The Voroshilov Sharpshooter (russian: Ворошиловский стрелок, translit. ''Voroshilovskiy strelok'', named after a badge for markmanship) is a 1999

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority. A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a person who ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Stanislav Govorukhin Stanislav Sergeyevich Govorukhin (russian: Станислав Сергеевич Говорухин; 29 March 1936 – 14 June 2018) was a Soviet and Russian film director, actor, screenwriter, producer and politician. He was named People's Artis ...

based on the book ''Woman on Wednesdays'' (russian: Женщина по средам translit. ''Zhenshchina po sredam'') by Viktor Pronin. The concept loosely resembles the rape and revenge genre. The film became successful with numerous awards given for the film including the prestigious Russian Guild of Film Critics 1999 for best actor by Mikhail Ulyanov. It also has 1 win and 3 nominations for

Nika Award The Nika Award (sometimes styled NIKA Award) is the main annual national film award in Russia, presented by the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts and Science, and seen as the national equivalent of the Oscars. History The award was established i ...

Plot

In the summer of 1999, a decorated

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

veteran, Ivan Afonin, lives with his granddaughter Katya. In a nearby flat, three bored youths, Vadim Pashutin, local businessman Boris Chukhanov and student Igor Zvorygin, kill time by designating Wednesdays as a day of sexual gratification and hiring a prostitute. On this particular Wednesday, they fail to acquire one, and decide to resort to a random female passerby instead. They lure Katya to their flat under the pretense of "a birthday party" and rape her. Initially, the offenders are arrested; however, Vadim's father Nikolai is a senior figure in the police and uses his influence to have the charges against his son and his friends dropped. Frustrated at the offenders having escaped justice, Ivan sells his

dacha A dacha ( rus, дача, p=ˈdatɕə, a=ru-dacha.ogg) is a seasonal or year-round second home, often located in the exurbs of post-Soviet countries, including Russia. A cottage (, ') or shack serving as a family's main or only home, or an outbu ...

for $5000 and uses the money to purchase a

SVD ''Svenska Dagbladet'' (, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. History and profile The first issue of ''Svenska Dagbladet'' appeared on 18 December 1884. During the beginning of the ...

sniper rifle equipped with a silencer from an illegal weapons trader. While testing his purchase in the presence of the seller, he hits all the test targets perfectly, making the seller call him "a true

Voroshilov Sharpshooter Voroshilov Sharpshooter or Voroshilov Marksman (russian: Ворошиловский стрелок, Voroshilov Shooter) was an honorary title and a badge for marksmanship introduced in 1932 by OSOAVIAKhIM, Soviet Union. It was named after Klim ...

" in admiration. When a female neighbour goes on a trip, she leaves Ivan the keys to her flat so he can look after her parrot. Ivan tours the flat and discovers that it is situated directly in front of and overlooks the offenders’ flat. From there, he begins to administer vigilante justice. Taking care not to kill the offenders, he instead cripples them. First, he shoots Zvorygin's genitals through a bottle of sparkling wine. Secondly, he causes Chukhanov's brand new car to explode, by shooting the gas tank: although Chukhanov survives, the lower half of his body is severely burnt. Nikolai figures out that Ivan must be behind both accidents, ordering the search of Ivan's house and the second flat. However, police find nothing (Alexei, the local police watcher, had found and hid the rifle in his own house a day before that). Still, Nikolai threatens Ivan, saying that should anything happen to his son, he will face severe consequences. Ivan interrupts him, saying that something has already happened (meaning that Vadim becoming a rapist clearly shows something has happened to him). Nikolai, however, takes his words literally, and rushes home, shooting out the door lock to open it (not knowing a paranoid Vadim has barricaded the door). Following the shot, Vadim shoots back through the door with a shotgun, wounding his father and, after days of fright, losing his sanity. In the epilogue Alexei tells Ivan of the hidden rifle and unofficially confiscates it, and at home Katya sings again, signaling her recovery and the return of domestic harmony, which moves Ivan to tears.

Cast

Mikhail Ulyanov Mikhail Ulyanov may refer to: * Mikhail Alexandrovich Ulyanov, actor * Mikhail Ivanovich Ulyanov, diplomat {{disambig ...

as Ivan Fyodorovich Afonin, pensioner * Anna Sinyakina as Katya Afonina, Ivan Fyodorovich's granddaughter *

Aleksandr Porokhovshchikov Aleksandr Shalvovich Porokhovshchikov (russian: Александр Шалвович Пороховщиков, 31 January 1939, Moscow – 15 April 2012, Moscow) was a Russian film and theatre actor and film director, People's Artist of Russia ...

as Nikolai Petrovich Pashutin, police colonel, Vadim's father * Vladislav Galkin as Alexei Podberyozkin, local policeman *

Irina Rozanova Irina Yurievna Rozanova (russian: Ири́на Ю́рьевна Роза́нова; born 22 July 1961) is a Russian actress. She has appeared in more than 80 films and television shows since 1985. In 2008 she was a member of the jury at the 30th ...

as Olga Ivanovna Afonina, Katya's mother *

Ilya Drevnov Ilya, Iliya, Ilia, Ilja, or Ilija (russian: Илья́, Il'ja, , or russian: Илия́, Ilija, ; uk, Ілля́, Illia, ; be, Ілья́, Iĺja ) is the East Slavic form of the male Hebrew name Eliyahu (Eliahu), meaning "My God is Yahu/Jah." ...

as Vadim Pashutin *

Alexei Makarov Alexei Valerevich Makarov (russian: Алексе́й Вале́рьевич Мака́ров; 15 February 1972) is a Russian actor of theatre and cinema. Born 1972 in Omsk in family of actors Valeriy Makarov and Lyubov Polishchuk. Biography A ...

as Boris Chukhanov *

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 ...

as Igor Zvorygin * Karen Muradyan as David «Dodik», colleague and roommate of Olga * Sergei Aprelsky as gun seller #1 *

Aleksey Shevchenkov Aleksey Vladimirovich Shevchenkov (russian: Алексе́й Влади́мирович Шевче́нков) is a Russian actor. Merited Artist of the Russian Federation (2006). He appeared in 130 films. Biography Aleksey was born on November 2 ...

as gun seller #2 * Oleg Komarov as gun dealer *

Sergei Garmash Sergei Leonidovich Garmash (russian: Серге́й Леони́дович Гарма́ш; born 1 September 1958) is a Soviet and Russian film and stage actor. He is a People's Artist of Russia. In 2013 he was a member of the jury at the 35th Mosc ...

as police captain Kashaev * Vitaly Logvinovsky as domino player * Vladimir Semago as investigator Shevelyov * Georgy Martirosyan as prosecutor

Production

Anna Sinyakina claimed to have been replaced by a body double in the rape scene.

Differences from the book

For Ivan's first strike, he shoots the student's genitals. This diverges from the book where he shoots him in the leg.

Reactions

The film proved controversial, for its graphic and violent features with some film critics describing it as a call to violence. Several subsequent real life cases of vigilante justice have been compared to the film."А был ли «ворошиловский стрелок»?" Argumenti i Fakti, 9 April 2009
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References

External links

The Voroshilov Sharpshooter at IMDB.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Voroshilov Sharpshooter 1999 films Russian crime drama films 1990s Russian-language films Rape and revenge films Films directed by Stanislav Govorukhin 1990s crime drama films 1999 drama films