Azazel (2002)

How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Based on Boris Akunin's novel 'Azazel' (English title 'The Winter Queen') set in Moscow in 1876. Boris Akunin is the pen name of Grigory Chkhartishvili, who was born in the republic of Georgia in 1956; he is a philologist, critic, essayist, and translator from Japanese. I recently read and enjoyed "The Temple of the Golden Pavilion" by Yukio Mishima translated by Chkhartishvili.Chkhartishvili published his first detective stories (using the pen name Boris Akunin) in 1998 and in a very short time has become one of the most widely read authors in Russia. He has written nine Erast Fandorin novels to date, and is working on two other series as well. I am an avid fan of all three Akunin's series: about Erast Fandorin; about the Nun - PI Pelagiya (three books), and the newest one - about Nicolas Fandorin, the grandson of Erast.Akunin enjoys almost legendary popularity in Russia. He lives in Moscow. In 'Azazel', the first and IMO, the best in Erast Fandorin series, a young police officer - Erast Fandorin - works on his first case - an odd suicide of a rich young man which leads Fandorin to the global and very dangerous conspiracy.The film is an interesting and very enjoyable adaptation of an excellent book. The script was written by Akunin himself and adapts very well to the screen. The film was made in Nikita Mikhalkov's Studio by Mikhalkov's long time collaborator's Aleksandr Adabashyan. Visually, "Azazel" is absolute delight, literally letting the images of Old Moscow become one of the film's main characters and attractions. The acting was good (Marina Neelova as Lady Ester was excellent; and the rest of cast all seemed to enjoy working in this project).

the book might be good, but the movie is quite disappointing.the acting is really bad. especially the main character is really annoying. since the movie was too long, there was almost no suspense for a detective story. sometimes it looks like a comedy, but unfortunately a bad one. the story is quite predictable. all in all, it is a waste of time. if you want to see a well done russian detective story, watch the old episodes of "adventures of sherlock homes".

The book is excellent, no question, but, unfortunately, the movie is not as good. Noskov's (Fandorin) acting is not convincing and his voice sounds really strange at times. Brilling is a typical Andrey Mironov type, and it looks like Bezrukov tries to imitate his acting. The best of all is Neelova (Lady Ester): her acting is way above everybody else's. Overall, the movie feels a little bit raw, as if made in a hurry: some parts are good, some are bad. So it's not like old-time classics, but still worth seeing.

Excellent adaptaion of the first book by Boris Akunin "Azazel'". The book is the first of series of books about Fandorin, a young Russian detective. The movie was made for TV, but it was done very well, following the book to the end. Currently there are talks of making an English version movie. Unfortunatelly, this movie is entirely in Russian.