Collector (Russian: Коллектор, romanized: Kollektor) is a 2016 Russian drama film written and directed by Alexey Krasovsky. The film stars Konstantin Khabensky in the title role, with Ksenia Buravskaya, Polina Agureeva, Darya Moroz, Valentina Lukaschuk, Yevgeny Stychkin, Kirill Pletnyov, Igor Zolotovitsky, Tatyana Lazareva, Alexander Tyutin, Marina Lisovets, Nikita Tyunin providing voices.
Collector | |
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Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Alexey Krasovsky |
Written by | Alexey Krasovsky |
Produced by | Eduard Eloyan Dmitry Ruzhentsev Georgiy Shabanov |
Starring | Konstantin Khabensky |
Cinematography | Denis Firstov |
Edited by | Artyom Baryshnikov |
Music by | Dmitry Selipanov |
Production company | Paprika Production |
Distributed by | All Media Company |
Release date |
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Running time | 74 minutes |
Country | Russia |
Language | Russian |
The film premiered at Kinotavr Film Festival in Sochi in June 2016. Collector received critical acclaim, particularly for Khabensky's performance.[1]
Plot
editArthur is the best employee of a collecting firm. He's got a high income and a solid reputation among his colleagues.
He risks losing it all at once because of a scandalous video involving him that just hit the web. In one instant he becomes the main target of journalists and gossip columnists. His colleagues and friends turn away from him. He provokes intense hatred within society and is being threatened. The video, that was fabricated to set him up, becomes the truth. The truth he is trying to tell is perceived as a lie.
Arthur is trapped inside his office. Alone against the world. But his main enemy, the author of the video, turns out to be a widow who is convinced that it was Arthur who drove her husband to suicide. She is going to do everything in her power to drive him off the deep end.
Cast
edit- Konstantin Khabensky as Arthur
- Polina Agureeva as Tamara (voice)
- Ksenia Buravskaya as Natalya (voice)
- Tatyana Lazareva as Tatiana (voice)
- Marina Lisovets as Doctor (voice)
- Valentina Lukashchuk as Liza (voice)
- Kirill Pletnyov as Yevgeny (voice)
- Yevgeny Stychkin as Lev (voice)
- Nikita Tyunin as Yurlov (voice)
- Aleksandr Tyutin as Roman (voice)
- Igor Zolotovitsky as Journalist (voice)
- Darya Moroz as Ksenia (voice)
Production
editKonstantin Khabensky took a major pay cut to act in the film.[2]
Director Alexei Krasovsky said that if Khabensky would have refused his role, he himself would have acted in the film instead.[3]
Almost the entire film takes place within a room, where the main character is talking to phone. Shooting took place in real time for 8 days,[4] and the filmmakers only took breaks to change the cameras' memory cards. Arthur is the only character shown on screen — others interact with him on the phone, their parts were also recorded in real time.
Release
editCollector was shown out of competition at the 27th Sochi International Film Festival named Kinotavr, and premiered in the Spotlight program in the 2016 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
It was released in cinemas on 6 October 2016 in the Russian Federation. On the 16th of April 2017 it was shown on the NTV channel.[5]
Reception
editThe film earned the approval of the overwhelming majority of Russian film critics.[1][6] About the Collector was written: "The film, where the viewer does not observe the events on the screen, instead events of the human soul - the most difficult and the most valuable thing in any field of art" (Rossiyskaya Gazeta[7]), "The creators of "Collector" managed to escape stereotypes and awaken a simple human interest to the hero, supported by cinematic suspense" (Kommersant[8]), "Because of this Khabensky is the star of our cinema, he can hold the attention of the viewers for more than an hour purely with his charisma and voice" (Film.ru[9]), "a brilliant solo performance with one of the best Russian actors of our time" (The Hollywood Reporter Russia[10]).
It has been compared to the 2013 film Locke which starred Tom Hardy by international critics.[11][12]
Awards
editKhabensky got the Best Actor award at the Kinotavr Film Festival for his performance. The film also won the Kinotavr prize for best cinematography.[13][4] In July 2016, at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival the film won the FEDEORA Jury Award.[14] At the Nika Awards, Alexei Krasovsky was named the Discovery of the Year.[15] The film won three awards at the 2017 Prague Independent Film Festival – Gustav Meyrink Prize (Jury Prize), Best Director and Best Actor (Konstantin Khabensky).[16][17][18]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Рецензии на фильм Коллектор / Коллектор (2016), отзывы" [Reviews on the film Collector / Collector (2016), criticism] (in Russian). Kritikanstvo.
- ^ Хабенский - «Метод-2», Мединский и Брэд Питт / вДудь. vDud. 2018-04-26.
- ^ "Interview with Alexei Krasovsky". Indie Cinema.
- ^ a b "Режиссёрский дебют сценариста Алексея Красовского будет представлен на фестивале "Кинотавр"" [Directorial debut of screenwriter Alexey Krasovsky will be shown at the Kinotavr film festival]. filmpro.ru (in Russian).
- ^ "Грандиозная телепремьера! Фильм "Коллектор" — 16 апреля в 20:10". NTV (Russia).
- ^ "Коллектор - отзывы о фильме" [Collector – reviews of the film]. MegaCritic (in Russian).
- ^ "На экраны вышел "Коллектор" - один из лучших фильмов года" ["Collector" has been released on the screens – one of the best films of the year]. Rossiyskaya Gazeta (in Russian).
- ^ "Сбитый с долга" [Knocked down with Debt]. Kommersant (in Russian).
- ^ "Рецензия на фильм "Коллектор"" [Review on the film "Collector"]. film.ru (in Russian).
- ^ "Рецензия: "Коллектор" с Константином Хабенским" [Review: "Collector" with Konstantin Khabensky]. The Hollywood Reporter Russia (in Russian).
- ^ Jessica Kiang. "Film Review: 'Collector'". Variety.
- ^ "'Collector' ('Kollektor'): Karlovy Vary Review". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ "Winners of the 27th Open Russian film festival Kinotavr". Kinotavr. Archived from the original on 2016-12-30. Retrieved 2016-12-29.
- ^ "2016 Karlovy Vary IFF Awards Winners: 'It's Not the Time of My Life' Takes Top Prize". IndieWire.
- ^ "Поздравляем победителей 30-й НИКИ!". Nika Award.
- ^ "Train Driver's Diary wins at Prague Independent Film Festival". Prague TV. Archived from the original on 2020-08-03. Retrieved 2017-08-10.
- ^ "НОВОСТИ ФЕСТИВАЛЕЙ: "ПОСЛАНИЕ К ЧЕЛОВЕКУ", ПРИЗЫ ДЛЯ "КОЛЛЕКТОРА" В ПРАГЕ, ARTDOCFEST / RIGA IFF, KONIK FILM FESTIVAL, "РУДНИК"". Cinemaplex.
- ^ ""Коллектор" отмечен призами кинофестиваля в Праге". Kinobusiness.