By Nadezhda Lepesheva
Language barrier
Igor Sigov plays German officer Otto Wagner, necessitating him speaking in German: a true challenge. With much of the film in this language, the actors had to learn to speak like true Aryans, with the help of teachers and a translator. Igor tells us, “There was too much German language!” It’s really difficult to act and remember German at the same time but we had good teachers, who achieved ideal pronunciation. The shooting scenes are excellent, as are the scenes with swords; dramatic fighting was my favourite subject at the academy.”
Death trick
Others besides Igor Sigov experienced difficulties with the German language: partially forgotten since school. Yevgeny Ivkovich also played a German in the film, and faced similar difficulties, although he remembers greater challenges. “It’s not the language that’s terrible,” he says, laughing. “Being blown up is worse — or, rather, it is for the stuntman. There was an occasion when our stuntman was almost shot, due to a misunderstanding between the director and I. On one take, I thought he had whispered ‘shoot’; in fact, he’d ordered the opposite! Thank God, it was a blank, which flew past his ear.”
What is the film about?
It’s not simply the history of Soviet and German intelligence services in opposition; it tells of the partisans and of the terrible killing of Jews in ghettoes. We see the lives of those who protected our most precious treasures and see the echoes of the past, which continue to resonate today. Each scene follows another, as if through a kaleidoscope. From the first minutes, you worry about young lad Heinrich, who manages to avoid being shot by a miracle. Years later, as a young adult, he is working for the Soviet intelligence service, sent on an expedition with German scientist Otto Wagner, to explore the tunnels below Nesvizh Castle. Wager is keen to locate the mysterious golden apostles for the Fuhrer; once belonging to Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great, they will bring power and prestige to the Third Reich.
A parallel modern day plot tells of young Alevtina, who goes to visit her grandmother in Nesvizh, hearing the story of the Radziwiłł treasures. This inspires her to explore...
Of course, some of the twists of the plot deserve to be discovered first hand, so we won’t reveal too much! The thriller has no trouble in capturing the imagination and is likely to inspire audiences to read Andrew Aalvik’s novel. We’ll simply say that the film embraces a great many emotional themes connected with war, loyalty and the importance of wise choices. With its open ending, we are left to decide much for ourselves. Everyone who sees the film is sure to have their own opinion but we’ll leave you to decide. Watch and ponder; your soul will respond with its own answers.
