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Kino International is proud to open Karen Shakhnazarov's THE RIDER NAMED DEATH on March 18, 2005 at the Quad Cinema in New York City.
Kino International is proud to announce the theatrical release of THE RIDER NAMED DEATH, a new film by renowned Russian director Karen Shakhnazarov (Jazzman, City Zero). After ranking as one of Russia's most popular local productions in 2004, RIDER premiered at last summer's Montreal Film Festival and is now set to open at the Quad Cinema in New York City on March 18, 2005.
A "sumptuous" (Ronnie Scheib, Variety) character study of Russian terrorist Boris Savinkov (played by Andrey Panin), THE RIDER NAMED DEATH tells the story of one of the most feared advocates of terrorist tactics at the turn of the 20th century in Russia. An active participant in the killing of Russian governors and ministers (including the 1904 assassination of Interior minister V. K. Plehve), Boris Savinkov became a leader of the terrorist faction of Russia's Socialist-Revolutionary Party. Perceived as moderates next to the Bolshevik party—which campaigned for a Communist revolution—the Socialist-Revolutionaries were a key segment of a broad leftist coalition opposing the regime of Nicholas II, the last Russian Tzar, before the Bolshevik Party assumed power in 1917.
The terror bombings carried out by Boris Savinkov eventually escalated into a nationwide wave of violence and protests usually referred to as the Russian Revolution of 1905—the Battleship Potemkin uprising was arguably one of the most significant proceedings of that period. In hindsight, Savinkov's terrorist network helped pressure Nicholas II to put an end to the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05) and finally authorize the publication of the October Manifesto—a document granting freedom of conscience, speech, meeting and association to all Russians.
Production designer Ludmila Kusakova and director Karen Shakhnazarov, who also acts as the Chairman of Russia's Mosfilm Cinema Concern, have reconstructed the Moscow of the early 1900s—with its unique alleys, palaces and houses—in an unprecedented 3000 square-meter lot.
With "gorgeous set design" (VARIETY), THE RIDER NAMED DEATH brings back Savinkov's terrorist years, mostly focusing on his love relationships and his obsessive drive to assassinate the Prince Sergei Aleksandrovich (played by Yasily Zotov). An in-depth exploration of the motives and intellectual justifications of a revolutionary assassin, THE RIDER NAMED DEATH portrays these controversial events with rare complexity, showing the diverse background of those who joined the terrorist cause against the crumbling Russian aristocracy.
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Rodrigo Brandão, Dir. of Publicity
Kino International
333 West 39th street - Suite 503
New York, NY 10018
http://www.kino.com
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