The television detective multi-part film “Zhurov” is the product of fruitful and creative collaboration between the directors Karen Hovhannisyan and Ilya Makarov. The first season of the project was released in 2009. In the wake of success, the second and third seasons of the Zhurov series were shot. Actors who played the main roles moved from one season to another without irreparable and cardinal losses.
The series is a light detective
The directors of the Zhurov project (the actors as one confirm this statement in their interviews) managed to create a series that is atypical for the domestic criminal genre. In it, blood does not flow, there are no characters of brutal appearance, mired in endless showdowns. The film by Makarov and Hovhannisyan is more like a comedy series, a light detective story. The picture, to some extent, with its atmosphere reminds a foreign television movie about Detective Colombo, the same eccentric lone detective, like the hero of a domestic television product. Each episode of the series "Zhurov" has a separate criminal plot, they are united only by a central character - Ivan Ivanovich Zhurov (Andrei Panin), an investigator of the provincial town prosecutor’s office, who is investigating a crime every time.
Central character
The investigator, like his foreign colleague, is sometimes excessively harsh, angry, but to a greater extent causes laughter and sympathy of the audience. The well-known actor Andrei Panin himself is rather eccentric by nature, so the image of his character turned out to be memorable and voluminous. However, unlike Colombo, who does not have psychological and social ties, as if outside society, Zhurov is represented as an ordinary person in modern reality: he has a difficult character, a humane approach, sometimes causing behavior and a truly bulldoggy grip. Such is the main character - I. I. Zhurov. Actors involved in the filming, repeatedly pointed out the similarity in the behavior of the protagonist and the aforementioned Colombo.
Short storyline
The storyline of the series “Zhurov” (season 1) can be characterized as follows: the story is twisted around a central character who reveals crimes, building complex logical chains, analyzing scarce evidence, revealing the psychology of the criminal. The main character, an experienced investigator of the Zadolsky prosecutor’s office, I. I. Zhurov, at the first meeting seems to be an unlucky, rustic eccentric. He travels on the battered beige “Victory”, out of musical genre diversity he prefers rock and roll, does not ignore the opportunity to add to alcoholic drinks.
The environment of the protagonist
The hero independently raises his daughter Elizabeth ("Zhurov" season 1 - actress S. Ivanova, season 2 - K. Romenkova). The investigator has a difficult relationship with the prosecutor-chief Luciena Pavlovna Ershova (actress Elena Safonova) and even more sophisticated romantic relationships with her colleague, forensic expert Natalya Feofanova (actress Olesya Sudzilovskaya). In addition, the man has another loyal friend - the mongrel Bug. Nothing can prevent the protagonist from revealing the most dead end, intricate cases that other prosecutors are shying away from. Moreover, his main weapon is a brilliant intellect, the investigator takes up arms exclusively in extreme cases.
Acting Ensemble
The series "Zhurov", whose actors are famous and dearly loved by a wide audience, is worth watching at least because of the excellent casting.
The object of romantic courtship of the protagonist - Natalia - was played by one of the most beautiful actresses of the national theater and cinema Olesya Sudzilovskaya. From early childhood, the actress was professionally engaged in rhythmic gymnastics and at the age of 14 she made her debut as a performer of the main role in the film V. Potapova “Mediator”. From 1990 to 2015, Olesya played in more than 62 films.
Actress Elena Safonova, who embodied on the screen L.P. Ershov, the prosecutor-chief of Zhurov, began acting in big films in the distant 1974. Her debut role was the image of Salome in the film "The Butterfly Return." Enormous popularity and love of the viewer Elena was brought by her heroine Olga, whom she played in the legendary Winter Cherry. In the period from 1992 to 1997, the actress simultaneously worked in Russia and in France. Abroad, the actress starred in five films, but Safonova in France did not receive such fame as at home.
Young talents
Actress Ksenia Romenkova joined the leading characters in the second season, transforming into the image of the daughter of the protagonist. Russian film and theater actress graduated with honors from the Theater School. MS Shchepkina, works under the direction of Sergei Artsibashev at the Pokrovka Theater. Her filmography includes only 11 films, but her colleagues and film critics predict a bright future for the performer.
Actor Ivan Mokhovikov, who played Mikhail Filatov, associate operative and assistant Zhurov, is tall. A native of Tallinn, after nine classes, he enrolled in the drama theater of the Russian Drama Theater, and subsequently successfully graduated from GITIS. Until 2004, the actor managed to star in eight films. Popular love brought him participation in the television project "Soldiers", in which Ivan Mokhovikov played the role of Kuzma. At the moment, his filmography contains more than thirty films.