Heart of a Dog (1988 film)
Sobachye Serdtse | |
---|---|
![]() Russian Blu-Ray Disc cover | |
Directed by | Vladimir Bortko |
Screenplay by | Natalya Bortko |
Based on | Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov |
Starring | Yevgeny Yevstigneyev Boris Plotnikov Vladimir Tolokonnikov Nina Ruslanova |
Cinematography | Yuri Shaigardanov |
Edited by | Leda Semyonova |
Music by | Vladimir Dashkevich |
Production companies | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 130 minutes |
Country | Soviet Union |
Language | Russian |
Budget | $5 million[1] |
Heart of a Dog (Russian: Собачье сердце, translit. Sobachye serdtse) is a black-and-white 1988 Soviet comedy-drama science fiction television film directed by Vladimir Bortko. It is based on Mikhail Bulgakov's novel Heart of a Dog.[1]
Premiering show of the film aired on 20 November 1988 at 18:45 on the Central Television Programme One and aired on 1989 at 8:00 PM on the ABC. The film consisted of two episodes.
Plot
[edit]The film is set in Moscow not long after the October Revolution. A complaining stray dog looks for food and shelter. A well-off and well-known surgeon and professor, Philipp Philippovich Preobrazhensky, happens to need a dog and, with a piece of sausage, lures the animal to his large apartment, used both for living and medical practice. The dog is named Sharik and well taken care of by the doctor's maids, but he still wonders why he is there. He finds out only too late that he is needed as a test animal. The doctor implants a pituitary gland and testicles of a recently-deceased alcoholic and petty criminal, Klim Chugunkin, into Sharik.
Sharik proceeds to become more and more human during the following days. After his transition to human is complete, it turns out that he inherited all the negative traits of the donor (bad manners, aggressiveness, use of profanity, heavy drinking), but he still hates cats. He picks for himself the absurd name Poligraf Poligrafovich Sharikov, starts working at the Moscow department for extermination of stray animals and associates himself with the new Bolshevist building administration, who strive to take away part of doctor's big apartment (an ongoing sub-plot of the film). Eventually, Sharikov turns life in the doctor's apartment into a nightmare by stealing money, breaking his furniture, flooding the apartment during a cat chase, etc.
Preobrazhensky and his friend and assistant, Dr. Bormental, see all of their efforts to reform Sharikov fail. Eventually the doctor learns that Sharikov has attempted to denounce him to the Soviet secret police. The doctor then demands for Sharikov to leave the apartment immediately for good. Sharikov angrily refuses and draws a revolver. An infuriated Bormental attacks Sharikov and, after a short but violent fight, subdues him. The doctor then chooses to reverse the procedure.
Sharikov turns back into a dog. As Sharik, he remembers little about what has happened to him but is not much concerned about that. To his content, he is left to live in the doctor's apartment.
Cast
[edit]
|
|
Details
[edit]This screen version of M. Bulgakov's novel is famous for its fidelity to the original text. Practically nothing was deleted in the adaptation. In a documentary about the film, the cinematographer recalls that when he asked the director for the script, Bortko simply gave him a magazine with the text of the novel. When the baffled cinematographer objected, the next day Bortko gave him the same text, but with descriptions of nature and other such details crossed out.[2] There are however some differences between the novel and the film: some scenes in the film involving spiritualism, the prophetess in the circus, and a Soviet style christening ("Octobering") were taken from early short stories by Bulgakov, rather than the novel.[citation needed]
Awards and honors
[edit]- Awards at several domestic and international film festivals,[citation needed] including Prix Italia (1989)[3]
- Vasilyev Brothers State Prize of the RSFSR (1990)[4]
See also
[edit]- Dog's Heart, a 1976 joint Italian-German comedy film directed by Alberto Lattuada based on the novel
References
[edit]- ^ a b Ágnes Pethő (2009). Words and Images on the Screen: Language, Literature and Moving Pictures. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-443-80627-5.
- ^ Собачье сердце или цена заблуждения; in this 2008 documentary the filmmakers and actors speak about the making of the film
- ^ Winners 1949–1998. prixitalia.rai.it
- ^ Бортко, Владимир Владимирович. tass.ru
External links
[edit]- Heart of a Dog at AllMovie
- Heart of a Dog at IMDb
- Heart of a Dog at Rotten Tomatoes
- Secrets of Our Cinema. "Heart of a Dog", a June 29, 2016 TV programme episode about the film (video)
- 1988 films
- 1988 in the Soviet Union
- 1988 science fiction films
- 1988 television films
- 1980s science fiction comedy-drama films
- 1980s Soviet films
- 1980s Russian-language films
- Soviet science fiction comedy-drama films
- Soviet television films
- Soviet black-and-white films
- Lenfilm films
- Experimental medical treatments in fiction
- Films based on works by Mikhail Bulgakov
- Films set in the 1920s
- Films set in Moscow
- Films set in the Soviet Union
- Films shot in Saint Petersburg
- Films based on Russian novels
- Films directed by Vladimir Bortko
- Films about dogs
- Films about physicians
- Films critical of communism
- Biopunk films
- Circus films
- Television shows directed by Vladimir Bortko
- American Broadcasting Company television specials
- Television shows based on works by Mikhail Bulgakov