Kukushka (2002)

Director:

Aleksandr Rogozhkin

Writer:

Aleksandr Rogozhkin (writer)

Release Date:

18 October 2002 (Estonia)

Genre:

Drama | War | Comedy

Tagline:

She's Making Peace One Man at a Time.

Plot:

September of 1944, a few days before Finland went out of the Second World War. A chained to a rock Finnish...

Plot Keywords:

Chained | Captain | Finland | Soldier | Lapp

Awards:

17 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Anni-Kristiina Juuso	...	Anni
Ville Haapasalo	...	Veikko (as Ville Khaapasalo)
Viktor Bychkov	...	Ivan or Psoltõ
Mikhail Korobochkin
Aleksei Kashnikov
Denis Aksenov
Aleksei Panzheyev
Aleksandr Kuykka
Vladimir Matveyev
Aleksandr Zubkin
Vladimir Knysh
Sergei Antonov
Valeri Yakovlev
Sergei Berzin
Aleksandr Melnikov
Yuliya Pronicheva
Sergei Sokolov
Anna Voronina

Directed by
Aleksandr Rogozhkin

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Aleksandr Rogozhkin		writer

Produced by
Sergei Selyanov	....	producer

Original Music by
Dmitri Pavlov

Cinematography by
Andrei Zhegalov

Film Editing by
Yuliya Rumyantseva

Production Design by
Vladimir Svetozarov

Costume Design by
Marina Nikolayeva

Makeup Department
Olga Shamkovich	....	makeup artist

Sound Department
Anatoli Gudkovsky	....	sound
Sergei Sokolov	....	sound
Dmitri Vasiliev	....	assistant sound editor

Editorial Department
Sam Daley	....	colorist: high definition mastering

Other crew
Alec Schulmann	....	business and legal affairs

Thanks
Alec Schulmann	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Kinokompaniya CTB

Distributors

• Cinequanon (2006) (Japan) (theatrical)
• KOOL Filmdistribution (2005) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Polyfilm Verleih (2004) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Classics (2003) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Xenix Filmdistribution (2003-2004) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• CinemArt (Czech Republic)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• FS Film Oy (Finland)
• Impuls Home Entertainment (2004) (Switzerland) (DVD)
• Intercinema Art Agency (International)
• Mongrel Media (Canada)
• Revolver Film

Other Companies

• Kodak  film stock
• SES Film Sound Oy  sound mixing

Also Known As:

Кукушка (Russia)
The Cuckoo (International: English title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexual content and violence.

Runtime:

99 min | Finland:105 min | Canada:103 min (Ontario)

Country:

Russia

Language:

Saami | Finnish | Russian | German

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-11 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12A | USA:PG-13 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Zurich) | Germany:12 | Canada:PG (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Kandalaksha, Murmansk Oblast, Russia

Company:

Kinokompaniya CTB

Trivia:

Anni-Kristiina Juuso never saw the complete script for this film, she only got her lines in Finnish, which she then translated into Sámi.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: At the beginning of the film, the Russian jeep with Ivan as a prisoner on it is seen moving on a straight road and at low speed. However, the driver of the jeep makes abrupt steering movements which is incoherent with the path of the jeep shown.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

Strangely compelling movie...

1st watched 8/30/2003 - 7 out of 10(Dir-Aleksandr Rogozhkin): Strangely compelling movie about three people who can't understand each other's spoken words but somehow understand each other in the end. The movie is set at the end of World War II and begins with a prisoner of war being left and chained to a rock with very little in the amount of rations left for him. For about an hour, the viewers are treated to watching the prisoner meticulously putting together and executing a plan to remove the chains and be free. At the same time, we are introduced to a woman who is seen burying the dead in a war-torn area but keeping what is usable. One soldier wakes up while she's doing the burying and she basically takes him in and nurses him back to life. These are the three central characters in the rest of the film. They are thrown together by chance at a the woman's hut with nothing in the way of `modern conveniences.' The viewer gets to watch these characters `try' to interact with some humorous exchanges with the intent of helping each other survive. While watching you can't help but wonder how the exchanges would have been different if the characters would have stopped talking and used more sign language and object identification to explain themselves, but I guess the movie wouldn't have lasted very long and wouldn't have been as interesting. And at least this movie was definetly `interesting' and very thought provoking. This is yet another entry from another country that cares more about the story and the characters then special effects & action. Hooray for the filmmakers for giving us this gem!!