The Barber of Siberia
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| The Barber of Siberia | |
|---|---|
 Original Russian language poster |
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| Directed by | Nikita Mikhalkov |
| Produced by | Michel Seydoux |
| Written by | Nikita Mikhalkov, Rustam Ibragimbekov, Nikita Mikhalkov, Rospo Pallenberg |
| Starring | Julia Ormond, Richard Harris, Oleg Menshikov, Aleksei Petrenko, Marina Neyolova, Vladimir Ilyin, Daniel Olbrychski |
| Music by | Eduard Artemyev |
| Cinematography | Pavel Lebeshev |
| Editing by | Enzo Meniconi |
| Release date(s) | October 30, 1998 |
| Running time | 180 min |
| Country | Russia, France, Italy, Czech Republic |
| Language | Russian, English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Barber of Siberia (Russian: Сибирский цирюльник, Sibirskij Tsirjulnik) is a 1998 Russian film that re-united the Academy Award winning team of director Nikita Mikhalkov and Michel Seydoux. Mikhalkov's 1994 film Burnt by the Sun won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film and the coveted Grand Prix du Jury at Cannes Film Festival.
[edit] Plot summary
Jane Callahan, a once beautiful American, writes to her son, a cadet at a famous military academy, but who is he? Her memories take us back 20 years to when she arrived in Russia to assist Douglas McCracken, an obsessive engineer who needs the Grand Duke's patronage to sponsor his invention, a massive machine to harvest the forests of Siberia. On her travels, she meets two men who will change her life forever. A handsome young Andrey Tolstoy with whom she shares a fondness of opera, and the powerful General Radlov who is entranced by her beauty and wants to marry her. Tolstoy and Radlov vie for the love of the woman with whom they are obsessed. She confides a deep secret to Tolstoy, promises to marry him, and together they spend a passionate night of love. But later he overhears Jane denying her interest in him to the General. Distraught, Tolstoy attacks the General who arrests his young rival on false charges and banishes him to Siberia.
Jane never gives up hope of finding Tolstoy, her true love. Years later, although by now married to McCracken, she returns to Russia to discover where he lives in Siberia. She goes to his home, where she finds a spirit and happiness that leave her with the knowledge that the one thing she still has is her secret, which will forever tie her and her son to the huge mysterious country.
The stars of the film include famous Russian actors such as Oleg Menshikov, Alexei Petrenko, Marat Basharov, Leonid Kuravlev, and Mikhalkov himself (as Tsar Alexander III), and British actress Julia Ormond.
