Cargo 200

  • 89'
  • Russia
  • 2007
The eleventh film by Alexei Balabanov is the longest awaited and probably most spoken about film of his career. From its announcement in script form to the premiere at the Sochi film festival, the film has given cause for emotional reactions. It is a provocation à la Balabanov par excellence. It seems like all the elements of previous films such as Brother, Of Freaks and Men and Dead Man's Bluff can be doubled here.
This harsh pre-Perestroika thriller is about a maniacal policeman, his mother, the local party leader and his daughter and many others in Leninsk, a small Soviet town. It is set to the background of the Soviet-Afghan war. Balabanov wanted to draw a picture of the dying 'body' of the USSR and make a statement against the current rise of Soviet nostalgia. A small newspaper article became an inspiration for this mirror of the moral decay of the period. The daughter of the local communist party leader disappears without a trace after leaving a disco club. During the same evening a cruel murder is committed on the outskirts of the town. Both cases are investigated by the local police captain.
As some of the actors with whom Balabanov cooperated before refused to become a part of this harsh drama, he has successfully collaborated with newcomers and less known faces. The final picture of the times seems to be painfully realistic, almost surrealistic. (LC)


  • 89'
  • Russia
  • 2007
Director
Alexei Balabanov
Country of production
Russia
Year
2007
Festival Edition
IFFR 2008
Length
89'
Medium
35mm
Original title
Gruz 200
Language
Russian
Producer
Sergey Selyanov
Production Company
CTB Film Company
Sales
Intercinema Agency
Screenplay
Alexei Balabanov
Cinematography
Alexander Simonov
Editor
Tatyana Kuzmichyova
Production Design
Pavel Parkhomenko
Sound Design
Mikhail Nikolayev
Cast
Alexei Serebryakov, Leonid Gromov
Director
Alexei Balabanov
Country of production
Russia
Year
2007
Festival Edition
IFFR 2008
Length
89'
Medium
35mm
Original title
Gruz 200
Language
Russian
Producer
Sergey Selyanov
Production Company
CTB Film Company
Sales
Intercinema Agency
Screenplay
Alexei Balabanov
Cinematography
Alexander Simonov
Editor
Tatyana Kuzmichyova
Production Design
Pavel Parkhomenko
Sound Design
Mikhail Nikolayev
Cast
Alexei Serebryakov, Leonid Gromov