''Tycoon: A New Russian'' (russian: Олигарх, Oligarch) is a 2002 Russian movie directed by Pavel Lungin, Pavel Loungine (or Lungin). The movie is based on the book The Lion’s Share (Bolshaya Paika) by Yuli Dubov, who later went on to work for Russian oligarch, oligarch, Boris Abramovich Berezovsky.

Plot

During the Mikhail Gorbachev years, Platon Makovsky and four buddies of his are university students who jump on the private capitalism movement. Fast-forward 20 years, Platon finds himself the richest man in Russia. But as such, he and his friends are drawn more and more into relations with suspect organizations. They also have to face ever more brutal attempts to subjugate them by the Kremlin. Makovsky attempts to compete with this ever-present political power, by becoming as "creating a Kremlin" himself.Londongrad: From Russia with Cash: The Inside Story of the Russian oligarch, Oligarchs. Mark Hollingsworth (author), Mark Hollingsworth, Stewart Lansley Published May 5, 2009.

Characters

* Platon Makovsky - Vladimir Mashkov * Mariya Mironova

Background

The film is based on "Bolshaya Paika" ("The Big Slice") - a novel by Yuli Dubov, depicting the real biography of Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky (businessman), Boris Berezovsky and his partners. Dubov was Berezovsky's partner himself, and a president of his LogoVAZ company. The novel is claimed to be historically precise in many aspects. The names of the characters were changed from their real life counterparts, though keeping resemblance (e.g. Boris Berezovsky, who changed his name to Platon Elenin in exile in 2004, to Platon Makovsky, Badri Patarkatsishvili to Lari Teishvili, etc.) In June 2009, Dubov and Berezovsky were convicted in absentia (at that time, they were both living in exile in England) in a Russian court for the events that served as the basis for the book to 9 and 13 years of imprisonment respectively. The book served as one of the pieces of evidence against them.

Reception

Critical response

''Tycoon'' has an approval rating of 46% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 35 reviews, and an average rating of 5.60/10. The website's critical consensus states, "Wants to be ''The Godfather'', but the movie's ''Citizen Kane''-style narrative limits its effectiveness". It also has a score of 49 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 17 critics, indicating "mixed of average". The The New Yorker, New Yorker stated: "Once a freedom-loving idealist, Platon used his genius to become a monster, unhesitatingly sacriﬁcing his ideals and his closest friends. This is the tragedy of this super- talented individual who embodies all that is most creative in the new Russia and, at the same time, all which is worst for the country that he privatized for his own proﬁt."http://www.newyorkerﬁlms.com October 2002.

References

External links

* 2002 films Russian crime drama films Films about businesspeople Films about the Russian Mafia Films directed by Pavel Lungin Films set in the 1980s Films set in the 1990s Films set in Moscow Films set in Siberia Films shot in Russia Films scored by Leonid Desyatnikov {{Russia-film-stub