The Stoker

2010 [RUSSIAN]

Action / Crime / Drama

1
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 100% · 8 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 67% · 50 ratings
IMDb Rating 6.6/10 10 3032 3K

Director

Aleksey Balabanov Photo
Aleksey Balabanov

Top cast

Sayan Mongush Photo
Sayan Mongush as Matvey
Vyacheslav Pavlyut Photo
Vyacheslav Pavlyut as Fyodor Alekseyevich
Viktoriya Mongush Photo
Viktoriya Mongush as Seamstress
Dmitriy Poddubnyy Photo
Dmitriy Poddubnyy as Bodyguard of Andrey Sergeyevich
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
770.76 MB
1280*694
Russian 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
25 fps
1 hr 23 min
Seeds 1
1.4 GB
1920*1040
Russian 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
25 fps
1 hr 23 min
Seeds 1

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by tony_le_stephanois

No moral in portrait of St. Petersburg

A charcoal burner, ex-soldier in Afghanistan, writes stories about "bad people". Meanwhile, he gets the occasional visit from his daughter, who sometimes asks for money, and gangsters, who use his ovens.I am a fan of the work of Balabanov and I liked this film too, despite reading negative reactions everywhere. But this is how I like to see cinema: full dry, dark humor. There are also virtually no clichés in this portrait of St. Petersburg in the nineties. It is a portrait of amazement of someone who was there (in fact, Balabanov's Brat was filmed in 1997 in St. Peterburg). Remarkable characters probably symbolize this period, like the free-spirited daughter; the ever silent 'Bizon'; the charcoal-burner; the rude Masha; the sergeant who likes prose.Too bad that the story as flat as a dime but I'll take that happily in exchange for the artistry. Balabanov is a really a film artist (actually was, unfortunately, he died two years ago). It's in everything, in a creaky elevator, the constantly sounding music (sometimes right through dialogues), the heaters, the theatrical way of talking, the walks through the snow.Despite his artistry, he is always wonderfully unpretentious about the 'meaning' of his films. The heaters have no symbolic value, he explained. They are only there because "Every film should have its own style." This film is also not specifically about Yakuts but actor Mikhail Skryabin was one by coincidence so Balabanov used that theme. It is a cinematic portrait of a bizarre period, without opinions, so therefore it lacks a moral.Probably not everyone's cup of tea, but it certainly is mine. It really is a shame that this artist will never make a new film anymore.
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Reviewed by Zhorzhik-Morzhik 9 / 10

The revenge of a small man

"A Stoker" is one of the last films of Aleksey Balabanov, the cult director of the new Russian cinema. The story of the revenge of a small man, a former major, who is brilliantly played by unprofessional Yakut actor Mikhail Skryabin.

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