The Barber of Siberia

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

The Barber of Siberia (Сибирский цирюльник, translit. Sibirskiy tsiryulnik) is a 1998 Russian film that re-united the Academy Award-winning team of director Nikita Mikhalkov and Michel Seydoux. It was screened out of competition at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival.^[1]

Plot summary

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 Mikhail Alexandrovich's patronage to sponsor his invention, a massive machine to harvest the 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 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. 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 five years of isolation.

Cast

• Julia Ormond – Jane Callahan
• Richard Harris – Douglas McCracken
• Oleg Menshikov – Andrei Tolstoi
• Aleksei Petrenko – General Radlov
• Marina Neyolova – Andrei Tolstoi's mother
• Vladimir Ilyin – Captain Mokin
• Daniel Olbrychski – Kopnovsky
• Anna Mikhalkova – Douniacha
• Marat Basharov – Polievsky
• Nikita Tatarenkov – Alibekov
• Artyom Mikhalkov – Buturlin
• Georgiy Dronov – Cadet Nazarov (as Yegor Dronov)
• Avangard Leontyev – Andrei's uncle
• Robert Hardy – Forsten
• Elizabeth Spriggs – Perepyolkina
• Nikita Mikhalkov – 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 colonel that "Mozart was a great composer".

References

External links

• Official website (Russian)
• The Barber of Siberia at AllMovie
• The Barber of Siberia at the Internet Movie Database
• Trailer and Screenshots
• The Barber of Siberia stirs controversy Sergei Blagov, Asia Times, 17 April 1999.