Election Day (2007 film)

Election Day
Election Day
Directed by	Oleg Fomin
Written by	Sergey Petreykov; Rostislav Khait; Leonid Barats
Produced by	Nikolai Ulyanov; Oleg Beglov
Starring	Kvartet I; Vasily Utkin; Mikhail Yefremov; Nonna Grishayeva; Maxim Vitorgan [ru]
Cinematography	Vasily Sikachinsky
Music by	Alexey Kortnev; Sergei Chekryzhov
Production; company	STAR-T
Release date	18 October 2007;
Running time	125 min
Country	Russia
Language	Russian

Election Day (Russian: День выборов, romanized: Den vyborov) is a 2007 Russian comedy film directed by Oleg Fomin.^[1]

Synopsis

The staff of a successful Moscow radio station are sent into the Volga region to assist in the promotion of a candidate for the local governor elections. They are assisted by the local theatre director, a fake priest, and their boss' connections.

Cast

Kvartet I:
- Kamil Larin as Kamil, the electrician
- Rostislav Khait [ru] as Slava, the journalist of the "Kind of radio"
- Aleksandr Demidov as Sasha, the administrator of the "Kind of radio" and the campaign manager
- Leonid Barats as Alex, the journalist of the "Kind of radio"
Vasily Utkin as Igor Vladimirovich Tsaplin, a candidate for Governor of Samara Oblast
Yevgeny Steblov as San Sanych, the director of the Petukhov Russian Regional Drama Theatre
Mikhail Yefremov as "Father Innokenty" (in fact con artist Mikhail)
Nonna Grishayeva as Nonna, the host of the "Kind of radio"
Maxim Vitorgan [ru] as Max, the host of the "Kind of radio"
Mikhail Kozyrev [ru] as Mikhail Natanovich, the general producer of the "Kind of radio"
Yelena Shevchenko as Viktoria, Emmanuil Gedeonovich‘s companion
Yelena Knyazeva [ru] as Lyolya, Viktoria’s friend
Anna Azarova [ru] as Anya, Mikhail's lover and secretary
Aleksandr Semchev [ru] as Yemelyanov, the incumbent Governor of Samara Oblast
Alexey Kortnev [ru] as Alexey Paramonov, the Cossack chieftain
Valery Barinov as Lieutenant General Ivan Burdun, commander of the "top secret" military base
Pavel Abdalov [ru] as Boris, the manager of the liquor producer
MikhailYevlanov [ru] as Fedya, Boris's side-kick
Sergey Chonishvili [ru] as Emmanuil Gedeonovich (voice only)
Alexander Gurevich as Alexey Vitalyevich Alinkin, a candidate for Governor of Saratov Oblast
Cameos:
- Andrey Makarevich and Georgy Martirosyan (duo of non-commercial song Two Against The Wind)
- Sergey Shnurov and Leningrad (The Innormals)
- Bi-2 (Smoke On The Water)
- Uma2rman (UpSideDown)
- Valeriy Syutkin (the band of the furniture store Oliver Twist)
- Seryoga (Nikola Sokol)
- Ivanushki International (Ivan and Ushki)
- Chaif (The Volga Bells Duo)
- Dmitry Pevtsov, Yevgeny Stychkin, Marat Basharov and Oleg Fomin (The Dentists)
- Marianna Maksimovskaya
- Vladimir Kara-Murza Sr. (TV version only)

Reception

Box office

Election Day has grossed US$6 149 746.^[2]

Critical response

Film.ru reviewer Valery Kichin called Oleg Fomin's film a really funny and really relevant comedy.^[3]

As noted by political consultant Igor Mintusov, it was filmed very talentedly and very well, there are many moments well captured in form. Although the reality is quite adequately shown there, there are few strategic ideas to be seen there.^[4]

According to Boris Nadezhdin, an unregistered candidate for the 2024 Russian presidential election, he had told some of the amusing political stories that would later become the basis for the plot of play and film to the Kvartet I himself.^[5]