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A compelling and occasionally graphic story adapted from Mikhail Bulgakov's stories about a country medical practice in Russia in 1917.
In the autumn of 1917, Doctor Poliakov (Leonid Bichevin) takes over a medical practice deep in the Russian countryside. Well schooled in theoretical knowledge, he is soon required to demonstrate his practical abilities by dealing with a breech birth, an amputation and a tracheotomy. Poliakov becomes progressiv...
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A compelling and occasionally graphic story adapted from Mikhail Bulgakov's stories about a country medical practice in Russia in 1917.
In the autumn of 1917, Doctor Poliakov (Leonid Bichevin) takes over a medical practice deep in the Russian countryside. Well schooled in theoretical knowledge, he is soon required to demonstrate his practical abilities by dealing with a breech birth, an amputation and a tracheotomy. Poliakov becomes progressively addicted to morphine, and his assistant and lover Anna Nikolaevna (Ingeborga Dapkunaite) is soon drawn into his addiction. Their remote existence is only broken by a request for morphine from Poliakov's rival, Gorenburg, which ends in an accidental visit to the local (liberal) aristocrat's household during a snowstorm. Based on autobiographical stories by Mikhail Bulgakov and directed by Alexei Balabanov, the script was written by the late Sergei Bodrov Jr (star of Balabanov's two Brother films). While the historical recreation and its setting can be described as lyrical, Poliakov's medical encounters and addiction are predictably graphic, resulting in an 'over-21' rating in Russia. The ongoing Revolution forms a remote background until the burning of the local aristocrat's mansion and the film's dramatic final scenes when Poliakov seeks a cure in the district capital."
Quoting Peter Hames
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