Valery TODOROVSKY
Валерий ТОДОРОВСКИЙ
Valeri TODOROVSKI
Russia, 2004, 111mn 
Colour, fiction
My Step-Brother Frankenstein
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Мой сводный брат Франкенштейн

 

 Mon demi-frère Frankenstein

 Moy svodny brat frankenshtein

 
Directed by : Valery TODOROVSKY (Валерий ТОДОРОВСКИЙ)
Writing credits : Gennadi OSTROVSKY (Геннадий ОСТРОВСКИЙ)
 
Cast
Sergey GARMASH (Сергей ГАРМАШ) ...Kourbatov
Sergey GAZAROV (Сергей ГАЗАРОВ) ...Edik
Daniil SPIVAKOVSKY (Даниил СПИВАКОВСКИЙ) ...Pavlik
Yelena YAKOVLEVA (Елена ЯКОВЛЕВА) ...Rita
Leonid YARMOLNIK (Леонид ЯРМОЛЬНИК) ...Youlik
 
Cinematography : Sergey MIKHALCHUK (Сергей МИХАЛЬЧУК)
Production design : Vladimir GUDILIN (Владимир ГУДИЛИН)
Music : Aleksey AIGY (Алексей АЙГИ)
Sound : Sergey CHUPROV (Сергей ЧУПРОВ)
Produced by : Leonid YARMOLNIK (Леонид ЯРМОЛЬНИК)
Production : Rekun-Film (Рекун-Фильм)
Film revenue in Russia : 0.060 million dollars
Release date in Russia : 21/10/2004
 

Awards :
Best directing Golden Eagle awards, Moscow (Russia), 2005
Best Actress in a Supporting Role Yelena YAKOVLEVA , Golden Eagle awards, Moscow (Russia), 2005
Guild of Historians of Cinema and Film Critics Prize Open Russian Film Festival Kinotavr, Sochi (Russia), 2004
Best Screenplay Honfleur Russian Film Festival, Honfleur (France), 2004
Best Actor in a Supporting Role Sergey GARMASH , "NIKA" Prizes, Moscow (Russia), 2004
Aigle d'or de la meilleure réalisation, 2004
Prix de la FIPRESCI au Festival de Kalovy Vary, 2004

Plot synopsis
Review by Adam Lowenstein on www.kinokultura.com.

Married with two children, Krymov leads a calm middle-class life as a physicist and sometime science writer. His life is disrupted by the arrival of his alleged son Pavel - a veteran of the war in Chechnya who has lost an eye. Although Krymov denies paternity, he welcomes the young man and tries to arrange an operation for his eye. Colonel Timur corroborates Pavel's identity and portrays him as a hero. In response, the compassionate Krymov hesitates to move Pavel to a military hospital. Krymov's daughter Anya accepts the stranger at face value but his son Egor and his wife Rita have their doubts. These are confirmed at a family dinner when Pavel describes climactic scenes of battle in such a way that Dr. Edik, a family friend, warns Krymov: this young man is disturbed and he's a fascist. Despite Pavel's attachment to the family, Krymov decides he must react: he sends the intruder home. Pavel returns immediately, however, claiming that he must protect "his" family from the "enemy" that is hiding everywhere.
Source : www.ffm.ca
 

Commentaries and bibliography
До, во время и после войны [Avant, pendant et après la guerre], Виктор ФИЛИМОНОВ, kinoart.ru, 2023
Le cinéma russe, vingt-cinq ans déjà..., Marilyne FELLOUS, kinoglaz.fr, 2010
Valerii Todorovskii: My Stepbrother Frankenstein (Moi svodnyj brat Frankenshtein) (2004), Adam LOWENSTEIN, kinokultura.com, 2004
 

Selected in the following festivals or events :
- Russian Resurrection Film Festival, Different cities (Australia), 2014
- Russian Resurrection Film Festival, Different cities (Australia), 2013
- Festival des Films de Russie et d'Ailleurs, Geneva - Lausanne (Switzerland), 2013
- Moscow, St-Petersburg : two faces of Russia, Paris (France), 2010
- Fribourg International Film Festival, Fribourg (Switzerland), 2010
- Festival Kinoblick, Stuttgart (Germany), 2005
- Festival "Vivat Kino Rossii", St Petersburg (Russia), 2005
- Golden Eagle awards, Moscow (Russia), 2005
- World Film Festival, Montreal (Canada), 2004
- Russian Film Week in Paris : Regards de Russie, Paris (France), 2004
- Honfleur Russian Film Festival, Honfleur (France), 2004
- "NIKA" Prizes, Moscow (Russia), 2004
- Moscow International Film Festival (MIFF), Moscow (Russia), 2004
- Open Russian Film Festival Kinotavr, Sochi (Russia), 2004
- Award "White Elephant", Moscow (Russia), 2004
- "Vyborg" Russian Film Festival (formerly ''A Window to Europe''), Vyborg (Russia), 2004