Zhmurki ( Blind Man's Bluff) (2005) - Aleksei Balabanov

Rating: 6.5/10 (685 votes)
Runtime: 105 min
Language: Russian With English Subtitle
Country: Russia
Color: Color
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Director: Aleksei Balabanov
Cast:
Aleksei Panin ... Sergei
Dmitri Dyuzhev ... Simon
Nikita Mikhalkov ... Sergei Mikhajlovich
Sergei Makovetsky ... Koron
Viktor Sukhorukov ... Stepan
Dmitri Pevtsov ... Lawyer
Kirill Pirogov ... Executioner
Aleksei Serebryakov ... Doctor
Andrei Merzlikin ... Referent / Mikhalych's Assistant
Yuri Stepanov ... Kaban
Grigori Siyatvinda ... Eggplant
Anatoli Zhuravlyov ... Bala
Garik Sukachyov ... Brain
Andrei Panin ... Architect
Aleksandr Bashirov ... Man Tied to the Chair

Description:
Zhmurki (Russian: ??????, En. Blind Man's Bluff) is a 2005 Russian
black comedy/crime film similar to Snatch and Pulp Fiction,
Director
Aleksei Balabanov, who directed Brat and Brat 2 , uses "uniformly ace"
(Variety) cameo performances, by Russia's most prominent actors, to
send up both the greed-is-good mentality of the newly democratized
former Soviet Union and the self-conscious Quentin Tarantino/Guy
Ritchie-style crime films of the 90s. The film suggests that on the
mean free-market streets of modern day Russia, the only real liberty is
the freedom to kill.
Approximately 50 liters of fake blood were used
in the film. With the exception of a few scenes in Moscow, the film was
shot in Tver, the city formerly known as Kalinin, and Nizhniy Novgorod,
the city known as Gorky in Soviet times
The stars of the film
include famous Russian actors such as Nikita Mikhalkov (best known to
American audiences for his work in Burnt by the Sun), Dmitrij Djuzhev,
Aleksej Panin, Sergej Makovetskij, Igor Sukachev, Viktor Sukhorukov,
and Renata Litvinova. Actually, there are more than 20 Russian-movie
stars in the film, but it's not easy to recognize them immediately
since they are all in disguise.

Plot summary:
The film opens
with a group of teenagers sitting in a Russian classroom. The teacher
tells them that "start-up capital is what begins everything - with it,
you can start a business and multiply your investment many times over.
The key thing is how to get it..."
The movie then flashes back to a
Russian town outside Moscow in "the 90s" where we meet two criminals,
members of "bratva", Simon and Sergei. These small time hoodlums are
working for the local mob boss, Sergei Mikhailovich (played by Nikita
Mikhalkov). Unfortunately, neither gangster is very bright and trouble
ensues when they are ripped off by a corrupt cop and another gang of
dimwits.
Sergei and Simon have to deliver a suitcase full of heroin
to Mikhalych or else they will be killed. There is one minor detail:
the only problem-solving technique they are familiar with is a shot in
the head.

Additional Info:

Prominent Russian helmer
Alexei Balabanov's first outright comedy, "Dead Man's Bluff" revisits
the criminal underworld explored in his local hits "Brother" and
"Brother 2," but with mixed results. Pic follows a pair of hoodlum sibs
(Alexei Panin and Dmitry Dyuzhev) on a mission to recover a case full
of smack from rivals before their boss (helmer-producer Nikita
Mikhalkov) has their hides. Violent action, name cast and would-be cool
dialogue should ensure strong returns at home, but international auds,
who will have seen better and won't groove to pic's unembarrassed
racism, won't fall for "Bluff."
After a brief contempo-set prologue,
pic starts in the mid-'90s in an unnamed provincial city (end credits
list Nizhni-Novogorod as the location used). A bloody gangland hit
conducted in a morgue already crowded with dead bodies turns out to be
the work of bent cop Stepan (Victor Sukhorukov).
Meanwhile, local
kingpin Sergei Mikhailovich (Nikita Mikhalkov) dispatches Sergei
(Alexei Panin) and his brother Simon (Dmitry Dyuzhev), the brains and
brawn respectively, to exchange a briefcase of money for heroin at the
offices of a lawyer. But Stepan has already hired a trio of other
gangsters -- Koron (Sergei Makovetsky, sporting a haircut seemingly
inspired by Moe of the Three Stooges), thuggish Bala (Anatoly
Zhuravlyov), and black Russian Baklazhan (Grigory Siyatvinda) -- to
intercept the goods.
The inept trio hijacks the heroin instead of
the money they were supposed to snatch. Step by step, Sergei and Simon
track down Stepan and then the gang, leaving a trail of bodies in their
wake.
Graphic violence coupled with digressive plot and dialogue
creates the impression Balabanov has been watching a lot of Quentin
Tarantino lately. Screenplay by Stas Mokhnachev and Balabanov features
desultory, cool backchat between the various characters. At one point,
Simon and Sergei even debate the virtues of imported McDonald's meals
vs. native Russian blinis, a wink to the famous "Burger Royale" debate
in "Pulp Fiction."
Difference is, Tarantino's films are funny, and
this isn't all that much, even for native Russian speakers. Pic's line
in mild racist humor at the expense of Baklazhan (whose name means
"eggplant" in Russian) grows increasingly tedious. Pic's satirical
thrust is unsubtly rammed home with a contempo coda.
On the plus
side, perfs are uniformly ace, led well by Panin and Dyuzhev.
Director-producer Nikita Mikhalkov hams it up juicily, his Sergei
Mikhailovich a giddy mixture of bonhomie and bloodthirstiness.
Balabanov regulars Makovetsky and Sukhorukov display more comic knack
than their helmer, while an impressive lineup of Russian talent fills
out the minor roles.
Tech credits are pro, with sharply recorded
sound by Mikhail Nikolaev and elegant lensing by Evgeny Privin,
suggesting an above-average budget for a Russian pic. For the record,
title in Russian is the name of the game known as "Blind Man's Bluff,"
which pic has also been called in English.

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