| Poisons or the World History of Poisoning | |
| Director: | Karen Shakhnazarov |
| Producer: | Karen Shakhnazarov |
| Starring: | Ignat Akrachkov Oleg Basilashvili |
| Music: | Anatoli Kroll |
| Cinematography: | Vladimir Klimov |
| Studio: | Mosfilm |
| Runtime: | 106 minutes |
| Country: | Russia |
| Language: | Russian |
Poisons or the World History of Poisoning (Russian: Яды, или Всемирная история отравлений|Yady, ili vsemirnaya istoriya otravleniy) is a 2001 Russian fantastical absurdist comedy directed by Karen Shakhnazarov.
Young family of Volkov's, Oleg and Katya, move to an apartment they bought and get acquainted with their neighbor, locksmith Arnold Sharapov. Right during a friendly dinner Katya cheats on her husband. Frustrated Oleg decides to drown his sorrows in alcohol, but at the bar accidentally meets Ivan Petrovich Prokhorov, pensioner, whose wife in his time was also unfaithful. In a conversation with the nice old man, Oleg learns that Prokhorov punished his wife by slipping poison into her yogurt. And now Ivan strongly persuades Oleg to also kill his unfaithful wife, using a small collection of poisons which Prokhorov constantly carries with him.
After some hesitation Oleg decides to do the terrible thing, but random interference from his mother-in-law Eugenia Ivanovna Kholodkova saves the wife of the hapless poisoner. As a result of a family quarrel, Oleg leaves the house and is a guest of Zoya, wife of Arnold, who in turn drove her traitor-husband out of the house. Oleg and Zoya fall in love with each other and decide to live together.
But the former spouses of the loving couple, consumed with anger and envy decide to destroy them. On the advice of the insidious mother-in-law Evgenia Ivanovna, Arnold and Katya want to invite Oleg and Zoya to dinner together and poison them by feeding them contaminated burgers. Learning this, Oleg first seeks the advice of experienced poisoner Prokhorov, who offers a number of retaliatory steps brilliant in their deviousness. But in the end Oleg decides to let go peacefully, both couples divorce, Oleg and Zoya begin together an existence full of love and mutual interests ...
Throughout the action, under the influence of Prokhorov's stories about famous poisoners Oleg often "daydreams", imagining crimes of these villains. Central figure in Oleg's visions becomes Pope Alexander VI Borgia, the famous medieval poisoner and a victim of his own treachery ...
The film was awarded the Grand Prix at the Kinotavr film festival in Sochi.[1] At the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival the picture was nominated for the Crystal Globe [2] and was screened at the 51st Berlin International Film Festival.[3] [4]