Azazel (2002)

Investigating a trivial suicide, young detective runs into a worldwide conspiracy... The plot unfolds steadily during the whole movie, and you would never guess who pulls the strings. The cast is top notch. Non an Oscar class, but still a very entertaining and well directed movie. I would just like to invite visitors to see pictures from the movie and watch a detailed trailer at RussArt.com. Pictures: http://russart.com/?moviepictures&mid=38 Trailer: http://russart.com/?movietrailer&mid=38 Those who read Russian can find more materials useful: press articles, reviews, etc.

Based on Boris Akunin's novel 'Azazel' (English title 'The Winter Queen') set in Moscow in 1876. The novel started a long series quite popular in Russia.In 'Azazel' a young police officer - Erast Fandorin - investigates an odd suicide of some rich young man and finds a complex conspiracy, trying to take over most European countries - from Britain to Ottoman Empire - with the best intentions, of course. That may sound like a cliché, but the author made it all look and feel quite realistic, believable and compelling.The book was excellent. The script is good. One may argue that it follows the book too closely, and the film is too long. Fandorin is nothing like I imagined him, but this way he is closer to the book, so I can live with it. The actors play well. However they don't seem to agree on the exact genre: comedy, tragedy, drama, farce, detective, action or something else. That ruins otherwise good film.The biggest disappointment were the "bad guys" - especially the leader and the "mole". In the book it is possible to deduce the former fairly early, but the latter stays a mystery almost until the end. Here their intentions become obvious in a minute after they appear.

the book might be good, but the movie is quite disappointing.the acting is really bad. especially the main character is really annoying. since the movie was too long, there was almost no suspense for a detective story. sometimes it looks like a comedy, but unfortunately a bad one. the story is quite predictable. all in all, it is a waste of time. if you want to see a well done russian detective story, watch the old episodes of "adventures of sherlock homes".

The book is excellent, no question, but, unfortunately, the movie is not as good. Noskov's (Fandorin) acting is not convincing and his voice sounds really strange at times. Brilling is a typical Andrey Mironov type, and it looks like Bezrukov tries to imitate his acting. The best of all is Neelova (Lady Ester): her acting is way above everybody else's. Overall, the movie feels a little bit raw, as if made in a hurry: some parts are good, some are bad. So it's not like old-time classics, but still worth seeing.