''Poor Sasha'' (russian: Бедная Саша, Bednaya Sasha) is a 1997 Russian adventure film directed by

Tigran Keosayan Tigran Edmondovich Keosayan ( hy, Տիգրան էդմոնդի Քեոսայան, russian: Тигран Эдмондович Кеосаян; born January 4, 1966) is a Russian film director, actor and television presenter of Armenian origin. He is a ...

Plot

A touching New Year's fairy tale about those who, despite money and status, lack love and warmth. Moscow, late 1990s. Beryozkin, an honest, but unlucky bank robber is granted temporarily leave from prison after rescuing a general who's locked himself in a vault. He is given money by the prison warden and one of the mob bosses for gifts, but the money gets stolen by a pickpocket, and Beryozkin realizes that his best option is to commit suicide in order to avoid an otherwise gruesome death. He is saved by a tramp named Aristarchus, who offers him a solution: to rob the home of a banker. Little do they know that the banker's home is booby-trapped by her twelve-year-old daughter Sasha. The unfortunate Beryozkin gets captured. However, instead of calling the police, Sasha blackmails Beryozkin into helping her rob her own mother, because she wants her mother "to stop being a businesswoman and to become a mother again". Things go as planned except that the banker's security are actually criminals, and plan to rob the banker themselves.

Cast

Aleksandr Zbruyev Aleksandr Viktorovich Zbruyev (russian: Александр Викторович Збруев; born 31 March 1938, in Moscow, Soviet Union) is Soviet and Russian theatrical and cinema actor. Selected filmography * ''My Younger Brother'' (1962) as ...

as Beryozkin, the unfortunate bank-robber *

Vera Glagoleva Vera Vitalievna Glagoleva (russian: Вера Витальевна Глаголева; 31 January 1956 – 16 August 2017) was a Soviet and Russian actress and film director. Glagoleva was born in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union in 1956. ...

as Sasha's Mother, the banker * Yulia Chernova as Sasha *

Boris Sichkin Boris Mikhailovich Sichkin ( ukr, Бори́с Миха́йлович Сі́чкін; russian: Бори́с Миха́йлович Си́чкин; 1922–2002) was a Soviet and American film actor, dancer, choreographer, composer and entertainer. ...

as Aristarkh Rostopchin, the tramp that helps Beryozkin *

Olga Volkova Olga Volkova may refer to: * Olha Volkova (born 1986), Ukrainian freestyle skier * Olga Volkova (actress) Olga Vladimirovna Volkova (russian: Ольга Владимировна Волкова; born 15 April 1939 in Leningrad) is a Russian theatr ...

as Amalia Arkadyevna, Sasha's nanny *

Valery Garkalin Valery Borisovich Garkalin (russian: Вале́рий Бори́сович Гарка́лин; 11 April 1954 – 20 November 2021) was a Soviet and Russian theater and film actor. He was awarded the People's Artist of the Russian Federation in 2008 ...

as Kryshkin, one of the bank security/ robbers *

Spartak Mishulin Spartak Vasilyevich Mishulin (russian: Спартак Васильевич Мишулин; Moscow, October 22, 1926 – Moscow, July 17, 2005) was a Soviet actor and People's Artist of the RSFSR. He was best known for his roles as Sayid in ''White ...

as the mob boss that gives Beryozkin money *

Nina Ruslanova Nina Ivanovna Ruslanova (russian: Нина Ивановна Русланова; 5 December 1945 – 21 November 2021) was a Soviet and Russian theater and film actress. She was honored as a People's Artist of Russia (1998).Armen Dzhigarkhanyan Armen Borisovich Dzhigarkhanyan (russian: Армен Борисович Джигарханян; hy, Արմեն Բորիսի Ջիգարխանյան, Armen Borisi Jigarkhanyan; ; 3 October 1935 – 14 November 2020) was a Soviet, Armenian, and Rus ...

as the prison warden *

Roman Madyanov Roman Sergeevich Madyanov (russian: Рома́н Серге́евич Мадя́нов; born July 22, 1962) is a Soviet and Russian actor. Madyanov's career in cinema began as a child actor when he starred as Huckleberry Finn in ''Hopelessly Lost' ...

as a prison guard * Georgy Martirosyan as another prison guard

Awards

Kinotavr Kinotavr (russian: Кинотавр), also known as the Sochi Open Russian Film Festival is an open film festival held in the resort city of Sochi, Russia annually in June since 1991, until it was cancelled in the wake of the 2022 Russian invasio ...

: Best Actor — Aleksandr Zbruyev *

TEFI TEFI (russian: ТЭФИ) is an annual award given in the Russian television industry, presented by the Russian Academy of Television. It has been awarded since 1994. TEFI is presented in various sectors (up to 50 nominations in 2008), such as tele ...

: Best Feature Film * IFF children's films Artek: Best actress-girl — Yulia Chernova

References

External links

* 1990s adventure films Films set around New Year Russian crime films Russian comedy films {{Russia-film-stub