''The Turkish Gambit'' is a 2005 Russian historical

spy film The spy film, also known as the spy thriller, is a genre of film that deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way (such as the adaptations of John le Carré) or as a basis for fantasy (such as many James Bond films) ...

, an adaptation of

Boris Akunin Boris Akunin (russian: Борис Акунин) is the pen name of Grigori Chkhartishvili (russian: Григорий Шалвович Чхартишвили, Grigory Shalvovich Chkhartishvili; ka, გრიგორი ჩხარტიშვ ...

's novel ''

The Turkish Gambit ''The Turkish Gambit'' (russian: Турецкий гамбит, Turetskiy gambit) is the second novel from the Erast Fandorin series of historical whodunnit, historical detective novels by Russian author Boris Akunin. It was published in Russia in ...

'' featuring his most famous character, the detective

Erast Fandorin Erast Petrovich Fandorin (russian: Эраст Петрович Фандорин) is a fictional 19th-century Russian detective and the hero of a series of Russian historical detective novels by Boris Akunin. The first Fandorin novel (''The Winte ...

. It was directed by

Dzhanik Fayziev Dzhanik Habibullaevich Fayziev (, born July 30, 1961) is an Uzbek and Russian director, producer and screenwriter. He specializes in historical adventure movies. Most notably, he directed '' The Turkish Gambit'' and '' Legend of Kolovrat'', and ...

and written by Akunin himself. The film starred

Marat Basharov Marat Alimzhanovich Basharov (russian: Марат Алимжанович Башаров, tt-Cyrl, Марат Галимҗан улы Бәшәров, born 22 August 1974) is a Soviet and Russian film actor and a TV host, of Volga Tatar origin. H ...

, Yegor Beroyev, and

Olga Krasko Olga Yuryevna Krasko () is a Russian actress, born 30 November 1981 in Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union. She has starred in Russian theater productions, and is noted that as the heroine in '' The Turkish Gambit'' (2005), she is the only female ...

. ''The Turkish Gambit'' was a box office success, although it received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

The film takes place in Bulgaria during the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878). Erast Fandorin is put on the trail of a Turkish agent who is trying to disrupt the Russian advance during the Siege of Plevna. The agent, known as Anwar

Efendi Effendi or effendy ( tr, efendi ; ota, افندی, efendi; originally from grc-x-medieval, αφέντης ) is a title of nobility meaning '' sir'', ''lord'' or ''master'', especially in the Ottoman Empire and the Caucasus''.'' The title i ...

, is a master of disguise and has excellent command of Russian.

Change from the book

Unlike the ending of the book, where French correspondent d'Hervais is exposed as being Anwar in disguise, in the film Anwar turns out to have been posing as a seemingly awkward and stupid Russian captain. In the book, unlike the film, Fandorin did not escape by clinging to the underbelly of a carriage but was actually released by the governor of Viddin Yusuf Pasha after winning a wager. The scene where Varvara and Fandorin flew in the balloon never took place in the book and Varvara had no role in discovering the weaknesses of the Turkish defenses. The scene in the cave with the Lieutenant Luntz did not take place in the book. The character of the homosexual Luntz was created for the movie. The homosexual nature of Kazanzaki is never alluded to in the film. In fact, Fandorin was never once shot at by Anwar Effendi in the book. In the book, the evidence for Colonel Lukan's involvement in treason was found on him and not in his tent like in the film. Colonel Lukan was killed in a duel whereby sabres were used rather than pistols. The book refers to three main failed assaults on Plevna. The film shows only two. In the book, when Fandorin hears about Osman Pasha's plans to 'surrender' he rushes to Sobolev to urge him to attack Plevna and not to the meeting point of the Turkish 'envoys'. In the film Fandorin went to Istanbul and showed up at the end in Turkish attire. In the book he never went to Istanbul and arrived wearing European clothing. In the film Fandorin was happy to see his old friend Count Zurov when Zurov first arrived, whereas in the book the Zurov and Fandorin were not close friends and the first meeting in the tent was rather chilly.

Cast

Egor Beroev Egor Vadimovich Beroev (russian: Егор Вадимович Бероев; born 9 October 1977) is a Russian actor of film, television and theater. He appeared in more than thirty films since 1994. Early career Beroev graduated from the Mikha ...

as Varvara Suvorova *

as Gridnev * Vladimir Ilyin as General Mizinov (based on Nikolay Mezentsov) *

Dmitry Pevtsov Dmitry Anatolyevich Pevtsov (russian: Дмитрий Анатольевич Певцов) (born July 8, 1963) is a Russian actor, Member of the State Duma from Medvedkovo constituency of Moscow from 2021, member on New People political party. ...

as Zurov *

Viktor Verzhbitsky Viktor Alexandrovich Verzhbitsky (russian: Виктор Александрович Вержбицкий) born 21 September 1959, in Tashkent, Soviet Union (now Uzbekistan) is an Uzbekistani-Russian film and stage actor. He is well known for playi ...

as Lukan * Aleksandr Baluev as General Sobolev (based on

Mikhail Skobelev Mikhail Dmitriyevich Skobelev (russian: Михаил Дмитриевич Скобелев; 29 September 1843 – 7 July 1882), a Russian general, became famous for his conquest of Central Asia and for his heroism during the Russo-Turkish War ...

) * Aleksey Guskov as Kazanzaki *

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, ...

as Ismail-Bey *

Andrey Krasko Andrey Ivanovich Krasko (russian: Андре́й Ива́нович Краско́; 10 August 1957, Leningrad, USSR — 4 July 2006, Odessa, Ukraine) was a Russian theatre and cinema actor. Andrey Krasko first experienced theatrical production a ...

as Officer *

Leonid Kuravlyov Leonid Vyacheslavovich Kuravlyov (russian: Леонид Вячеславович Куравлёв; 8 October 1936 – 30 January 2022) was a Soviet and Russian film actor. He became a People's Artist of the RSFSR in 1976. Early life Kuravlyov w ...

as Retired Major *

Yevgeni Lazarev Yevgeni Nikolayevich Lazarev ( be, Яўген Мікалаевіч Лазараў, Jaŭhen Mikałajevič Łazaraŭ; russian: Евге́ний Никола́евич Ла́зарев; 31 March 1937 – 18 November 2016), also credited as Eugene ...

Tsar Alexander II Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Fin ...

Didier Bienaimé Didier Bienaimé (9 June 1961 – 7 August 2004) was a French actor. Partial filmography (please expand) * 2005: The Turkish Gambit * 2001: "La Grand Vie!" * 1999: ''Joséphine, ange gardien ''Josephine, Guardian Angel'' (Joséphine, ange ...

as D'Hevrais * Viktor Bychkov * Sergey Gazarov as Gubernator * Aleksandr Lykov as Perepyolkin (based on

Aleksey Kuropatkin Aleksey Nikolayevich Kuropatkin (russian: Алексе́й Никола́евич Куропа́ткин; March 29, 1848January 16, 1925) served as the Russian Imperial Minister of War from January 1898 to February 1904 and as a field command ...

) *

Anatoly Kuznetsov Anatoly Vasilievich Kuznetsov (russian: Анато́лий Васи́льевич Кузнецо́в; August 18, 1929, Kiev, USSR – June 13, 1979, London) was a Russian-language Soviet writer who described his experiences in German-occupied Kie ...

Andrey Rudensky Andrey Viktorovich Rudensky (russian: Андре́й Ви́кторович Руде́нский; born 26 January 1959) is a Soviet and Russian film and stage actor. Biography Andrey Rudensky was born in Sverdlovsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union ...

* Valdis Pelsh *

Daniel Olbrychski Daniel Marcel Olbrychski (; born 27 February 1945) is a Polish film and theatre actor who is widely considered one of the greatest Polish actors of his generation. He appeared in 180 films and TV productions and is best known for leading roles ...

as McLaughlin (based on

Januarius MacGahan Januarius Aloysius MacGahan əˈɡæn(June 12, 1844 – June 9, 1878) was an American journalist and war correspondent working for the ''New York Herald'' and the London ''The Daily News (UK), Daily News''. His articles describing the massac ...

) * Miki Iliev * Raicho Vasilev as Bodyguard * Aleksandr Aleksandrov as Secret agent * Daniel Rashev

Anachronisms

In the opening scene, in the background, a Turkish man says a prayer in Turkish. He says "Long live the Turkish republic", when the Turkish Republic would only be established in 1922, many decades after the time in which the film is set.

References

External links

Official site
*
The Turkish Gambit (TV version)

The Turkish Gambit - 1 episode
from

Channel One Russia Channel One ( rus, Первый канал, r=Pervyy kanal, p=ˈpʲervɨj kɐˈnal, t=First Channel) is a Russian state-controlled television channel. It is the first television channel to broadcast in the Russian Federation. Its headquarters ...

Attack on Pleven
– scene about the

Siege of Pleven The siege of Pleven, was a major battle of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, fought by the joint army of Russia and Romania against the Ottoman Empire. After the Russian army crossed the Danube at Svishtov, it began advancing towards ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turkish Gambit, The Films based on works by Boris Akunin Russian spy films 2005 films 2000s historical adventure films Russian action war films 2000s action adventure films 2000s Russian-language films Russian mystery thriller films Films shot in Bulgaria Russian historical adventure films Russian action adventure films Films set in the Ottoman Empire Films set in Bulgaria Films about the Russian Empire Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)