The Barber of Siberia

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The Barber of Siberia

1998

2h 56m

Comedy

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

13%

Tomatometer

8 Reviews

88%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

In early 1900s Russia, a woman (Julia Ormond) helps a man who may be her father (Richard Harris) and falls for a cadet (Oleg Menshikov) who gets exiled to Siberia.

Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

10/11/2023

By the end of it, no peasant imagined the first shy blooms of springtime more fervently than we, the audience, stoically awaited the closing credits.

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Julian Graffy

Sight & Sound

06/18/2012

The film's aspirations to represent the relationship between Russia and the US in symbolic form are not supported by any psychological acuity in the characterisation. The bigger the role, the more the actor flounders.

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David Stratton

Variety

06/19/2008

Overblown, overlong and decidedly underwhelming on every level, Nikita Mikhalkov’s magnum opus “The Barber of Siberia” is a singular disappointment.

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Film Threat

12/06/2005

0.5/5

Phil Hall

Film Threat

12/08/2002

0.5/5

Perhaps the worst film ever created by a major contemporary international filmmaker.

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Nawt W

01/06/2023

Mikhalkov was truly glorious when he was working on small-scale stories. This movie isn't one of those. With a big budget, international producers, and a vast scope, something gets lost along the way, and it's not like this story didn't have issues already. When you put this romance story against the behavior of Tolstoy, you start to see the dissonance that makes this young man seem imbecilic and the worst kind of military officer that can graduate from the academy. It goes to a point where I think if this were taking place during WWI, he would desert to be with Jane. You might say that he is an eccentric romantic who is madly in love to boot. To which I say it can be done better without splashing characters with mud for a really silly sequence of conflicts, the majority of which are based on misunderstandings. I know this because this same director has done it better multiple times in the past. However, one thing that the budget provides are a lot of impressive costumes, locations with a massive amount of extras, and the resulting scenes, such as Maslenitsa.

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12/26/2014

The ensemble cast was like acting under influence, just hysterical.

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12/13/2014

By far one of the best movies, I've ever seenThe one that makes you think and appreciate love and life. Your emotions will go from highs to lows and back to highs. I cry every time I watch it. It's deep, intense and powerful. Don't expect to feel warm and fuzzy afterwards. Julia Ormond is spectacular. Go see it. Treat yourself.

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04/10/2012

Best Russian Movie Ever

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03/03/2012

Touching, funny, sad, although the end left me cold.

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02/25/2011

this is the third russian actual movie that I saw in my life and I like it, the art is very well and photography spceally from the siberia area Im impressed to see an blilingual movie and to have used american things

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Nikita Mikhalkov

Director

Julia Ormond

Dzheyn

Oleg Menshikov

Tolstoy

Richard Harris

Makkreken

Aleksey Petrenko

Radlov

Vladimir Ilin

Mokin

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Synopsis

In early 1900s Russia, a woman (Julia Ormond) helps a man who may be her father (Richard Harris) and falls for a cadet (Oleg Menshikov) who gets exiled to Siberia.

Director: Nikita Mikhalkov
Producer: Michel Seydoux
Screenwriter: Nikita Mikhalkov
Production Co: October Films, Medusa Film
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: Russian
Runtime: 2h 56m
Sound Mix: Surround