Election Day (2007 film) explained

Election Day
Native Name:	Language: ru День выборов Nolink: yes
Director:	Oleg Fomin
Cinematography:	Vasily Sikachinsky
Country:	Russia
Language:	Russian
Runtime:	125 min
Studio:	STAR-T

Election Day (Russian: link=no|italic=yes|День выборов|Den vyborov) is a 2007 Russian comedy film directed by Oleg Fomin.^[1]

Synopsis

The staff of a successful Moscow radio station are sent into the Volga region to assist in the promotion of a candidate for the local governor elections. They are assisted by the local theatre director, a fake priest, and their boss' connections.

Cast

• Kvartet I:
  • Kamil Larin as Kamil, the electrician
  • as Slava, the journalist of the "Kind of radio"
  • Aleksandr Demidov as Sasha, the administrator of the "Kind of radio" and the campaign manager
  • Leonid Barats as Alex, the journalist of the "Kind of radio"
• Vasily Utkin as Igor Vladimirovich Tsaplin, a candidate for Governor of Samara Oblast
• Yevgeny Steblov as San Sanych, the director of the Petukhov Russian Regional Drama Theatre
• Mikhail Yefremov as "Father Innokenty" (in fact con artist Mikhail)
• Nonna Grishayeva as Nonna, the host of the "Kind of radio"
• as Max, the host of the "Kind of radio"
• as Mikhail Natanovich, the general producer of the "Kind of radio"
• Yelena Shevchenko as Viktoria, Emmanuil Gedeonovich‘s companion
• as Lyolya, Viktoria’s friend
• as Anya, Mikhail's lover and secretary
• as Yemelyanov, the incumbent Governor of Samara Oblast
• as Alexey Paramonov, the Cossack chieftain
• Valery Barinov as Lieutenant General Ivan Burdun, commander of the "top secret" military base
• as Boris, the manager of the liquor producer
• as Fedya, Boris's side-kick
• as Emmanuil Gedeonovich (voice only)
• Alexander Gurevich as Alexey Vitalyevich Alinkin, a candidate for Governor of Saratov Oblast
• Cameos:
  • Andrey Makarevich and Georgy Martirosyan (duo of non-commercial song Two Against The Wind)
  • Sergey Shnurov and Leningrad (The Innormals)
  • Bi-2 (Smoke On The Water)
  • Uma2rman (UpSideDown)
  • Valeriy Syutkin (the band of the furniture store Oliver Twist)
  • Seryoga (Nikola Sokol)
  • Ivanushki International (Ivan and Ushki)
  • Chaif (The Volga Bells Duo)
  • Dmitry Pevtsov, Yevgeny Stychkin, Marat Basharov and Oleg Fomin (The Dentists)
  • Marianna Maksimovskaya
  • Vladimir Kara-Murza Sr. (TV version only)

Reception

Box office

Election Day has grossed US$6 149 746.^[2]

Critical response

Film.ru reviewer Valery Kichin called Oleg Fomin's film a really funny and really relevant comedy.^[3]

As noted by political consultant Igor Mintusov, it was filmed very talentedly and very well, there are many moments well captured in form. Although the reality is quite adequately shown there, there are few strategic ideas to be seen there.^[4]

According to Boris Nadezhdin, an unregistered candidate for the 2024 Russian presidential election, he had told some of the amusing political stories that would later become the basis for the plot of play and film to the Kvartet I himself.^[5]

Sequel

• (2016)^[6]

Notes and References

1. http://www.russia-direct.org/analysis/five-must-watch-films-about-russian-politics Five must-watch films about Russian politics
2. https://www.kinopoisk.ru/film/309408/ Election Day
3. https://www.film.ru/articles/burlaki-na-volge Рецензия на фильм «День выборов»
4. https://www.kinopoisk.ru/media/article/3142949/ «Выбери меня, выбери меня»: Любимые фильмы политтехнологов
5. Web site: Надеждин о поддержке в малых городах и решении региональных проблем. ru-RU. 2024-02-05.
6. Web site: «День выборов 2» покажут на ТНТ . 29 March 2016 . 2016-04-06 . 2016-04-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160410034705/http://www.intermedia.ru/news/293322.