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A Driver for Vera

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A Driver for Vera
Directed byPavel Chukhraj
Written byPavel Chukhraj
Produced byVitaly Koshman
Alexander Rodnyansky
Starring
CinematographyIgor Klebanov
Edited byOlga Grinshpun
Music byEduard Artemyev
Distributed byNashe Kino
Release dates
  • 27 July 2004 (2004-07-27) (Russia)
  • 12 August 2004 (2004-08-12) (Ukraine)
Running time
105 minutes
CountriesRussia, Ukraine
LanguageRussian
BudgetUSD 3,300,000 (estimated)[1]
Box officeUSD 2,011,837 (Russia), 22 August 2004

A Driver for Vera (Russian: Водитель для Веры, Voditel dlya Very) is a 2004 Ukrainian-Russian co-produced psychological drama film from 2004, set in 1962 Sevastopol, Ukraine, directed and written by Russian Pavel Chukhrai.[2] The film won numerous Russian awards including Best Film at the Sochi Film Festival. The film's two-country origin resulted in the film being rejected as Ukraine's entry for the Academy Awards Best Foreign Film category for 2005, due to a rule which states, "[T]he submitting country must certify that creative talent of that country exercised artistic control of the film."[3]

Plot

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During the Khrushchev Thaw in Soviet Crimea, Ukraine, a young cadet in the Red Army named Viktor (Igor Petrenko), becomes a chauffeur for a general (Bohdan Stupka). Viktor begins a relationship with the general's disabled and volatile daughter, Vera (Alyona Babenko). Viktor becomes involuntarily involved in a plot by the KGB whereby KGB agent Saveliev (Andrei Panin) pushes Viktor to spy on the general for KGB purposes.[4] As the action develops around Viktor's relationship with Vera and his conflicted reasons for pursuing it, contrasted with the raw sexual tension between Viktor and the maid, Lida (Yekaterina Yudina), and her scathing attack on his motives rel Vera, the KGB, using Agent Saveliev, plots to take down and ultimately kill the general. Nobody is safe.[2]

Reception

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After acknowledging the film's numerous Russian awards, movie critic Ronnie Scheib nevertheless panned the film in entertainment magazine Variety opining, for example, "[The] pic[ture]'s oddly disjointed wedding of operatic emotionalism and cool aesthetic distance may prove more off-putting than enthralling."[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Box office / business for Voditel dlya Very (2004)". IMDb. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
  2. ^ a b Ganske, Charles (2008-08-23). "(A Driver for Vera) Reviewed". Russia Blog. Retrieved 2013-01-09.
  3. ^ indieWire November 3, 2004: Foreign Oscar Quandary: Academy Nixes "Maria," Colombia Adds "El Rey," and Other Stories from the Foreign-Lingo Category Relinked 2011-11-06
  4. ^ a b Scheib, Ronnie (2005-01-11). "A Driver for Vera Review". Variety. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
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