Captain Volkonogov Escaped

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Captain Volkonogov Escaped
Theatrical release poster
RussianКапитан Волконогов бежал
Directed byNatalya Merkulova
Aleksey Chupov
Written byNatalya Merkulova
Aleksey Chupov
Mart Taniel
Produced by
  • Valery Fedorovich
  • Yevgeny Nikishov
  • Aleksandr Plotnikov
  • Catherine Kissa
  • Charles-Evrard Chekhov
  • Nadezhda Zayonchkovskaya
  • Nadezhda Zhukova
Starring
  • Yuri Borisov
  • Timofey Tribuntsev
  • Aleksandr Yatsenko
  • Nikita Kukushkin
  • Vladimir Epifantsev
  • Anastasiya Ukolova
  • Natalya Kudriashova
CinematographyMart Taniel
Edited byFrancois Gedigier
Mukharam Kabulova
Music byElena Stroganova
Production
companies
  • Look-Film (Russia)
  • Place of Power (Russia)
  • Ministry of Culture (Russia)
  • Kinoprime Foundation (Russia)
  • Homeless Bob Production (Estonia)
  • KinoVista (France)
  • Eurimages (France)
  • L'Aide aux Cinémas du Monde (France)
Distributed byCentral Partnership
Release dates
  • 8 September 2021 (2021-09-08) (Venice)
  • 2022 (2022) (Russia)
Running time
126 minutes
CountriesRussia
Estonia
France
LanguageRussian

Captain Volkonogov Escaped (

Yuri Borisov as Captain Fyodor Volkonogov.[1] It was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 78th Venice International Film Festival.[2]

Plot

The setting is the USSR during the

Great Terror
. Captain Fyodor Volkonogov serves in the Soviet law enforcement agency. He is trusted by his superiors and his colleagues respect him. One day on his way to the service, he witnesses the suicide of his immediate superior: Major Gvozdev, who throws himself out of the window of his own office under the threat of imminent arrest. At the same time, under the pretext of a call for evaluation, arrests of employees of the department headed by Gvozdev begin. The Captain manages to run away before he is arrested. Then, a messenger from the world above appears to the Captain and informs him that after his death, he is destined for hell. He has one last chance to change his fate, if he would repent, and can find just one victim that would forgive him his crimes.

Cast

This film was Igor Savochkin's final role before his death.

Production

The film received support from the

Estonian Ministry of Culture and the Estonian Film Foundation
.

Production was carried out by the film companies Place of Power and Look-Film (Russia), Homeless Bob Production (Estonia), KinoVista (France). The producers were Valery Fedorovich, Yevgeny Nikishov, Aleksandr Plotnikov, co-producers Catherine Kissa, Charles-Evrard Chekhov and Nadezhda Zayonchkovskaya.

Release

The first screening of the film took place on September 8, 2021 at the

78th Venice Film Festival
.

The film received the Audience Choice Award at the 32nd Kinotavr Open Film Festival (2021), the work entered the main competition and won in the Best Screenplay nomination. The film won the bronze medal in the main competition at the El Gouna Festival, Egypt, and also won the Best Feature Film award at the XXX Philadelphia International Film Festival, becoming the first Russian film in history to be awarded this prize.

Captain Volkonogov Escaped was theatrically released in the Russian Federation in 2022 by Central Partnership.

Reception

Accolades

Critical response

Captain Volkonogov Escaped has an approval rating of 100% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 12 reviews, and an average rating of 8.2/10.[6] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "universal acclaim" [7]

The Guardian writer Xan Brooks believes, "Chupov and Merkulova’s handling of the material is almost playful, choosing to frame Stalin’s Russia as nightmarish deadpan comedy."[8]

Vasily Stepanov, chief editor of Seans, said of the film: "According to the plot, Volkonogov is a kind of parable: a dead comrade appears to the fleeing hero, who promises him an obligatory place in hell if the captain does not beg forgiveness from at least one victim. The scene of the appearance of the infernal messenger from the common grave is made festively, as in Masodov's prose. But with apologies, and even more so with repentance, Volkonogov is tight."[9]

References

  1. ^ "Venice Competition Title 'Captain Volkonogov Escaped' Acquired by Memento International". Variety. 3 August 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  2. ^ Roxborough, Scott (26 July 2021). "Venice Film Festival 2021 Full Lineup". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  3. ^ "The 41st International Istanbul Film Festival". film.iksv.org.
  4. ^ "Golden Unicorn Awards". goldenunicornaward.com.
  5. ^ "Российские кинокритики раздали «Белых слонов»". kinometro.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 8 February 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  6. ^ https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/captain_volkonogov_escaped
  7. ^ https://www.metacritic.com/movie/captain-volkonogov-escaped?ftag=MCD-06-10aaa1c
  8. ^ "Captain Volkonogov Escaped review – on the run in through-the-mirror Soviet Russia". theguardian.com. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  9. ^ "Модный приговор — «Капитан Волконогов бежал» на «Кинотавре»". seance.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 24 September 2021.

External links

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