Viktor Rakov Movies

Portuguese filmmaker Teresa Villaverde turns her attentions to the topic of human trafficking in modern-day Europe with this tale of an optimistic Russian émigré who is forced into prostitution after leaving St. Petersburg to seek out a better life in Germany. Sonia (Ana Moreira) is a dreamer in her early twenties who is looking to escape the bleak poverty of St. Petersburg in hopes of improving her unfortunate lot in life. Upon finding illegal work at a German car factory, it appears as if Sonia's luck may be taking a turn for the better. When the factory is supposedly raided by police looking for illegal workers and a fellow Russian implores the Sonia to hide in the trunk of a car, the panicked girl's once bright future begins to grow considerably dimmer. Subsequently smuggled across Europe, Sonia is used as a sex slave in Germany before being transported to Italy to serve as a human plaything for the simple minded son of a powerful millionaire. Now trapped in an opulent mansion prison with no one to turn to and no place to run, Sonia soon becomes obsessed with the prospect of escaping her outwardly lavish hell on Earth. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The social ferment in late 19th century Russia which led to the 1917 Russian Revolution is movingly portrayed in this lengthy historical drama, which is very faithful to the 1907 novel The Mother by the celebrated Marxist writer Maxim Gorky (1868-1936). In the story, "the mother" (Inna Tchourikova) has no other recourse than to watch her decent, kindly husband turn into an animalistic, drunken brute as a result of working in the inhuman conditions of a steel mill in the town of Sormovo. When he begins to express his suppressed rage by beating her, she is defended by her teenaged son Pavel (depicted Viktor Rakov as an adult, Sacha Chichonok as a boy). After his father's death, Pavel is forced to go to work in the same factory. However, Pavel and his friends begin investigating Marxism and socialist thought, and work to organize their fellow workers. One of them becomes a police informer, and when the friends discover this, they force him to commit suicide. Later, when Pavel is captured by the police, he pretends to be willing to inform on his group as well, but this is a ruse, and he leads demonstrations against the ownership of the factory. Meanwhile, Pavel's mother has gotten involved in the cause in small way. When the socialist cell Pavel belongs to is taken away to trial, they are sentenced to a prison term in Siberia, and he makes a fiery pro-socialist speech from the train platform as he is being shipped away. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The original title of the German-Russian coproduction To Kill a Dragon was Ubit Drakona. The "dragons" slain during the film's 118 minutes are symbolic, like practically everything else in the story. Adapted from a play by Yevgeni Shvarts, the film is thin on plot, heavy on philosophy. It's hard to say, but the reams of dialogue expounded by the main characters might be more digestible in the original Russian. Director Mark Zakharov had previously risen to prominence as the man behind the Soviet TV miniseries adaptation of The Twelve Chairs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide