''The Barber of Siberia'' (russian: Сибирский цирюльник,
translit. ''Sibirskiy tsiryulnik'') is a 1998 Russian film that re-united the
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
-winning team of director
Nikita Mikhalkov and producer
Michel Seydoux
Michel Seydoux (; born 11 September 1947) is a French businessman and film producer. He is also the former president and chairman of French professional football club Lille OSC.
In 1975-1976, Seydoux worked with director Alejandro Jodorowsky o ...
. 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
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
at the
71st Academy Awards, but was disqualified for not getting a print lately to Los Angeles as a nominee.
[Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]
Plot
Jane Callahan (
Julia Ormond
Julia Karin Ormond (born 4 January 1965) is an English actress. She rose to prominence by appearing in ''The Baby of Mâcon'' (1993), ''Legends of the Fall'' (1994), '' First Knight'' (1995), '' Sabrina'' (1995), ''Smilla's Sense of Snow'' (199 ...
), a beautiful American lady, writes to her son, a cadet at a famous
military academy
A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned. ...
, 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
Grand duke (feminine: grand duchess) is a European hereditary title, used either by certain monarchs or by members of certain monarchs' families. In status, a grand duke traditionally ranks in order of precedence below an emperor, as an approx ...
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
A cadet is an officer trainee or candidate. The term is frequently used to refer to those training to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. Its meaning may vary between countries which can include youths in ...
Andrej Tolstoy (
Oleg Menshikov
Oleg Evgenyevich Menshikov, PAR (russian: Оле́г Евге́ньевич Ме́ньшиков, link=no; born 8 November 1960) is a Russian actor, theatre director and occasional singer. He is the current artistic director of the Yermolova The ...
) 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 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
Julia Karin Ormond (born 4 January 1965) is an English actress. She rose to prominence by appearing in ''The Baby of Mâcon'' (1993), ''Legends of the Fall'' (1994), '' First Knight'' (1995), '' Sabrina'' (1995), ''Smilla's Sense of Snow'' (199 ...
– Jane Callahan-McCracken
*
Richard Harris – Douglas McCracken
*
Oleg Menshikov
Oleg Evgenyevich Menshikov, PAR (russian: Оле́г Евге́ньевич Ме́ньшиков, link=no; born 8 November 1960) is a Russian actor, theatre director and occasional singer. He is the current artistic director of the Yermolova The ...
– Andrei Tolstoi / Andrew McCracken
*
Aleksei Petrenko
Aleksei Vasilyevich Petrenko (russian: Алексей Васильевич Петренко; 26 March 1938 – 22 February 2017) was a Soviet and Russian film and stage actor. He played Grigori Rasputin in Elem Klimov's historical drama
''Agony'' ...
– General Radlov
*
Marina Neyolova – Andrei Tolstoi's mother
*
Vladimir Ilyin – Captain Mokin
*
Daniel Olbrychski – Kopnovsky
*
Anna Mikhalkova
Anna Nikitichna Mikhalkova (Russian: А́нна Ники́тична Михалко́ва; born 14 May 1974, in Moscow) is a Russian actress and model.
Her film credits include '' Our Own'', '' Kokoko'' and ''Rasputin''. Her television credits ...
– Dunyasha
*
Marat Basharov
Marat Alimzhanovich Basharov (russian: Марат Алимжанович Башаров, tt-Cyrl, Марат Галимҗан улы Бәшәров, born 22 August 1974) is a Soviet and Russian film actor and a TV host, of Volga Tatar origin.
H ...
– Cadet Polievskyy
*
Nikita Tatarenkov – Cadet Alibekov
* Artyom Mikhalkov – Cadet Buturlin
*
Georgiy Dronov – Cadet Nazarov
*
Avangard Leontyev – Andrei's uncle
*
Robert Hardy
Timothy Sydney Robert Hardy (29 October 1925 – 3 August 2017) was an English actor who had a long career in theatre, film and television. He began his career as a classical actor and later earned widespread recognition for roles such as Sieg ...
– Forsten
*
Elizabeth Spriggs – the countess 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
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
–
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
*
References
External links
*
*
*
Traileran
ScreenshotsSergei Blagov, ''Asia Times'', 17 April 1999.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barber of Siberia, The
1998 films
1990s historical comedy-drama films
Russian historical comedy-drama films
Films set in 1885
Films set in 1895
Films set in 1905
Films set in Moscow
Films set in the Russian Empire
Films set in Siberia
Films set in the United States
Films shot in the Czech Republic
Films shot in Moscow
Films shot in Nizhny Novgorod
Films shot in Siberia
Films shot in Portugal
1990s Russian-language films
English-language Russian films
1990s English-language films
Films directed by Nikita Mikhalkov
Films scored by Eduard Artemyev
French historical comedy-drama films
English-language French films
English-language Italian films
English-language Czech films
Russian multilingual films
Czech multilingual films
Italian historical comedy-drama films
Czech historical comedy-drama films
French multilingual films
American multilingual films
Italian multilingual films
1998 multilingual films
Films produced by Michel Seydoux
Films with screenplays by Nikita Mikhalkov
Russian-language Czech films
1990s French films