Using an elaborate system of denunciation, the chief of the Zone keeps his prisoners in check. A new inmate, allegedly imprisoned for speculating on postage stamps, tries to rebel against the system.
Acting
Lev Durov's bureaucratic menace will make you itch.
Direction
Gostev turns institutional beige into existential horror.
Director
Igor Gostev
Anton Androsov
Victor Moshkin, "Philatelist"
Lev Durov
Major Markelov, Head of operational control section C.L.C.
Alexander Kuznetsov
Senior Lieutenant Kasimov
Mikhail Zhigalov
Criminal authority "Prince"
Andrei Tashkov
Yuri Kolganov, «Kalgan»
Aleksandr Mokhov
Veniamin Gendelman
Sergey Garmash
«Mongol»
Viktor Pavlov
Lieutenant colonel , Head of the colony
Nail Idrisov
"Piston"
Oleg Rogatšov
Valdas
Aleksandr Borovikov
"Priest"
Andrei Shcherbovich-Vecher
"Kalach"
Irina Averina
Lena
Lev Polyakov
"Raspy"
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released during perestroika but filmed under Brezhnev-era censorship; its critique of Soviet carceral systems was barely permissible.
The elaborate denunciation economy mirrors real Soviet prison structures where informants ('stukachi') controlled inmate hierarchy for authorities.
SU
