4 is a 2004 Russian drama film directed by Ilya Khrzhanovsky after a screenplay by Vladimir Sorokin.[1] Originally it was conceived as a short film, but turned into a full-length film after four years of work.

4
Theatrical release poster
Directed byIlya Khrzhanovsky
Written byVladimir Sorokin
Produced byYelena Yatsura
StarringMarina Vovchenko
Sergey Shnurov
Yuri Laguta
CinematographySándor Berkesi
Alexandre Ilkhovski
Alisher Khamidkhodjaev
Edited byIgor Malakhov
Distributed byFilmocom
Hubert Bals Fund
Release dates
  • 10 September 2004 (2004-09-10) (Venice)
  • 8 December 2005 (2005-12-08) (Russia)
Running time
126 minutes
CountryRussia
LanguageRussian

Plot

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Meat merchant Oleg, prostitute Marina, and piano tuner "simply Volodya" drop into an all-night bar in Moscow, where they are served by a narcoleptic bartender (three plus one is four) while each regales the others with made-up biographies. Oleg claims to work in President Putin's administration, supplying him with bottled water and his wife with liquor; Marina passes herself off as a marketing executive; and Volodya, the infamous lead singer of the rock group Leningrad, as a geneticist who clones twins (two times two makes four, again) in a laboratory that has been engaged in these experiments since the days of Stalin. After they separate, these fantasy realities, especially Volodya's, begin to dominate their everyday lives.

Cast

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  • Marina Vovchenko as Marina
  • Sergey Shnurov as Volodya
  • Yuri Laguta as Oleg
  • Konstantin Murzenko as Marat
  • Alexei Khvostenko as a Man with No Age
  • Anatoly Adoskin as Oleg's Father
  • Leonid Fyodorov as Sergey
  • Andrey Kudryashov as a Bartender
  • Shavkat Abdusalamov as a Meat-Processing Plant Manager
  • Natalya Tetenova as Sveta
  • Irina Vovchenko as Sonya
  • Svetlana Vovchenko as Vera

Awards

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The film won the VPRO Tiger Award (shared with Daniele Gaglianone's Changing Destiny and Mercedes Álvarez's The Sky Turns) at the 34th International Film Festival Rotterdam.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Zolnikov, Leonid (2006-10-24). "4 / Четыре (2005)" (in Russian). CULT Cinema. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  2. ^ "Awards 2005". International Film Festival Rotterdam. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
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