Heart of a Dog
Short description
Set in Moscow during the 1920s following the October Revolution, this story follows Professor Preobrazhensky, a prominent surgeon who performs a bold medical experiment on a stray dog named Sharik. By transforming the animal into a human, the professor creates Sharikov, a man whose crude manners and revolutionary beliefs disrupt the household. The narrative explores the tension between the scientist and his creation as Sharikov integrates into the emerging Soviet society.
This Soviet TV movie was directed by Vladimir Bortko, marking the first of three films listed in his career. Written by Nataliya Bortko and produced by Lenfilm, the production features Evgeniy Evstigneev as the professor, along with Vladimir Tolokonnikov as Sharikov, Boris Plotnikov, Nina Ruslanova, Olga Melikhova, and Aleksei Mironov.
Released in 1988 with a runtime of 136 minutes, the film blends elements of comedy, drama, and science fiction. It has been well received by viewers, earning a rating of 8.5/10 on IMDb from 10,000 votes and a 7.9/10 on TMDB from 202 votes.
What's left behind the scenes
- When Shvonder and his company prepare to leave during their visit to Preobrazhensky, they put on their hats, but the professor asks them to wait and makes a phone call. When Shvonder and his company are shown again, they are no longer wearing their hats.
- There were eight candidates for the role of Sharikov, including Nikolai Karachentsov, Valery Nosik, and Alexei Zharkov. However, Tolokonnikov performed so well during the screen tests that director Vladimir Bortko decided to cast him.
- Actor Semyon Farada auditioned for the role of Shvonder.
- The film was shot on black-and-white film and then printed on a color positive to achieve a sepia tone. This color choice was made to stylize the movie after films of the 1920s. However, the main theatrical release of the film was entirely black-and-white, as black-and-white positives were cheaper than color ones.
- Leonid Bronevoy, Yuri Yakovlev, Mikhail Ulyanov, Vladislav Strzhelchik, and Kirill Lavrov auditioned for the role of Professor Preobrazhensky.
- Vladimir Simonov auditioned for the role of Bormenthal.
- The shots that are purportedly documentary footage featuring a tram are not actually archival footage.
- The consultant was A.S. Efimov, an academician of the AMN USSR and head of the diabetes clinic at the Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism of the USSR Ministry of Health (Kyiv).
- Specifically for the filming, a passenger car was built on a GAZ truck chassis, which Preobrazhensky, Bormenthal, and Sharikov use to drive to the university.
- A dog named Karay was filmed in the role of Sharik; the owner and trainer was Elena Nikiforova.
- Filming took place in Leningrad.
- The bard Yuliy Kim wrote the song "The Harsh Years Are Passing," as well as the chastushkas and the Red Army march performed by Sharikov.
- Professor Preobrazhensky invites his colleagues to examine Sharikov. One of them, Professor Persikov, is a character from another of Bulgakov's novellas, "The Fatal Eggs." The line spoken by the well-read street sweeper is a line from a character in the story "The Gem-like Life." The fortune teller at the circus, Mademoiselle Jeanne, is a character from the story "Mademoiselle Jeanne." The story regarding the christenings of babies Clara and Rosa is borrowed from the feuilleton "The Golden Correspondences of Ferapont Ferapontovich Kaportsev," and the scene with the medium is from the story "The Spirit Session."
- The film that Bormenthal watches at the cinema is "The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks," directed by Lev Kuleshov.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
