The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed

''The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed'' (russian: link=no, Место встречи изменить нельзя, translit. ''Mesto vstrechi izmenit nelzya'') is a 1979 Soviet five-part television miniseries directed by Stanislav Govorukhin. The series achieved the status of a cult film in the USSR, and along with '' Seventeen Moments of Spring'' became a part of popular culture with several generations of Russian-speaking TV viewers. The series stars singer-songwriter Vladimir Vysotsky in one of his final screen appearances (his death at the age of 42 came less than a year after the film's release). Soviet screen and stage legends Sergey Yursky, Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, Zinovy Gerdt, Yevgeniy Yevstigneyev, and Leonid Kuravlev also appear in the film.

The film was released in the West as ''The Age of Mercy'', after the original novel by the Vayner Brothers on which the film is based.

Plot

The film is set in post-World War II Moscow. Lieutenant Vladimir Sharapov (Vladimir Konkin) is a young reconnaissance officer who has just returned from the war and is assigned to peacetime service with the famous MUR ( Moscow Department of Criminal Investigations). There he becomes part of an elite detective team led by the brilliant, tough, no-nonsense Captain Gleb Zheglov (Vladimir Vysotsky). The duo becomes embroiled in two seemingly unrelated investigations: that of the murder of young aspiring actress Larisa Gruzdeva, and the hunt for a brazen, vicious gang of armed robbers that calls itself "The Black Cat" and constantly manages to evade capture.

While suspicion in Gruzdeva's murder initially falls on her estranged husband Dr. Gruzdev (Yursky), it gradually becomes obvious that the two cases are connected, as a Black Cat mobster known as Fox ( Aleksandr Belyavsky) is implicated in the murder. As a result of Zheglov's successful high-stakes operation to capture Fox, Sharapov inadvertently finds himself undercover at the Black Cat hideout, sparring with the gang's menacing leader, the Hunchback (Armen Dzhigarkhanyan). What ensues is arguably one of Soviet television's most memorable and suspenseful finales.

Analysis

Much of the series revolves around the relationship between Zheglov and Sharapov. While the two become close friends and roommates, they are essentially opposites who often clash throughout the film. At the root of the conflict lies idealistic Sharapov's disagreement with Zheglov's "ends justify the means" approach to law enforcement. Zheglov, hardened and cynical from spending the war years in the rear fighting organized crime thinks that "a thief's place is in prison, and the public couldn't care less about how I put him there". To that end, Zheglov doesn't hesistate to use dubious tactics such as planting evidence to justify the arrest of a notorious pickpocket. Sharapov, on the other hand, considers that the law is a higher value for its own sake and cannot be used merely as a tool. A tense conflict also arises when, in order to mislead Fox, Zheglov elects to continue keeping Gruzdev under arrest even after it becomes clear that the man is innocent.

Cast

* Vladimir Vysotsky as Gleb Zheglov
* Vladimir Konkin as Vladimir Sharapov
* Sergei Yursky as Dr. Ivan Gruzdev
* Natalya Danilova as Varvara Sinichkina
* Viktor Pavlov as Sergey Levchenko, Sharapov's former comrade-in-arms, member of the Black Cat gang
* Leonid Kuravlyov as Valentin Bisyaev ("Val'ka Kopchonyiy"), thief
* Aleksandr Belyavsky as Fox, ranking member of the Black Cat gang
* Evgeni Evstigneev as Petr Ruchnikov ("Pet'ka Ruchechnik"), fur coat thief
* Armen Dzhigarkhanyan as "The Hunchback" ("Gorbatyiy"), leader of the Black Cat gang
* Larisa Udovichenko as Mariya Kolyvanova ("Manka Obligatsiya"), prostitute
* Stanislav Sadalskiy as Konstantin "The Brick" Saprykin ("Kostya Kirpich"), pickpocket
* Valeriya Zaklunna as Klasha, The Hunchback's girlfriend
* Zinoviy Gerdt as Mikhail Bomze, Sharapov's neighbour
* Aleksandr Abdulov as "Loshak", driver for the Black Cat gang
* Yekaterina Gradova as Svetlana Volokushuna, "Ruchechnik"'s accomplice
* Ivan Bortnik