A Driver for Vera

Infobox Film
name = A Driver for Vera


image_size =
caption =
director = Pavel Chukhraj
producer = Vitaly Koshman
writer = Pavel Chukhraj
narrator =
starring = Igor Petrenko
Yelena Babenko
Bogdan Stupka
music = Eduard Artemyev
cinematography = Igor Klebanov
editing = Olga Grinshpun
distributor = Nashe Kino
released = Russia: 27 July 2004
Ukraine: 12 August 2004
France: 9 November 2004
runtime = 105 min.
country = Russia, Ukraine
language = Russian
budget = USD 3,300,000 (estimated) [cite web | url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416292/business | title = Box office / business for Voditel dlya Very (2004) | publisher = IMDb | author = | date = | accessdate = 2008-07-11]
gross = USD 2,011,837 (Russia), 22 August 2004
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0416292

"A Driver for Vera" (Russian: "Voditel dlya Very", Водитель для Веры) is a 2004 Ukrainian film directed by Pavel Chukhrai. The majority of the production of the film was based in Russia, which resulted in the Russian dialogue in the film and would later prove detrimental to the film's prospects at the Academy Awards.cite web|url=http://www.indiewire.com/biz/biz_041103world.html|title=Foreign Oscar Quandary: Academy Nixes "Maria," Colombia Adds "El Rey," and Other Stories from the Foreign-Lingo Category|publisher=indieWire|author=Kaufman, Anthony|accessdate=2008-07-11]

Plot

The plot of the film is set during the Khrushchev Thaw in the former Soviet Union, and concentrates on a young cadet in the Red Army named Viktor (Igor Petrenko) who becomes a chaffeur for his general (Bogdan Stupka) and begins a relationship with the general's daughter, Vera (Yelena Babenko). Viktor becomes involved in a plot by the KGB, and a KGB agent (Andrei Panin) pushes Viktor to spy on the general for their purposes.cite web|url=http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117925869.html?categoryid=31&cs=1|title=A Driver for Vera Review|publisher="Variety"|author=Scheib, Ronnie|date=2005-01-11|accessdate=2008-07-11]

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. The entertainment magazine "Variety" referred to the film as "more off-putting than enthralling" and noted that while the film has been compared to the Academy Award-winning "Burnt by the Sun", it lacked a main character that a viewer could identify with. "Variety" commented that Viktor's personal struggles " [seemed] irrelevant" and criticized Petrenko's "limited emotional repertoire", as well as the poor acting of the remaining cast of characters. The film was Ukraine's submission to the 77th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but it was disqualified by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences before formal review process.cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2004/04.10.22.html|title=50 Countries in Competition for Oscar|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|date=2004-10-22|accessdate=2008-07-09] cite web|url=http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/osc_03nominees.html|title=2005 Oscars 77th Academy Awards Nominees|publisher=Yahoo! Movies|date=2005-01-25|accessdate=2008-07-09] The Academy determined that too much of the film's production was Russian-based, making the film ineligible as a candidate for Ukraine.

ee also

*Cinema of Ukraine
*List of submissions to the 77th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0416292|title=Voditel dlya Very