Vitali MELNIKOV Виталий МЕЛЬНИКОВ Vitali MELNIKOV   USSR / Italy, 1990, 121 mn  Colour, fiction

The Tsar's Hunt ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ Царская охота    La Chasse du tsar  Tsarskaya okhota

Plot synopsis

The screenplay features the tragic fate of the impostor Princess Tarakanova, a pretender to the Russian throne. It is one of the most dazzling subjects presented to art by the Russian history. Leonid Zorin came up with his own view of the hunt put up by Tsarina Catherine II in pursuit of Princess Tarakanova. In the eyes of many Count Orlov, the executor of the Empress's will, was an accomplished villain. The playwright renounced this simple description. Orlov was too much of an individual to turn into a common executioner. The extent of his suffering might have exceeded that of the victim herself; for he truly fell in love with Princess Yelizaveta Tarakanova, the one he betrayed.
The costume designer Larisa Koknikova was awarded NIKA – the highest annual professional Premium of the Cinematographers’ Union – for the Best Designer’s Work (1991).
The actress Svetlana Kryuchkova was awarded NIKA for the Best Minor Part (1991).
Source : www.lenfilm.ru

Selected in the following festivals :

- Festival of Russian cinema in Nice, Nice (France), 2013

- Honfleur Russian Film Festival, Honfleur (France), 1995

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