''The Spy'' (russian: Шпион, Shpion) is a 2012 Russian

spy film The spy film, also known as the spy thriller, is a genre of film that deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way (such as the adaptations of John le Carré) or as a basis for fantasy (such as many James Bond film ...

, an adaptation of

Boris Akunin Boris Akunin (russian: Борис Акунин) is the pen name of Grigori Chkhartishvili (russian: Григорий Шалвович Чхартишвили, Grigory Shalvovich Chkhartishvili; ka, გრიგორი ჩხარტიშვ� ...

's novel ''The Spy Novel'' ( Шпионский роман). It was directed by Alexey Andrianov, the film stars

Danila Kozlovsky Danila Valeryevich Kozlovsky (russian: link=no, Данила Валерьевич Козловский; born 3 May 1985) is a Russian actor and director. Biography Early life and career Danila Kozlovsky was born in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet ...

and

Fyodor Bondarchuk Fyodor Sergeyevich Bondarchuk (russian: link=no, Фёдор Сергеевич Бондарчук ; born 9 May 1967) is a Russian film director, actor, TV and film producer, clipmaker, TV host, founder of production company Art Pictures Studio. ...

. Akunin adapted his own novel. It had one of the largest film budgets in Russian history.

Plot

The movie is set in the year 1941, months before the German invasion of Russia. The two protagonists,

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

officers Dorin and Oktyabrsky, are hunting a German

Abwehr The ''Abwehr'' ( German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', but the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context; ) was the German military-intelligence service for the '' Reichswehr'' and the ''Wehrmacht'' from 1920 to 1944. ...

spy in Moscow. They believe their success might reveal Hitler's plans and the exact date of invasion. It is implied that Dorin is a distant relative of

Erast Fandorin Erast Petrovich Fandorin (russian: Эраст Петрович Фандорин) is a fictional 19th-century Russian detective and the hero of a series of Russian historical detective novels by Boris Akunin. The first Fandorin novel (''The Winter ...

, the most popular character of Akunin's books.

Cast

as Yegor Dorin, State Security Officer *

as Alexey Oktyabrsky, Senior Major of State Security, Head of Dorin *

Anna Chipovskaya Anna Borisovna Chipovskaya (russian: А́нна Бори́совна Чипо́вская; born 16 June 1987) is a Russian actress who has appeared in theater, television and film. Early life Anna Chipovskaya was born in Moscow. She was born ...

as Nadezhda 'Nadya' *

Viktoriya Tolstoganova Viktoriya Viktorovna Tolstoganova (russian: Виктория Викторовна Толстоганова; born 24 March 1972) is a Russian film and theater actress. Biography Viktoriya Tolstoganova was born in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Uni ...

as Iraida Petrakovich * Sergey Gazarov as People's Commissar *

Vladimir Epifantsev Vladimir Georgievich Epifantsev (russian: link=no, Владимир Георгиевич Епифанцев; born 8 September 1971, Moscow, USSR) is a Russian theatre and cinema actor, filmmaker, television presenter and music video director. Bi ...

as senior security lieutenant Kogan *

Andrey Merzlikin Andrey Ilyich Merzlikin (russian: Андре́й Ильи́ч Мерзли́кин; born 24 March 1973) is a Russian film and theater actor. Early life Andrey Merzlikin was born in Kaliningrad, Moscow Oblast. In the first education – radio e ...

as radio operator Karpenko * Viktor Verzhbitsky as Lezhava, a member of the

* Ekaterina Melnik as Lyubov Serova * Dmitry Nazarov as Nadya's dad * Mikhail Filippov as Leader * Oleksiy Gorbunov as Selentsov, Vasser's Connector * Boris Kamorzin as Lyalin, chauffeur of the NKVD * Alexander Kuznetsov as NKVD officer * Eckie Hoffman as

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

* Edgar Bölke as Admiral

Wilhelm Canaris Wilhelm Franz Canaris (1 January 1887 – 9 April 1945) was a German admiral and the chief of the ''Abwehr'' (the German military-intelligence service) from 1935 to 1944. Canaris was initially a supporter of Adolf Hitler, and the Nazi re ...

* Felix Schultess as driver of Admiral Wilhelm Canaris * Maksim Maltsev as Golovasty

Crew

* Director - Alexey Andrianov * Producer - Leonid Vereshchagin, Sergey Shumakov * Screenplay by Vladimir Valutskiy * Production designer - Viktor Petrov * Cinematographer - Denis Alarcon-Ramirez * Stunt Coordinator - Valeriy Derkach * Editor (TV version) - Luca Paracels

Production

The film was based on the plot of

's ''The Spy Novel'' written in 2005. In the tango scene, during a pause, the hero of

clicks his orchestra loudly with his fingers. Although the hand is in a glove, and it is impossible to make such a sound in it.

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

, some scenes had to be shot not in the Russian capital, but in the city of

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative stat ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

Versions

The duration of the full television version is more than 4 series of 45 minutes.

Release

The film was released in the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia North Asia or Northern Asia, also referred to as Siberia, is the northern region of Asia, which is defined in geographic ...

on April 5, 2012, by Central Partnership. The closed premiere took place on April 2.

Reception

The movie was a moderate success at the box office grossing $4.588.176 (258.479.483

ruble The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union. , currencies named ''rub ...

s) against a budget of 192.000.000

Critical response

From an article about the film ''The Spy'' in the journal

Izvestia ''Izvestia'' ( rus, Известия, p=ɪzˈvʲesʲtʲɪjə, "The News") is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Russia. Founded in 1917, it was a newspaper of record in the Soviet Union until the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991, and describes ...

The Russian film ''The Spy'', sold in the USA for display on the VOD system (video on demand), in just a few days at the HULU video service, came out in number of views to 14th place among 2.5 thousand European, American and Asian films. This is an extraordinary result, commented on the information of Eleanor Pomegranate, representing Loskino in Los Angeles.

From the review of the film ''The Spy'' in the newspaper Gazeta.Ru:

''The Spy'' is the first successful adaptation of Boris Akunin's prose, placed in the only comic book space suitable for her.

From the review of the film ''The Spy'' in the newspaper Trud:

Alexei Andrianov's fantasy turned out to be ironic, rich, full of chic and funny episodes. Where, for example, there is a wonderful Oktyabrsky tango with a movie star Lyubov Serova (Ekaterina Melnik) who was beaten off by him in a restaurant for unsympathetic youths - and in this scene the exquisitely self-righteous hero
Bondarchuk Bondarchuk ( uk, Бондарчук) is a Ukrainian surname meaning barrel maker. Most famous are the members of the Bondarchuk family who have been influential in Soviet cinema. The surname may refer to: * Sergei Bondarchuk (1920–1994), actor an ...
evokes about the same feelings as the imperial Moscow invented by Andrianov.

References

External links

* * * *
The Spy
' at

Eurochannel Eurochannel is a world television channel focused on European culture and lifestyle through movies, series and other programs dedicated to European culture. Eurochannel broadcasts in original audio with subtitles in English, Spanish and Portugu ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spy Films based on works by Boris Akunin 2012 films 2010s Russian-language films 2010s spy action films 2010s spy thriller films Dieselpunk films Russian spy action films World War II spy films 2012 action thriller films 2010s action adventure films Films set in 1941 Films set in the Soviet Union Films scored by Yuri Poteyenko Russian action war films Russian action thriller films Russian action adventure films Russian historical action films Cultural depictions of Adolf Hitler 2010s historical films Russian historical adventure films Films shot in Belarus Russian World War II films