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Bender: The Beginning

Film202196 min6.4/10 on TMDB

Directed by Igor Zaytsev

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Russian Empire, 1919. By a twist of fate, young idealist Osip Zadunaisky meets an infamous con artist and self-proclaimed Turkish subject Ibrahim Bender. A man of pure thought and aristocratic upbringing, Osip would never have associated with a cunning and unscrupulous swindler, but Bender comes up with an offer Osip cannot refuse. A precious royal relic, a diamond-encrusted golden scepter is hidden somewhere in town; Bender needs a partner on his mission to find it, and offers Osip a share of the profit from selling the treasure. And so begins their joint venture, wrought with comical and dangerous twists and turns, where they have to outsmart and outmaneuver officers of the White Guard as well as the local mafia, who also have their eyes on the scepter. As their quest unfolds, Osip is compelled to learn Bender’s tricks of the trade: charming flattery, delicate deception, soft intimidation... as well as brute force.Read moreLess

Russian Empire, 1919. By a twist of fate, young idealist Osip Zadunaisky meets an infamous con artist and self-proclaimed Turkish subject Ibrahim Bender. A man of pure thought and aristocratic upbringing, Osip would never have associated with a cunning and unscrupulous swindler, but Bender comes up with an offer Osip cannot refuse. A precious royal relic, a diamond-encrusted golden scepter is hidden somewhere in town; Bender needs a partner on his mission to find it, and offers Osip a share of the profit from selling the treasure. And so begins their joint venture, wrought with comical and dangerous twists and turns, where they have to outsmart and outmaneuver officers of the White Guard as well as the local mafia, who also have their eyes on the scepter. As their quest unfolds, Osip is compelled to learn Bender’s tricks of the trade: charming flattery, delicate deception, soft intimidation... as well as brute force.

The story

Russian Empire, 1919. By a twist of fate, young idealist Osip Zadunaisky meets an infamous con artist and self-proclaimed Turkish subject Ibrahim Bender. A man of pure thought and aristocratic upbringing, Osip would never have associated with a cunning and unscrupulous swindler, but Bender comes up with an offer Osip cannot refuse. A precious royal relic, a diamond-encrusted golden scepter is hidden somewhere in town; Bender needs a partner on his mission to find it, and offers Osip a share of the profit from selling the treasure. And so begins their joint venture, wrought with comical and dangerous twists and turns, where they have to outsmart and outmaneuver officers of the White Guard as well as the local mafia, who also have their eyes on the scepter. As their quest unfolds, Osip is compelled to learn Bender’s tricks of the trade: charming flattery, delicate deception, soft intimidation... as well as brute force.

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Cast & crew

Sergey BezrukovSergey BezrukovIbrahim Suleiman Berta-Maria Bender-bay
Aram VardevanyanAram VardevanyanOstap Zadunayskiy
Nikita KologrivyyNikita KologrivyyMishka Yaponchik
Taisiya VilkovaTaisiya VilkovaEva Mahulskaya - swindler
Olexander TsekaloOlexander TsekaloMark Sokolovich
Yuliya RutbergYuliya Rutbergmadam Sokolovich
Olga SutulovaOlga SutulovaBender's mother
Yuri KolokolnikovYuri KolokolnikovGrigoriy Kotovskiy
Pavel DerevyankoPavel DerevyankoNestor Mahno
Garik KharlamovGarik KharlamovValiadis - host cabaret
Artyom TkachenkoArtyom TkachenkoAmetistov - staff captain
Explore the crew
Original Music Composer
Ryan Otter
Screenplay
Oleg Malovichko
Director
Igor Zaytsev
Director of Photography
Sergey Trofimov