An Hour Before Dawn (Russian: За час до рассвета) is a 2021 Russian detective miniseries directed by Igor Zaytsev. The series stars Konstantin Khabensky, Andrey Burkovsky, and Artur Smolyaninov. Critics generally gave it mixed reviews.
Contents
Plot
The series is set in 1946. The protagonist, Captain Denis Zhuravlyov, recently returned from the front, joins the police. His strict superior is Major Sergey Shumeyko. Zhuravlyov must capture the dangerous criminal Klesh, and it soon becomes clear that life is far more complex than wartime.
Cast
Konstantin Khabensky — Major Sergey Shumeyko ("Satan")
Andrey Burkovsky — Captain Denis Zhuravlyov ("Ptakha")
Artur Smolyaninov — Dmitry Kopyrin ("Buyan")
Maria Lisovaya — Marina, waitress
Maxim Belborodov — Mikhail Tyagunov ("Kot")
Artur Vakha — Ivan Ivanov / Platon Glebov ("Graf")
Alena Mikhailova — Olga Smirnova
Vladimir Zaytsev — Alexander Yartsev, state security officer
Agnia Ditkovskite — Tatyana ("Lyalka"), nurse
Valeria Wegner — Oksana Savchenko
Alexandra Florinskaya — Elizaveta, brothel owner
Maxim Bityukov — Yegor Prosvirin, photographer
Vladimir Timofeev — Levushka, market fool
Ivan Agapov — Lev Timokhin
Evgeny Mundum — Viktor Antonov, former camp warden
Alexander Rapoport — British ambassador
Vyacheslav Grishechkin — Chief
Artyom Bystrov — Andrey Savchenko
Sergey Murzin — Chelpanov
Maxim Konovalov — Karas, gangster
Alexander Turavinin — "Shtepsel"
Alexey Kirsanov — "Artist"
Alexander Sokolovsky — "Olson"
Gleb Bochkow — Andrey Lukov, state security officer
Nikolay Machulsky — Vladimir Epifantsev, police officer from Moscow
Alexey Ushakov — Korenev
Vsevolod Yashkin — Zholudev
Stanislav Rumyantsev — Krylov
Evgeny Romantsov — Slutsky, police captain
Vladimir Chuprikov — Blumkin
Andrey Lebedev — Kolchin
Anastasia Stepanyuk — Ekaterina
Vladimir Shulga — Nikolai Spiridonov, restaurant maître d'
Production and reception
Filming took place in the Moscow region, mainly at abandoned factories. The small town setting was portrayed by Morozovsky Gorodok in Tver. The first trailer was released online on 18 January 2021. The series premiered on 16 February 2021 on More.tv, Wink, and KinoPoisk HD.
Critics initially saw the series as a Russian attempt at a British-style gangster drama similar to Peaky Blinders and a remake of the Soviet film The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed. The attempt was criticized for problems with the script, character development, and style. Comparisons were also made with the 2007 Russian series Liquidation. Columnist Valentina Lvova of Komsomolskaya Pravda commented that the series "did not succeed in capturing Klesh. Too much psychology for a comic, too little truth for good cinema". Some critics noted the series could not be taken seriously, describing it as having a "comic-book aesthetic" with "inside jokes". According to Fontanka.ru, "the series tries to combine the best traditions of Soviet cinema and modern trends — predictably unsuccessfully".
Director Igor Zaytsev responded that the series was not intended to resemble The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed or Liquidation and that online comments reflect "the opinion of a minority of dissatisfied viewers".