It's no secret that Russian cinema is much inferior to Hollywood, which is expressed both in budgets and in the quality of films.
Any domestic actor would gladly accept an invitation to appear in the West, while it is difficult to lure foreign stars into our paintings, however, there are exceptions to this rule, of which we will recall ten today.
Looking at the names of some actors, it’s hard to imagine what tricks our directors and producers had to go to lure stars of this level.
List
- 10. Danny Trejo, Courier from Paradise | 2013
- 9. Sean Connery, The Red Tent | 1969
- 8. Thomas Kretschman, "Stalingrad" | 2013
- 7. Jean-Claude Van Damme, "Rzhevsky against Napoleon" | 2012
- 6. Christopher Lambert, Sobibor | 2018
- 5. Jason Fleming, Wii | 2014
- 4. Alain Delon, “Happy New Year, Mom!” | 2012
- 3. Gerard Depardieu, Rasputin | 2011
- 2. Malcolm McDowell, The Regicide | 1991
- 1. Rutger Hauer and Michael Madsen, The Salamander Key | 2010
10. Danny Trejo, Courier from Paradise | 2013
Danny Trejo cannot be attributed to the stars of Hollywood of the first magnitude, but nevertheless, thanks to his texture and charisma, the actor is recognizable and popular. Most often, he is called on the roles of villains and criminals, giving him albeit minor, but still memorable roles.
The Russian adventure comedy "Courier from Paradise" from the director Mikhail Khleborodov gathered at one site prominent Russian actors, including Elizaveta Boyarskaya, Gosha Kutsenko, Dmitry Dyuzhev and Dmitry Nagiyev.
Trejo received, as always, an episodic role, but this time he played not a scumbag, but only a guide. Just a few minutes of screen time allowed him to greatly diversify the picture, which went to her only benefit.
9. Sean Connery, The Red Tent | 1969
In 1969, Connery was already a star, playing James Bond in several film adaptations of the works of Jan Fleming: “Doctor Nou”, “From Russia with Love”, “You Only Live Twice”, etc.
The film "Red Tent", in which he played one of the main roles, was a product of the joint work of Soviet, Italian and British directors, so his appearance here does not seem so surprising.
Together with him on the set worked Nikita Mikhalkov, who received a less significant, but still noticeable role.
The film itself tells about the torment of the elderly General Umberto Nobile, who blames himself for the crash of the airship "Italy", which is under his command.
8. Thomas Kretschman, "Stalingrad" | 2013
At the time of filming in the military drama of Fyodor Bondarchuk, Thomas Kretschman already had roles in such famous films as Especially Dangerous, Pianist, Resident Evil: Apocalypse and others, but still managed to lure him to the shooting for us.
In fairness, it is worth noting that, despite the contradictory nature of the film, Kretschman played his role perfectly, completely conveying the character and features of the character.
Incidentally, he already starred in a military drama with exactly the same name - in 1993 his "Stalingrad" was shot in Germany, where the actor himself comes from.
7. Jean-Claude Van Damme, "Rzhevsky against Napoleon" | 2012
The situation with Van Damme is the exact opposite of the story of Kretschman, for he should be ashamed of this role. The hero of the cult militants of the 80-90s appears in an absurd and stupid image, causing the viewer more pity than laughter.
Comedy, if you can call it that at all, received crushing reviews in the press, and the audience did not appreciate it.
6. Christopher Lambert, Sobibor | 2018
This film is the directorial debut of Konstantin Khabensky, who at the same time played a major role. Given that he has experience in filming in Hollywood (everyone remembers "Especially Dangerous"), it was not so difficult for him to persuade Lambert to participate in his film.
He embodied the image of the main antagonist, brilliantly coping with his task. Lambert, by the way, was not the only foreigner on the set: in addition to him, little-known actors received Dirk Martens, Wolfgang Cerny and others.
5. Jason Fleming, Wii | 2014
That rare case when a foreign actor gets the main role in the Russian film (although Germany, Ukraine and the Czech Republic also participated in the production).
Probably all fans of crime dramas by Guy Ritchie, where he starred in the tapes “Cards, money, two trunks” and “Big jackpot”, must know Fleming.
Critics and the public accepted the free interpretation of Gogol’s story ambiguously, scolding her for copying Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow, but her failure, like the role of Fleming, cannot be called either.
4. Alain Delon, “Happy New Year, Mom!” | 2012
An almanac of 5 short stories by Sarik Andreasyan was a continuation of the comedy “Moms”, which was released a little earlier. The legend of French cinema received a cameo in the episode "See Paris and ...", starring along with Pavel Wola.
It is noteworthy that the role in the mediocre Russian comedy was the last for Alain Delon in the movie, and after that he is shot only on TV. Interestingly, did he really dream of such an end to his film career?
3. Gerard Depardieu, Rasputin | 2011
This film is also not entirely Russian, but rather a product of the work of Russia and France. Even the premiere did not take place with us, but still we could not include it in the selection.
Depardieu, who was not yet a citizen of the Russian Federation, quite distinctively embodied the image of the contradictory figure of Rasputin, once again proving that he could play serious dramatic roles.
Together with him, Vladimir Mashkov, Anna Mikhalkova, Irina Alferova, Danila Kozlovsky and a whole placer of domestic stars worked on the set.
2. Malcolm McDowell, The Regicide | 1991
The historical drama of Karen Shakhnazarov, for which the leading actor Oleg Yankovsky was awarded the Nika Prize. The film tells about a psychiatrist (Jankowski) and his patient, played by McDowell.
A former criminal, he suffers from a split personality, identifying himself with the murderers of the Russian emperors Nicholas II and Alexander II. They shot the picture in two languages: in English for European viewers in Russian for the USSR.
1. Rutger Hauer and Michael Madsen, The Salamander Key | 2010
We end the list with a rather strange creation of the Netherlands, Russia and the USA, where the main roles were played by Fedor Emelianenko, Rutger Hauer and Michael Madsen.
Filmed for $ 7 million, the film talks about the latest invention in the field of life extension, as well as mysterious events related to this, in the center of which is a special forces group and scientists.