Dovlatov (Russian: Довлатов) is a 2018 Russian biographical film about writer Sergei Dovlatov, directed by Aleksei German and starring Milan Marić and Danila Kozlovsky. It premiered at the 2018 Berlin International Film Festival in competition on 17 February, where it was awarded a Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution for costume and production design.[1] It received generally positive reviews from critics.

Dovlatov
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAleksei German Jr
Screenplay by
  • Aleksei German Jr
  • Yuliya Tupikina
Produced by
  • Andrey Savelev
  • Artyom Vasilev
  • Konstantin Ernst
  • Dariusz Jablonski
Starring
CinematographyŁukasz Żal
Production
companies
Art and Pop Corn
Metrafilms
SAGa
Distributed byWDSSPR(Russia) Netflix(United States)
Release date
  • 17 February 2018 (2018-02-17) (Berlin)
Running time
126 minutes
CountryRussia
LanguageRussian

Plot

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The film tells about a few days in the life of writer Sergei Dovlatov (Milan Marić) in 1971 Leningrad, on the eve of the emigration of his friend, the future Nobel laureate Joseph Brodsky (Artur Beschastny). Sergei is determined to stay and lead a normal life with his wife Elena (Helena Sujecka) and daughter Katya (Eva Herr). Dovlatov's manuscripts are regularly rejected by the official media as his point of view is deemed undesirable. His friend is artist David (Danila Kozlovsky), a fartsovshchik who sells foreign goods on the black market. During this time Sergei tries to buy his daughter a German doll but is not able to find one anywhere.

Cast

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Reception

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On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 80%, based on 15 reviews with an average rating of 6.1/10.[2] Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 68 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[3]

References

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  1. ^ Berlinale. Archiv. Prize winners 2018. Retrieved January 2019
  2. ^ "Dovlatov (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  3. ^ "Dovlatov Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
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