "12."
Screened in competition at the Venice International Film Festival, the film takes the plot of a dozen jurors having to decide the fate of an accused murderer and expands it into an examination of modern Russia. The essential debate about democratic justice remains, but making the defendant a Chechen youth charged with killing his Russian stepfather permits an illuminating exploration of the post-Soviet era as each juror reveals his background, life choices and prejudices.
Mikhalkov and co-writers Vladimir Moiseenko and Alexandr Novotosky have created a sturdy and intelligent screenplay that alternates humor and stark drama with flashbacks to horrific incidents in war-torn Chechnya. The staging is convincing, the acting is exceptional, and the tension never flags despite the film's 153 minutes.
Prospects are high for worldwide audience interest in a film that demonstrates all the attributes of first-class, grown-up filmed entertainment, and it will probably collect some awards along the way.
Mikhalkov, whose "Burnt by the Sun" won the 1995 Academy Award for best foreign language film, demonstrates a masterful hand behind the camera and also takes the role of a man whose calm efficiency leads the other jurors to accept him readily as chairman.
The film begins with the 12 unnamed men being herded into makeshift quarters next to the court, a school gymnasium with plenty of room but a dodgy electrical system. The two-month long trial is only visited in the dialog between jurors, although that is cleverly enhanced by recreations of elements of the crime.
Witnesses claim to have seen and heard the Chechen youth, who is seen occasionally pacing in his cell, argue with his stepfather and yelling: "I'll kill you." A knife made for hand-to-hand combat and said to be only available in the boy's homeland is also key evidence.
The first vote is 11-1 in favor of conviction. The sole dissent is by an apparently mild-mannered man (Sergei Makovetsky) who says that he thinks there should at least be some discussion. Everyone is keen to make a decision and go home, but he says that he needs to talk about it because a guilty decision will mean the boy is imprisoned for the rest of his life. He agrees to join the majority if everyone else remains in favor provided the next round is a secret ballot.
But then there are two. An elderly Jewish man (Valentin Gaft) votes not guilty because he recalls that the lawyer for the defense looked bored throughout the proceedings and he now thinks it wasn't a fair trial.
Like the original play and Lumet's film but very different in all the particulars, "12" shows how the voting changes as the members of the jury respond to persuasion and react to debate. They range from bigoted Muscovite cab driver (Sergei Garmash) to diffident TV executive (Yuri Stoyanov) to cavalier musician (Michael Efremove).
Expansive use of the enclosed space, well photographed by Vladislav Opeliants, emphasizes the smallness of the defendant's cell and jump-cuts to vicious and extremely well staged firefights ramp up the tension.
On the way to a smartly unexpected climax, the film provides insight into many of the social and historical issues that burden modern Russia but that are hardly unique to that country.
12
Three T Productions
Director: Nikita Mikhalkov;
Writers: Nikita Mikhalkov, Vladimir Moiseenko, Alexandr Novotosky;
Producers: Nikita Mikhalkov, Leonid Vereschagin;
Director of photography: Vladislav Opeliants;
Production designer: Victor Petrov;
Music: Edward Artemiev;
Costume designer: Natalia Dziubenko;
Editors: Andre Rigaut, Vincent Arnardi.
Cast:
Nikita Mihhalkov, Sergei Makovetsky, Sergei Garmash, Michail Efremov, Yuri Stoyanov, Valentin Gaft, Aleksei Petrenko, Sergei Gazarov; Viktor Verzhbitsky, Alexei Gorbunov; Roman Mayanov; SergeiArtsybashev, Aleksandr Adabashyan, Apti Magamaev.
No MPAA rating, running time 153 minutes...
VENICE, Italy -- Sidney Lumet turned Reginald Rose's fine play "12 Angry Men" into a splendid movie in 1957 and it has been revisited on stage and television but never better than in Russian filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov's triumphant new film version titled simply "12."
Screened in competition at the Venice International Film Festival, the film takes the plot of a dozen jurors having to decide the fate of an accused murderer and expands it into an examination of modern Russia. The essential debate about democratic justice remains, but making the defendant a Chechen youth charged with killing his Russian stepfather permits an illuminating exploration of the post-Soviet era as each juror reveals his background, life choices and prejudices.
Mikhalkov and co-writers Vladimir Moiseenko and Alexandr Novotosky have created a sturdy and intelligent screenplay that alternates humor and stark drama with flashbacks to horrific incidents in war-torn Chechnya. The staging is convincing, the acting is exceptional, and the tension never flags despite the film's 153 minutes.
Prospects are high for worldwide audience interest in a film that demonstrates all the attributes of first-class, grown-up filmed entertainment, and it will probably collect some awards along the way.
Mikhalkov, whose "Burnt by the Sun" won the 1995 Academy Award for best foreign language film, demonstrates a masterful hand behind the camera and also takes the role of a man whose calm efficiency leads the other jurors to accept him readily as chairman.
The film begins with the 12 unnamed men being herded into makeshift quarters next to the court, a school gymnasium with plenty of room but a dodgy electrical system. The two-month long trial is only visited in the dialog between jurors, although that is cleverly enhanced by recreations of elements of the crime.
Witnesses claim to have seen and heard the Chechen youth, who is seen occasionally pacing in his cell, argue with his stepfather and yelling: "I'll kill you." A knife made for hand-to-hand combat and said to be only available in the boy's homeland is also key evidence.
The first vote is 11-1 in favor of conviction. The sole dissent is by an apparently mild-mannered man (Sergei Makovetsky) who says that he thinks there should at least be some discussion. Everyone is keen to make a decision and go home, but he says that he needs to talk about it because a guilty decision will mean the boy is imprisoned for the rest of his life. He agrees to join the majority if everyone else remains in favor provided the next round is a secret ballot.
But then there are two. An elderly Jewish man (Valentin Gaft) votes not guilty because he recalls that the lawyer for the defense looked bored throughout the proceedings and he now thinks it wasn't a fair trial.
Like the original play and Lumet's film but very different in all the particulars, "12" shows how the voting changes as the members of the jury respond to persuasion and react to debate. They range from bigoted Muscovite cab driver (Sergei Garmash) to diffident TV executive (Yuri Stoyanov) to cavalier musician (Michael Efremove).
Expansive use of the enclosed space, well photographed by Vladislav Opeliants, emphasizes the smallness of the defendant's cell and jump-cuts to vicious and extremely well staged firefights ramp up the tension.
On the way to a smartly unexpected climax, the film provides insight into many of the social and historical issues that burden modern Russia but that are hardly unique to that country.
12
Three T Productions
Director: Nikita Mikhalkov;
Writers: Nikita Mikhalkov, Vladimir Moiseenko, Alexandr Novotosky;
Producers: Nikita Mikhalkov, Leonid Vereschagin;
Director of photography: Vladislav Opeliants;
Production designer: Victor Petrov;
Music: Edward Artemiev;
Costume designer: Natalia Dziubenko;
Editors: Andre Rigaut, Vincent Arnardi.
Cast:
Nikita Mihhalkov, Sergei Makovetsky, Sergei Garmash, Michail Efremov, Yuri Stoyanov, Valentin Gaft, Aleksei Petrenko, Sergei Gazarov; Viktor Verzhbitsky, Alexei Gorbunov; Roman Mayanov; SergeiArtsybashev, Aleksandr Adabashyan, Apti Magamaev.
No MPAA rating, running time 153 minutes...
- 9/7/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
12
Venice International Film Festival
VENICE, Italy -- Sidney Lumet turned Reginald Rose's fine play "12 Angry Men" into a splendid movie in 1957 and it has been revisited on stage and television but never better than in Russian filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov's triumphant new film version titled simply "12."
Screened in competition at the Venice International Film Festival, the film takes the plot of a dozen jurors having to decide the fate of an accused murderer and expands it into an examination of modern Russia. The essential debate about democratic justice remains, but making the defendant a Chechen youth charged with killing his Russian stepfather permits an illuminating exploration of the post-Soviet era as each juror reveals his background, life choices and prejudices.
Mikhalkov and co-writers Vladimir Moiseenko and Alexandr Novotosky have created a sturdy and intelligent screenplay that alternates humor and stark drama with flashbacks to horrific incidents in war-torn Chechnya. The staging is convincing, the acting is exceptional, and the tension never flags despite the film's 153 minutes.
Prospects are high for worldwide audience interest in a film that demonstrates all the attributes of first-class, grown-up filmed entertainment, and it will probably collect some awards along the way.
Mikhalkov, whose "Burnt by the Sun" won the 1995 Academy Award for best foreign language film, demonstrates a masterful hand behind the camera and also takes the role of a man whose calm efficiency leads the other jurors to accept him readily as chairman.
The film begins with the 12 unnamed men being herded into makeshift quarters next to the court, a school gymnasium with plenty of room but a dodgy electrical system. The two-month long trial is only visited in the dialog between jurors, although that is cleverly enhanced by recreations of elements of the crime.
Witnesses claim to have seen and heard the Chechen youth, who is seen occasionally pacing in his cell, argue with his stepfather and yelling: "I'll kill you." A knife made for hand-to-hand combat and said to be only available in the boy's homeland is also key evidence.
The first vote is 11-1 in favor of conviction. The sole dissent is by an apparently mild-mannered man (Sergei Makovetsky) who says that he thinks there should at least be some discussion. Everyone is keen to make a decision and go home, but he says that he needs to talk about it because a guilty decision will mean the boy is imprisoned for the rest of his life. He agrees to join the majority if everyone else remains in favor provided the next round is a secret ballot.
But then there are two. An elderly Jewish man (Valentin Gaft) votes not guilty because he recalls that the lawyer for the defense looked bored throughout the proceedings and he now thinks it wasn't a fair trial.
Like the original play and Lumet's film but very different in all the particulars, "12" shows how the voting changes as the members of the jury respond to persuasion and react to debate. They range from bigoted Muscovite cab driver (Sergei Garmash) to diffident TV executive (Yuri Stoyanov) to cavalier musician (Michael Efremove).
Expansive use of the enclosed space, well photographed by Vladislav Opeliants, emphasizes the smallness of the defendant's cell and jump-cuts to vicious and extremely well staged firefights ramp up the tension.
On the way to a smartly unexpected climax, the film provides insight into many of the social and historical issues that burden modern Russia but that are hardly unique to that country.
12
Three T Productions
Director: Nikita Mikhalkov;
Writers: Nikita Mikhalkov, Vladimir Moiseenko, Alexandr Novotosky;
Producers: Nikita Mikhalkov, Leonid Vereschagin;
Director of photography: Vladislav Opeliants;
Production designer: Victor Petrov;
Music: Edward Artemiev;
Costume designer: Natalia Dziubenko;
Editors: Andre Rigaut, Vincent Arnardi.
Cast:
Nikita Mihhalkov, Sergei Makovetsky, Sergei Garmash, Michail Efremov, Yuri Stoyanov, Valentin Gaft, Aleksei Petrenko, Sergei Gazarov; Viktor Verzhbitsky, Alexei Gorbunov; Roman Mayanov; SergeiArtsybashev, Aleksandr Adabashyan, Apti Magamaev.
No MPAA rating, running time 153 minutes...
VENICE, Italy -- Sidney Lumet turned Reginald Rose's fine play "12 Angry Men" into a splendid movie in 1957 and it has been revisited on stage and television but never better than in Russian filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov's triumphant new film version titled simply "12."
Screened in competition at the Venice International Film Festival, the film takes the plot of a dozen jurors having to decide the fate of an accused murderer and expands it into an examination of modern Russia. The essential debate about democratic justice remains, but making the defendant a Chechen youth charged with killing his Russian stepfather permits an illuminating exploration of the post-Soviet era as each juror reveals his background, life choices and prejudices.
Mikhalkov and co-writers Vladimir Moiseenko and Alexandr Novotosky have created a sturdy and intelligent screenplay that alternates humor and stark drama with flashbacks to horrific incidents in war-torn Chechnya. The staging is convincing, the acting is exceptional, and the tension never flags despite the film's 153 minutes.
Prospects are high for worldwide audience interest in a film that demonstrates all the attributes of first-class, grown-up filmed entertainment, and it will probably collect some awards along the way.
Mikhalkov, whose "Burnt by the Sun" won the 1995 Academy Award for best foreign language film, demonstrates a masterful hand behind the camera and also takes the role of a man whose calm efficiency leads the other jurors to accept him readily as chairman.
The film begins with the 12 unnamed men being herded into makeshift quarters next to the court, a school gymnasium with plenty of room but a dodgy electrical system. The two-month long trial is only visited in the dialog between jurors, although that is cleverly enhanced by recreations of elements of the crime.
Witnesses claim to have seen and heard the Chechen youth, who is seen occasionally pacing in his cell, argue with his stepfather and yelling: "I'll kill you." A knife made for hand-to-hand combat and said to be only available in the boy's homeland is also key evidence.
The first vote is 11-1 in favor of conviction. The sole dissent is by an apparently mild-mannered man (Sergei Makovetsky) who says that he thinks there should at least be some discussion. Everyone is keen to make a decision and go home, but he says that he needs to talk about it because a guilty decision will mean the boy is imprisoned for the rest of his life. He agrees to join the majority if everyone else remains in favor provided the next round is a secret ballot.
But then there are two. An elderly Jewish man (Valentin Gaft) votes not guilty because he recalls that the lawyer for the defense looked bored throughout the proceedings and he now thinks it wasn't a fair trial.
Like the original play and Lumet's film but very different in all the particulars, "12" shows how the voting changes as the members of the jury respond to persuasion and react to debate. They range from bigoted Muscovite cab driver (Sergei Garmash) to diffident TV executive (Yuri Stoyanov) to cavalier musician (Michael Efremove).
Expansive use of the enclosed space, well photographed by Vladislav Opeliants, emphasizes the smallness of the defendant's cell and jump-cuts to vicious and extremely well staged firefights ramp up the tension.
On the way to a smartly unexpected climax, the film provides insight into many of the social and historical issues that burden modern Russia but that are hardly unique to that country.
12
Three T Productions
Director: Nikita Mikhalkov;
Writers: Nikita Mikhalkov, Vladimir Moiseenko, Alexandr Novotosky;
Producers: Nikita Mikhalkov, Leonid Vereschagin;
Director of photography: Vladislav Opeliants;
Production designer: Victor Petrov;
Music: Edward Artemiev;
Costume designer: Natalia Dziubenko;
Editors: Andre Rigaut, Vincent Arnardi.
Cast:
Nikita Mihhalkov, Sergei Makovetsky, Sergei Garmash, Michail Efremov, Yuri Stoyanov, Valentin Gaft, Aleksei Petrenko, Sergei Gazarov; Viktor Verzhbitsky, Alexei Gorbunov; Roman Mayanov; SergeiArtsybashev, Aleksandr Adabashyan, Apti Magamaev.
No MPAA rating, running time 153 minutes...
- 9/7/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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