The Major (Russian: Майор, translit. Mayor) is a 2013 Russian crime drama film written and directed by Yuri Bykov, who also stars. It was first screened in the International Critics' Week at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival,[1] and was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.[2][3]

The Major
Film poster
Directed byYuri Bykov
Written byYuri Bykov
Produced byAlexei Uchitel
StarringDenis Shvedov
Yuri Bykov
CinematographyKirill Klepalov
Distributed byRock Studios
Bazelevs
Release dates
  • May 2013 (2013-05) (Cannes)
  • 8 August 2013 (2013-08-08) (Russia)
Running time
99 minutes
CountryRussia
LanguageRussian

The film tells of Russian police staff who fall into difficult life situations, and their use of official positions and procedures to escape.

A television miniseries adaptation, Seven Seconds, was released in February 2018 on Netflix.[4]

Plot

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Police Major Sergei Sobolev's wife is in labour. While rushing to the hospital his car hits and kills a boy on a pedestrian crossing. The boy's mother, Irina Gutorova, is the only witness.

The Major calls his colleagues to the scene. Pavel Korshunov eliminates evidence showing Sobolev's guilt, and the Chief of District Police forces the mother to give false testimony in favour of Major Sobolev.

Sobolev subsequently decides to confess and accept his punishment. The other police officers are opposed because, having covered for the major, they are complicit in the corruption in this modernized yet still corrupt police force.

Cast

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Television adaptation

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A ten-episode television miniseries adaptation of The Major, Seven Seconds, created and showrun by Veena Sud and written and directed by a returning Yuri Bykov, was released in-full on February 23, 2018, on Netflix.[4]

References

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  1. ^ "Cannes Reveals International Critics' Week Lineup; 'Ain't Them Bodies Saints' Makes the Cut". Indiewire. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  2. ^ "The Major". TIFF. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  3. ^ "Toronto Adds 75+ Titles To 2013 Edition". Indiewire. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  4. ^ a b "The Major". Russian Film Hub. Archived from the original on 4 July 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
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