Following Gladnost, Soviet scientist Jakov "Dante" Savelyev (Klaus Maria Brandauer) sends a manuscript to British publisher Bartholomew "Barley" Scott Blair (Sean Connery) of the publishing company Abercombie and Blair. Unfortunately, Barley is not available to receive the manuscript, so Dante's go-between, Russian book editor Ekaterina "Katya" Orlova (Michelle Pfeiffer), gives it to A&B representative Niki Landau (Nicholas Woodeson), who opens the package, reads the contents, and passes it to British Intelligence. In turn, British Intelligence agent Ned (James Fox) aided by CIA agent Russell (Roy Scheider) commandeer Barley, who knows nothing about the manuscript, to serve as a spy, gathering information about the writer from Katya.
Yes, The Russia House is a 1989 novel by British author John le Carré (real name: David John Moore Cornwell), an ex-MI6 employee. Carré's novel was adapted for the screen by British playwright Sir Tom Stoppard.
Glasnost is the official policy of the former Soviet government permitting open discussion of political and social issues together with less censorship and more freedom of expression, news, and information. It was introduced in the 1980s by Mikhail Gorbachev, then the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Dante's manuscript details the Soviet's strategic capabilities for waging nuclear war. His manuscript states that the Soviet nuclear missile program is in very bad shape, so there's no real reason for an arms race to continue. Both British Intelligence and the CIA want to know whether Dante's information is true, because acting on it could compromise their own security.
The movie hints at the fact that the manuscript will never be published based on the fact that the British and Americans now know the decrepit state of Soviet military capability while the Soviets know that they know. However, the Americans and British can't be sure whether Dante's manuscript was a genuine evaluation of the state of Soviet military equipment, and the Russians can't really be sure whether this 'shopping list' of questions, for which the Americans want answers, is genuine either. Although Barley has sold out to the Russians, the CIA and M16 can float the idea that the questions on the shopping list were actually bogus. In the end, neither side really knows, Barley gets a positive outcome for real people, trading virtually worthless data to those 'men in gray suits' who chase fiction, and Dante's purpose was accomplished, so it was as if the book had actually been published.
It's an Armenian traditional folk music. The instrument is a dudek.
When Ned and Russell finally realize that Barley has skipped out of the apartment where they arranged for him to meet Dante, Ned opens the letter from Barley explaining why he crossed over. Dante's letter to Katya was fake, he writes, and his phone call was KGB-controlled. But Dante and Katya had worked out a code. If he was safe, he would call her Lena; if he was caught, he would call her Maria. He called her Maria, in effect, telling her that they are dead. Barley wondered why he and Katya haven't yet been arrested until he figured out that the KGB wanted the shopping list. He had to decide between saving the list or saving Katya and her family. Consequently, he made a deal with the KGB. He gave them the shopping list in exchange for them allowing Katya and her family to leave Russia, and then he returned to Lisbon. In the final scene, he meets Katya, her children, and Uncle Matvey (Nikolai Pastukhov) as they arrive on a ship in Lisbon, safe and sound.
The Russia House was one of the first movies to be filmed at actual Russian locations since the Iron Curtain fell in 1989. Watching the movie is almost like taking a tour of Russia, featuring views of the Russian countryside and the monuments, cathedrals, and street scenes from the cities of Moscow and Leningrad (now called St. Petersburg). Following are some of the more well-known of these.
Moscow: The movie opens with a scan of St. Basil Cathedral, located in the Moscow Kremlin, a fortified center in the heart of the city. The cathedral faces Red Square, which is where Katya is walking. At the writer's village of Peredelkino (located to the southwest of Moscow), Barley dines with Dante and other writers at the Boris Pasternak Museum. Later Barley and Dante meet again while visiting Pasternak's grave in the Peredelkino Cemetery. Barley and Katya meet for the first time outside the Ukraine Hotel and have lunch in the dining room of the Hotel National just across from Red Square. During their second meeting, they climb to the top of a belltower. In the distance can be seen the onion domes of the churches at Sergiev Posad. When Barley and Katya meet at the Book Faire, Katya is seen walking through the Park of Economic Achievements (recently renamed the All-Russian Exhibition Center). Shown are the Soviet Workers monument or Worker and Kolkhoz Woman, also known affectionately as Jack and Jill, and the Friendship of Nations fountain. They then visit Kolomenskoe Park, once the country residence for the Russian tsars from Ivan Iii to Peter I. There can be seen the blue onion domes of the Church of the Icon of Our Lady of Kazan, the Church of the Ascension, and Katya's children and Uncle Matvey playing on a cannon outside of The Front Gate.
Leningrad: There (now called St Petersburg), Barley stays at the Hotel Pribaltiskaya. He meets Dante near the eternal flame in the Field of Mars. They walk down Nevsky Prospekt (the main avenue in the city), pass under the central arch in the General Army Headquarters building and walk through the Palace Square, in the center of which stands the Alexander Column. In front of them (the north side of the square) is the Winter Palace, which houses the Hermitage Museum. Behind them (to the south) can again be seen the yellow and white General Army Headquarters building that circles the square. As the camera pans to the west, the Royal Guards building can be seen, and once again the Winter Palace. Lastly, they are shown strolling along the River Neva.
Moscow: The movie opens with a scan of St. Basil Cathedral, located in the Moscow Kremlin, a fortified center in the heart of the city. The cathedral faces Red Square, which is where Katya is walking. At the writer's village of Peredelkino (located to the southwest of Moscow), Barley dines with Dante and other writers at the Boris Pasternak Museum. Later Barley and Dante meet again while visiting Pasternak's grave in the Peredelkino Cemetery. Barley and Katya meet for the first time outside the Ukraine Hotel and have lunch in the dining room of the Hotel National just across from Red Square. During their second meeting, they climb to the top of a belltower. In the distance can be seen the onion domes of the churches at Sergiev Posad. When Barley and Katya meet at the Book Faire, Katya is seen walking through the Park of Economic Achievements (recently renamed the All-Russian Exhibition Center). Shown are the Soviet Workers monument or Worker and Kolkhoz Woman, also known affectionately as Jack and Jill, and the Friendship of Nations fountain. They then visit Kolomenskoe Park, once the country residence for the Russian tsars from Ivan Iii to Peter I. There can be seen the blue onion domes of the Church of the Icon of Our Lady of Kazan, the Church of the Ascension, and Katya's children and Uncle Matvey playing on a cannon outside of The Front Gate.
Leningrad: There (now called St Petersburg), Barley stays at the Hotel Pribaltiskaya. He meets Dante near the eternal flame in the Field of Mars. They walk down Nevsky Prospekt (the main avenue in the city), pass under the central arch in the General Army Headquarters building and walk through the Palace Square, in the center of which stands the Alexander Column. In front of them (the north side of the square) is the Winter Palace, which houses the Hermitage Museum. Behind them (to the south) can again be seen the yellow and white General Army Headquarters building that circles the square. As the camera pans to the west, the Royal Guards building can be seen, and once again the Winter Palace. Lastly, they are shown strolling along the River Neva.
Those who have both seen the movie and read the novel say that the biggest difference between them is in the ending. While the movie has a positive ending, the novel is more ambiguous, leaving the reader to wonder whether or not Katya gets out of Russia and Barley goes to Lisbon.
Yes, the transcribed script can be found at Script-o-rama.
Viewers who have seen The Russia House often compare it to the 1963 James Bond movie From Russia with Love (1963), also starring Sean Connery. White Nights (1985) (1985) features an American, a Russian, and a Russian defector attempting to get out of Russia. Very little of these two films, however, were actually filmed in Russia.
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- How long is The Russia House?2 hours and 3 minutes
- When was The Russia House released?December 21, 1990
- What is the IMDb rating of The Russia House?6.1 out of 10
- Who stars in The Russia House?
- Who wrote The Russia House?
- Who directed The Russia House?
- Who was the composer for The Russia House?
- Who was the producer of The Russia House?
- Who was the cinematographer for The Russia House?
- Who was the editor of The Russia House?
- Who are the characters in The Russia House?Bartholomew Blair, Katya, and Russell
- What is the plot of The Russia House?A British publisher is sent a manuscript detailing Soviet Union nuclear missile capabilities. British Intelligence intercept it and recruit him to investigate the author's editor, a beautiful Russian woman he claims never to have met.
- What was the budget for The Russia House?$21.8 million
- How much did The Russia House earn at the worldwide box office?$23 million
- How much did The Russia House earn at the US box office?$23 million
- What is The Russia House rated?R
- What genre is The Russia House?Drama, Romance, and Thriller
- How many awards has The Russia House been nominated for?5 nominations
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