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.
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.