The Barber of Siberia

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The Barber of Siberia

1998

2h 56m

Comedy

Drama

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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

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.

Oct 11, 2023

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Julian Graffy

Sight & Sound

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.

Jun 18, 2012

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David Stratton

Variety

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

Jun 19, 2008

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Film Threat

Rated: 0.5/5

Dec 6, 2005

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Phil Hall

Film Threat

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

Rated: 0.5/5

Dec 8, 2002

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Rich Cline

Shadows on the Wall

The scope of the story and its imense visual splendour leave little room for any human touches or emotion, which leaves the film lacking in soul.

Rated: 3/5

Dec 10, 2001

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Nawt W

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.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/06/23

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Audience Member

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

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

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Audience Member

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.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

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Audience Member

Best Russian Movie Ever

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

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Audience Member

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

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

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Audience Member

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

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/02/23

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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