The Barber of Siberia

The Barber of Siberia
Original Russian language poster
Directed by	Nikita Mikhalkov
Written by	Nikita Mikhalkov Rustam Ibragimbekov Rospo Pallenberg
Produced by	Nikita Mikhalkov Michel Seydoux
Starring	Julia Ormond Richard Harris Oleg Menshikov Aleksei Petrenko Marina Neyolova Vladimir Ilyin Daniel Olbrychski David Nykl
Cinematography	Pavel Lebeshev
Edited by	Enzo Meniconi
Music by	Eduard Artemyev Anatoly Dokumentov
Release date	30 October 1998 (1998-10-30)
Running time	180 minutes
Countries	Russia France Italy Czech Republic United States
Languages	Russian English
Budget	$35 million

The Barber of Siberia (Russian: Сибирский цирюльник, translit. Sibirskiy tsiryulnik) is a 1998 Russian drama film that re-united the Academy Award-winning team of director, writer, producer and actor Nikita Mikhalkov, screenwriter Rustam Ibragimbekov and producer Michel Seydoux. It was screened out of competition at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. The film was selected as the Russian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 71st Academy Awards, but was disqualified for not getting a print lately to Los Angeles as a nominee.

Plot

Jane Callahan (Julia Ormond), a beautiful American lady, writes to her son, a cadet at a famous military academy, about a long kept secret. Twenty years ago she arrived in Russia to assist Douglas McCracken (Richard Harris), an obsessive engineer who needs the Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich's patronage to sponsor his invention, a massive machine to harvest the Siberian forests. On her travels, she meets two men who would change her life forever: a handsome young cadet Andrej Tolstoy (Oleg Menshikov) with whom she shares a fondness for opera, and the powerful General Radlov (Aleksei Petrenko) who is entranced by her beauty and wants to marry her. Tolstoy and Radlov, much to the surprise and indignation of the latter, become rivals for Jane's love. She confides a deep secret to Tolstoy, promises to marry him, and together they spend a passionate night of love fathering her child. But later he overhears Jane denying her interest in him to the General, in order to win the general's favour and be granted an audience with the Grand Duke. Distraught, Tolstoy attacks the General who arrests his young rival on false charges and banishes him to Siberia to seven years of hard labor and a further five years of exile.

Cast

• Julia Ormond as Jane Callahan-McCracken
• Richard Harris as Douglas McCracken
• Oleg Menshikov as Andrej Tolstoy / Andrew McCracken
• Aleksei Petrenko as General Nikolai Radlov
• Marina Neyolova as Andrei Tolstoj's mother
• Vladimir Ilyin as Captain Pavel Mokin, the cadets' governor
• Daniel Olbrychski as Kopnovsky
• Anna Mikhalkova as Dunyasha, Tolstoy family's maide
• Avangard Leontyev as Nicolas, Andrei's uncle
• Elizabeth Spriggs as Countess Perepyolkina
• Mac McDonald as Sergeant "Mad Dog" O'Leary
• Yevgeny Steblov as Grand Duke Alexei
• Leonid Kuravlyov as Sergeant Major Bukin
• Robert Hardy as Forsten
• Marat Basharov as Cadet Polievskyy
• Nikita Tatarenkov as Cadet Alibekov
• Artyom Mikhalkov as Cadet Buturlin
• Georgiy Dronov as Cadet Nazarov
• Viktor Verzhbitsky as Grand Duke's aide-de-camp
• Alexander Lenkov as the scientist
• Pierre Narcisse as the Prince's servant
• Maria Maksakova Jr. as the boarding schoolgirl
• Nikita Mikhalkov as Tsar Alexander III

Music

• Chopin – Nocturne in D-flat major, Op. 27, No. 2. Jane plays the piece while General Radlov proposes to her.
• Mozart – Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K. 488 II Adagio. This is the movement that Jane's son plays to convince his drill sergeant that "Mozart was a great composer".

See also

• List of submissions to the 71st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
• List of Russian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

External links

• Official website (in Russian)
• The Barber of Siberia at AllMovie
• The Barber of Siberia at IMDb
• Trailer and Screenshots
• The Barber of Siberia stirs controversy Sergei Blagov, Asia Times, 17 April 1999.
• The Barber of Siberia at Rotten Tomatoes