The Turkish Gambit

The Turkish Gambit is a 2005 Russian historical spy film, an adaptation of Boris Akunin's novel The Turkish Gambit featuring his most famous character, the detective Erast Fandorin. It was directed by Dzhanik Fayziev and written by Akunin himself. The film starred Marat Basharov, Yegor Beroyev, and Olga Krasko. The Turkish Gambit was a box office success, although it received mixed reviews from critics. Plot The film takes place in Bulgaria during the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878). Erast Fandorin is put on the trail of a Turkish agent who is trying to disrupt the Russian advance during the Siege of Plevna. The agent, known as Anwar Efendi, is a master of disguise and has excellent command of Russian. Change from the book Unlike the ending of the book, where French correspondent d'Hervais is exposed as being Anwar in disguise, in the film Anwar turns out to have been posing as a seemingly awkward and stupid Russian captain. In the book, unlike the film, Fandorin did not escape by clinging to the underbelly of a carriage but was actually released by the governor of Viddin Yusuf Pasha after winning a wager.