Alexander Shevchenko Movies
- 2008
Nails and Visions of Suffering director Andrey Iskanov offers a complete history of the clandestine biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army known as Unit 731 in this hybrid documentary/narrative drama that isn't for the faint of heart. From its inception in the 1930s through its demise in 1945, Unit 731 was responsible for some of the most reprehensible war atrocities ever committed. Former doctor and military translator Anatoly Protasov bore witness to many of these transgressions, and in this film he reveals previously unknown details that are sure to shock and disturb. It's those memories that form the foundation of this story concerning a young Japanese nurse who watches in horror as helpless prisoners are butchered and forced to serve as subjects in a series of sickening medical experiments, and a naïve Japanese officer attempting to reconcile his desire to serve his country with his growing sympathy for an imprisoned Russian girl. As his discomfort with the experiments grows, however, the young officer is compelled to use his patients as human guinea pigs in a series of shocking tests that revealed mankind's frightening capacity for barbarity. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tetsuro Sakagami, Elena Probatova, (more)
A haunted hitman whose violent career has taken a toll on his mental health turns to trepanning as a means of relieving his growing anxiety in director Andrey Iskanov's haunting horror short. As flashbacks of his former victims flash before his panic-stricken eyes, a troubled gun for hire reads a detailed article on trepanning (a process in which a hole is drilled or scraped into the skull, exposing the dura mater and purportedly relieving a number of mental health issues) and makes the decision to hammer a series of six-inch nails into his cranium. Though his pain is indeed momentarily relieved, the subsequent clarity experienced by the hitman soon gives way to a horror far more intense than his previous flashbacks. Now, as his addiction to the nails continues to grow and his search for inner peace becomes ever more elusive, it's going to take something a bit more substantial to truly ease the pressure in this killer's head. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alexander Shevchenko
- 1998
A homicide witness and her son are killed, and Andy (Dennis Franz) and Bobby (Jimmy Smits) think that the suspect's lawyer may have had a hand in the homicides. Elsewhere, Diane (Kim Delaney) and Jill (Andrea Thompson) investigate a missing persons case, and James (Nicholas Turturro) and Greg (Gordon Clapp) go after the peddlers of phony sports memorabilia (leading to another desultory romance for Greg). Amidst this activity, Andy is advised by his doctor to start taking Viagra, and Bobby and Diane hope to use their lunch hour to get married in a civil ceremony. This 90-minute episode was the last in NYPD Blue's fifth season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
