''Paragraph 78'' (russian: Параграф 78; also stylized as: ''§ 78'') is a Russian film by Mikhail Khleborodov released in 2007. The film was split into two parts ''Paragraph 78, Punkt 1'' released on February 22, 2007, and ''Paragraph 78, Punkt 2'' released on March 29, 2007. The screenplay was based on a 1995 story by

Ivan Okhlobystin Ivan Ivanovich Okhlobystin (russian: Ива́н Ива́нович Охлобы́стин; born 22 July 1966) is a Russian actor, director, screenwriter, and former Orthodox priest. He is currently defrocked by the ministry of the Russian Ort ...

. Andrey Lazarchuk, the Russian writer of the modern turborealism literature style, wrote a novel based on this film (February 2007).

Plot

Future: soft drugs are legalized,

Bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...

is Olympic sport and countries such as the Asian Union and the United Pan-American States have appeared. An assault group under the command of Gudvin (

Gosha Kutsenko Yuriy Georgiyevich Kutsenko (russian: Ю́рий Гео́ргиевич Куце́нко; born 20 May 1967), better known as Gosha Kutsenko (russian: Гоша Куценко), is a Russian actor, producer, singer, poet, and screenwriter. In 2008, ...

) breaks apart because of his conflict with Skif (

Vladimir Vdovichenkov Vladimir Vladimirovich Vdovichenkov (russian: Влади́мир Влади́мирович Вдовиче́нков; born 13 August 1971) is a Russian theater and screen actor known for his roles in ''Brigada'' (2002) ''Leviathan'' (2014), '' Bu ...

). Five years later Lisa ( Anastasiya Slanevskaya) has left Skif and is married to Gudvin. Russia, the Asian Union and The United Pan-American States have signed a disarmament treaty, but keep a close watch one another. A state of emergency is declared at one of Russia's secret and, per international treaties, prohibited laboratories on an island in the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...

, causing an emergency beacon to begin broadcasting, creating the risk of discovery by the other nations. To prevent this from happening Gudvin assembles his former group. By that time Spam (Anatoli Belyj) is jailed, Luba (Stanislav Duzhnikov) works in that same prison as a warden, Festival (Grigori Siyatvinda) is engaged in commerce of banned drugs (

lysergic acid Lysergic acid, also known as -lysergic acid and (+)-lysergic acid, is a precursor for a wide range of ergoline alkaloids that are produced by the ergot fungus and found in the seeds of '' Turbina corymbosa'' (ololiuhqui), '' Argyreia nervosa'' ...

), Pai (Azis Beyshinaliev) works in a

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

, and Skif ruins himself with drink. Together they depart to that island to penetrate the base and stop the emergency beacon.

Cast

as Gudvin *

as Skif *

Grigory Siyatvinda Grigory Davidovich Siyatvinda (russian: Григорий Дэвидович Сиятвинда; born 26 April 1970) is a Russian stage and film actor, Merited Artist of the Russian Federation (2006), State Prize of the Russian Federation laurea ...

as Festival * Anastasiya Slanevskaya as Lisa * Stanislav Duzhnikov as Luba * Azis Beyshinaliev as Pai * Anatoliy Beliy as Spam * Yusup Bakshiyev as Doktor * Mikhail Yefremov as Prison commander

Critics

* The film was heavily criticised for a strong resemblance to a number of films, including ''

Resident Evil ''Resident Evil'', known in Japan as is a Japanese horror game series and media franchise created by Capcom. It consists of survival horror, third-person shooter and first-person shooter games, with players typically surviving in environments ...

'', ''

Doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (born 1934), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitcher * L ...

'', '' Phantom Force'', '' Dragon Fighter'' and ''

Aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrate ...

''. * The film was heavily packed by

product placement Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a marketing technique where references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with specific promotional intent. Much of th ...

as the recent Russian films '' Night Watch '' and '' Day Watch''. This includes Russian Channel One, ''Fan'' chips,

Men's Health ''Men's Health'' (''MH''), published by Hearst, is the world's largest men's magazine brand, with 35 editions in 59 countries. It is also the best-selling men's magazine on U.S. newsstands. Started as a men's health magazine by Rodale, Inc. ...

magazine, Pikador

ketchup Ketchup or catsup is a table condiment with a sweet and tangy flavor. The unmodified term ("ketchup") now typically refers to tomato ketchup, although early recipes used egg whites, mushrooms, oysters, grapes, mussels, or walnuts, among other ...

Mail.ru VK, known as Mail.ru Group until 12 October 2021, is a Russian technology company. It started in 1998 as an e-mail service and went on to become a major corporate figure in the Russian-speaking segment of the Internet. VK operates an e-mail s ...

service, ''Radio Maximum'', ''Golden barrel'' beer, ''Grand Prix''

vodka Vodka ( pl, wódka , russian: водка , sv, vodka ) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impuritie ...

Wrigley's Spearmint Wrigley's Spearmint is a brand of Wrigley's chewing gum. Wrigley's launched the brand in 1893, and markets the gum as its ''classic'' brand, although the company's brand Juicy Fruit has been on the market slightly longer. As the name implies, the g ...

Qtek HTC Corporation ( zh, t=宏達國際電子股份有限公司, s=宏达国际电子股份有限公司, p=Hóngdá Guójì Diànzǐ Gǔfèn Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī, first=t) or High Tech Computer Corporation, (literally ''Hongda International Electron ...

S110, Creative player,

Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka, Kadoma, Osaka P ...

notebook, etc.

References

External links

* * * * * {{Cite news , title=Paragraf 78, Punkt 1 , url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/446989/Paragraf-78-Punkt-1/overview , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080606040813/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/446989/Paragraf-78-Punkt-1/overview , url-status=dead , archive-date=2008-06-06 , department=Movies & TV Dept. , work=

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

, date=2008 , access-date=2009-02-25 2007 films 2000s science fiction action films 2000s action thriller films 2000s Russian-language films Russian science fiction action films Russian science fiction thriller films Russian action thriller films Films released in separate parts