User reviews

The 2 questions I came away with after watching this extraordinary movie were, does this kind of thing really happen in Russia, and is this really what Russia is like? I contacted my only Russian acquaintance about this, and he said the movie is an accurate, though exaggerated, depiction of small-town Russia. I was curious about his comment about the movie taking place in a small town; Russians live in massive apartment buildings in small towns? In fact not a whole lot about this film is small-townish, at least to this Canadian outsider. It feels like an urban nightmare, mostly taking place in or around this huge apartment building teeming with people, at a restaurant that's teeming with people as well - because the local government is throwing a big party for themselves - or along built-up streets. The most glaring indication that the setting is indeed a small town is when the government heads all get together in a small room to discuss an emergency situation, and we are introduced to an unsavoury ragtag assortment of drunken schemers who happen to have absolute control over the local population. There is nothing urbane about these people. It's made clear in The Fool, however, that this fiefdom's vulgarity is partly the result of trickle-down vulgarity from the federal level, and there's an underlying despondency among some of the local government officials as they seemingly have no other choice but to be corrupt. So you do get glimpses of decency and humanity within the fiefdom. But how can decency and humanity win amidst the corrupt, cutthroat, dog-eat-dog reality in modern Russia from the top down to the bottom. The Fool is a tale of a flower that attempts to grow in sewage, and what happens to it, and it is the tale of how people as individuals are affected when evil reigns. Some become evil themselves, some try to resist evil entirely, most take the middle road. Beyond that, The Fool is a story about people just trying to do the best they can for themselves and their families, and be happy despite overwhelming odds, and despite hopelessness all around them.

Newspaper articles in March of 2015 about an alleged political murder let us recall what we learned in school about cleptocracy, or government corruption in plain English. In hindsight, not a new phenomenon in contemporary Russia, existing for many years already, but it stayed for me under the radar until lately. The first time it drew my attention was in the form of a movie, Twilight Portrait (Nikonova 2011), albeit that it could be downplayed as the proverbial rotten apples spoiling it for the whole police force. Later on I saw two others extending the theme, namely A Long And Happy Life (Khlebnikov 2013) and Leviathan (Zvyagintsev 2014), both showing corruption as deep-rooted in the bureaucracy. Especially politicians seem more involved with their own career and wealth than in their care for the average citizen. It still can be much worse, however, as demonstrated in Durak (The Fool), written and directed by Yuriy Bykov. This time it seems that all of Russian society is infected with the same disease, not only politicians and related bureaucrats. His previous film The Major (2013) was more modest in scope, and confined to a well meant cover-up to protect the career of a fellow policeman.

Nevertheless, all these movies portray the same corruption in Russian society, only varying in scope and depth. Corruption seems extinguished in our Western society, and something that only still persists in third-world countries far away. Despite being no third world country, all aforementioned movies suggest that Russia is deeply soaked with corruption. It is something that Durak (The Fool) demonstrates in several scenes, showing that going along with the crowd in taking what you can get "everyone does it", is the only way to survive, even necessary to obtain at least a minimal level of comfort in your lives. It is precisely in these fine details that this movie excels. Apart from corruption, alcohol is shown to be a main source for comfort and relief of the daily boredom and poor circumstances. Another way to pass the time is fighting, mostly about lack of money or living space, usually both. It applies especially to the apartment building in question, showcasing how the lowest of the lower class live and how they interact with each other.

Durak's total running time of 116 minutes may seem long for modern viewers. Admittedly, it takes its time to outline many facts of contemporary life in Russia. We are lucky to be able to see that, and as such our time is far from wasted. I could only think of one single scene that took too long for my taste, while our main character Dima walks to the restaurant where the city council has a party to celebrate the mayor's 20-years anniversary. It is shown in the form of very long uninterrupted take while following Dima along empty streets and dark houses, apparently to show the absence of a lively city center. It succeeds in leaving the impression that everyone is at home, probably drinking or fighting as seems the common way to pass the time in the various apartments visited throughout the story.

All other scenes serve their purpose very well in zooming in on the people and their motives. Take for instance the meeting with department heads convened by the mayor, where Dima has the opportunity to explain the problem and its urgency. The next scene shows Dima, accompanied by two of the department heads, how he convincingly demonstrates the sorry state of the building. Upon their return to the meeting and the seriousness is sinking in, everyone is very busy with establishing the impact on their own position, anticipating the findings of an afterward investigation when the apartment building really would collapse. It makes clear to us that the corruption is not limited to this city council alone, but extends to the levels above them. In other words, there is no simple way to get loose from this tangled web. The mayor and the department heads play their roles very well, and we have ample chance to observe their dilemma's and their reasoning which actions to take (or not).

Dima's family life is also portrayed very well in several parts of the story. The opening scene shows him studying for an exam to get a civil engineering degree, while his mother says it is a waste of time. Instead, he should rather "give" the examiners something to assure good marks. A similar discussion is about Dima's refusal to steal pipes from the factory where he works, in spite of "everyone else does it".

The central theme of the story is whether the city council will act responsibly and evacuate the apartment building, not an easy task while other premises to accommodate 820 people has to be found. I do not want to reveal further developments for spoilers sake. It can scatter in all directions until the very end, and indeed some unexpected turns of events are part of the deal here. Ultimately, there are no winners, only losers. It is very depressing all over, but I don't think a positive ending is reasonably possible in these circumstances.

All in all, acted and shot very well. Actors perform believably, even the "bad" ones. We get a good feeling why they do what they do. Actually they seem to have little alternative. That also is sadly the case for the inhabitants of the apartment building, who we observe in miserable circumstances, riddled with alcohol, noise and violence. The only problem I have with Durak (the Fool) is, that it is indeed depressingly black all over. Apart from Dami, it was totally devoid of gray and white, while aforementioned other movies with the same theme showed at least a few decent and honest people, leaving room for the conclusion that the average citizen lives a normal life, neither through-and-through corrupt (bureaucrats) nor without hope (lower classes).

The setup is fairly simple, during a violet domestic dispute about stolen money that serves as the film's prologue, a water pipe bursts. The whole scene underscores what is to come: a tale of a corrupt society teetering on the brink of disaster socially, economically and politically.

The hero of the film, Dima, the "durak" (fool) of the title of the film, is a bright young plumber on the way up in the world. After inspecting the damage, he soon realises that the burst pipe is merely evidence of a much larger issue: the entire block of flats is falling apart and will do so in 24 hours. While this should have been rectified during regular renovations of the building, the funds to do so were skimmed off the top by the local head of the housing organisation.

In response, Dima goes right to the very top of the provincial town in an attempt to save the lives of the occupants. Is anyone going to be motivated to act, however, if they have already been bleeding the system dry until now? Perhaps covering their own backs will prove the only motivation.

A brilliant film: one where you truly don't know whether to laugh or cry. From my time in Ukraine though, I dread just how accurate this slice of modern small town Russian life is.

Durak is a gem of a movie. It showcases a rare combination of suspense and philosophical questioning, rendering it a very entertaining film that leaves you thinking about it way past the end credits.

The characters in Durak are well developed, even those that do not get a lot of screen time. We get to know them, see how they live, understand their priorities and their motives. Deeper than that though, where the movie really excels is in exposing the nature and mighty power of the highly entangled system of corruption and how each individual character is both its co-creator and its puppet.

In a city with a corrupt council, a 9-floor high building block is about to collapse. It needs to be urgently evacuated. The corrupt city officials face the prospect of criminal proceedings against them if hundreds of tenants die under the rubles. Will they be able to rise above the profitable network of kickbacks and favors that they have been milking for a long time? Or have they been diving too deep into the sweet scum of corruption to get into the surface on time to actually do something useful for their poor citizens?

What about the poor citizens themselves? Living for decades in a dilapidated building under miserable circumstances, one would guess that change is what they desperately need. But 30 years is a long time. It is time enough for people to get used to the situation, to get to know to hate it, but also to cling to it at the same time as the only tangible piece of reality that still belongs to them. Reality in the form of a derelict pile of bricks that nevertheless stands as a barrier between their life on the one hand and death lurking in the snowy streets on the other. A pile of bricks where corruption also thrives, with a thread made of vodka and violence menacing the residents but also structuring the network of reality around them. Will they be willing to forgo everything and start anew or are they also too entangled to a mighty system of their own, unable to leave it behind even in the prospect of imminent death?

The force that poses these questions and stirs things up is the protagonist, Durak. He sees reality as it is and is determined to do something about it. He has no other choice, letting things be and following the song of the Sirenes of corruption is just not like him. He is the Socratean fly that sends ripples through the system, that forces the system to face its own stink and atrocity. What does that make him? The Hero or the Fool?

Do not be mistaken and take a comfortable distance from this movie, classifying it as an interesting depiction of corruption in Russia. This is not about Russia, this movie is about you. In whatever place you might live, it's you that is also noticing the web of corruption around you and the injustice, the desperation and the misery that it causes. It's you that decides to silently take part in it, in little or greater measure, or at least let it be and try to make a living somehow. It's you that keeps thinking from time to time that someone needs to do something about it all, that you need to take action to help people, to help yourself. But what would that make you? The Hero or Durak, the Fool?

This movie could be a documentary on Russian society, it's hopes and fears, it's ideology, the eternal conflict between people and government officials, the dark and hopeless landscape of human minds where one can still choose to be human.

As a Russian myself, having lived in my homeland for 34 years already, I can say that there's nothing that will tell you more about Russians than this movie. It is not a heroic WW2 nonsense, not a dumb czar era pictures, but modern life as it is. The things you will see in the film are definitely depressing and hopeless, showing the state of decay in society «God created this kind of life and he made us live it.».

I am surprised that this movie didn't get more attention. "The fool" is such an interesting and unique movie, set in a poor town in Russia, where corruption is a big issue. This movie focuses a lot on the characters motivations and morals, even though the topic of political corruption is so often made into a "evil big politics vs good poor people" theme, this movie tries to be more grey in its depiction. Instead of just showing you political higher ups that are just assholes for the movies sake, it goes deeper and presents its whole system as flawed and as a result people only caring about themselves. The plot revolves a lot around the question of responsibility and sacrifices. The characters are relatable and the movie can create so much tension, the acting is good overall and in some scenes it really shines. The atmosphere created by its music and camera shots was perfectly fitting to the scene, from long drawn out shots with jarring noises that makes you feel the cold of this Russian winter, to conversations in conference rooms which makes you feel claustrophobic. Overall I would say that this movie is perfectly made, from its very gripping story to its interesting questions about morality.

The Russian film Durak (2014/II) was shown in the U.S. with the title "The Fool." Yuriy Bykov was the writer and director. The overall theme is consistent with Dostoevsky's "The Idiot." In that novel, Prince Lyov Nikolayevich Myshkin is an honest, kind, helpful person. No once can believe that anyone could truly be this good, and that's why the call him an idiot.

In a small Russian city, Syn Dimy (played by Gordey Kobzev) is also an honest, kind, helpful person, and no one respects him for it. He's a low- ranking foreman of a municipal plumbing repair crew. Syn discovers that one of the municipal housing units is about to collapse. He reports this to the authorities, but no one wants to hear it.

In a previous film by Bykov--The Major--we learned that the police department was a cesspool of corruption. In The Fool, we learn that the entire municipal system is based on corruption. Everyone is on the take. No one really cares about the 820 people in the building. The only question is how to continue in positions of power and affluence after the building collapses.

This is a brilliant, but very grim film. There's no humor in it. We saw it in the excellent Dryden Theatre at The George Eastman Museum in Rochester, NY. It's primarily set indoors--in the night club where the mayor is celebrating her 50th birthday, or in the doomed building, which houses very poor, very angry people. It will work well on the small screen. It's a movie you don't want to miss. Find it an see it.

Yuri Bykov's "Durak" ("The Fool" in English) looks as the current state of affairs in Russia. This story of a plumber facing an intractable bureaucracy when he tries to draw people's attention to a precarious apartment building is merely one look into an oligarchic society that's seen little infrastructural and political advancement since the Soviet collapse. Indeed, the city government seems as hopeless as the private citizens. The truth is, none of this should come as a surprise. Boris Yeltsin turned Russia into a kleptocracy. Vladimir Putin stabilized the economy but restored the Soviet-era authoritarianism. Corruption has dominated the country ever since the USSR collapsed (and was certainly widespread in Soviet times).

"The Fool" is mostly an indictment of Putin's Russia, but can be seen as an indictment of any society in which corruption is so ingrained that the citizens practically accept it. Worth seeing.

I have heard before that Bykov's films tend to be depressing and cruel, so I was ready, but it still exceeded my expectations.

The storyline depicts a harsh reality where all authorities are corrupted and rotten and don't care about the danger which their citizens are facing. What strikes me most is that the ordinary people are too wasted and indifferent to all the injustice and corruption around - they only drink and turn a blind eye, or maybe they just act stupid. As a citizen of Russia myself, I found the described reality there quite convincing.

And only one guy was willing to help these hopeless people and was brave enough to change something. Or stupid enough, perhaps that's the word. He didn't realise that those people don't need to be saved or that he might fall victim to his own good will.

I recommend watching it only if you are ready to see a harsh social drama about faults of humanity.

One of the best movie I've been ever seen.

It shows how system is corrupted and smash others easily. Like my country Iran.

Great all people who made it.

Watch and enjoy it. Alas , it deserves Oscar.

Yes, it's always a pleasure to see critics and statements of real worls political and social injustice. That's said, social activism isn't a sufficient condition to make a film good.

In this movie characters don't seem real, their speeches are too artificial and the underlying message is unnecessarily spelled out explicitly a bit too many times, to the point of not having characters talking naturally but instead stating their fictional narrative purpose. The guys just don't seem real and don't have personality because they are too busy pointing at the themes of this story. Directing too is a bit off-tempo, with pointless scenes inserted into the final cut for no reason. The word that comes to mind when I think of this movie is "shallow". Wanna see the same themes treated with much more cure and technique? See Leviathan, you'll end up loving the characters with less shock-value scenes and more credible dynamics. Overall for sure not a deserved avg 8/10 stars.

This movie is so realistic and true, it shook me deeply. Even though I consider Russian actors very good, the actors here were so brilliant, I was surprised. Also, this could easily be a town in Serbia. So, it's not that the Russians are corrupted and evil and un-humane, it just happens that circumstances made them corrupted, evil etc. The same situation is in Serbia, even worse. Sad, but true.

In the wake of the tragic Rana Plaza accident ten years ago, where hundreds lost their lives due to the authorities' negligence, a surprising film has emerged from Russia that tells a similar story. "Durak" in Russian and "The Fool" in English, is a hyperrealistic depiction of disenfranchised people living in squalid buildings. Plumber Nikitin discovers a crack in a water pipe leak in a building where 820 people reside, and realizes that the building could collapse at any moment. He rushes to alert the city's administrative officials, who are drunk and dancing at a party. With great difficulty, he convinces them of the impending danger, but soon realizes the complexity of the situation. Where will 820 people be moved, and how will the allocation of 120 million rubles for building renovation be spent? Corruption runs deep in every vein of the city, and saving the lives of 820 people would mean exposing the truth and risking jail time.

The film offers nerve-wracking dialogues and incredible portrayals of characters. The music and acting were top-notch, and the story's complexity kept the tension in check. The connection to the Rana Plaza incident was uncanny, but even without that bias, "Durak" is a classic. It highlights the struggles of disenfranchised people and the corruption that runs deep in our society. Watching this movie reminded me of Himu, another 'fool' who fought for his life during the Rana Plaza incident and took part in the rescue operation like a madman. Unable to recover from the trauma of the incident, he eventually committed suicide by setting himself on fire out of anger and resentment towards the system. "Durak" leaves a powerful message that we need more idiots like Nikitin to fight the corrupt system and create a better world.

During a nightly emergency repair a plumber discovers that the appartment building is in a really bad shape and is about to collapse. He comes into action but the municipal administration and the real estate mafia (who turn out to be connected inseparably) let their own (financial) interests prevail.

"Durak" is of the same year as "Leviathan" (2014, Andret Zvyagintsev) and about the same subject (real estate corruption in Russia). "Durak" is a bit less philosophical but it has a thriller element in the form of the appartment building that can collapse every minute.

In Dutch "Doerak" means "rascal". In Russian "Durak" means "fool". The title of the film says something about the Russian society, because in Western eyes the main charachter of the film is not a fool but a hero. In Russia however, they look different at these things. Not only is the real estate maffia not amused with the actions of the pluber, so are his wife (you bring the family into danger) and the occupants of the appartment building (leave us alone).

The appartment building may be in danger of collapsing, the Russian society has already collapsed in the film, permeated as it is with cynism in all layers of society.

By the way, also in the Western world there are accidents attributable to deferred maintenance. Remember the 2017 fire in the Grenfelltower (England), an appartment building with mainly poor occupants and poor fire safety.

I'm going to start with the ending on this one. Don't worry, I'm not doing spoilers. The film's cliffhanger ending left me thinking "what the bloody hell?!", and I was very disappointed. However, pondering over the ending, I later thought this was actually a brilliant way to end the movie.

So often, when disaster strikes, the media reports evidence showed the disaster was bound to happen at any stage, and this or that could have been done to prevent the disaster. 'The Fool' explores just that. With all the signs indicating impending disaster, officials still chose to look away.

'The Fool' tells the story of events leading up to a disaster. Take note, though, this is NOT a disaster movie. This is the drama surrounding irrefutable proof of disaster. When plumber Dima is sent to inspect a burst water pipe at a dilapidated building housing around 800 lower income tenants, he is the first to notice the dangerous conditions.

Fearing the worst, he warns the mayor Nina - who is celebrating her 50th birthday - of the dangers. His findings indicate the building won't stand another day, and about 820 tenants must be evacuated immediately. With most of the officials required to attend to the matter at the party - and most of them drunk - this proves to be an almost impossible task.

The circumstances surrounding the building uncover far more than just a building on the verge of collapse. It involves fraud, bribery and corruption all the way to the top. Corruption always has a domino effect, and this is illustrated so incredibly well in 'The Fool'. There are also far-reaching consequences going way beyond just a building.

The performances are excellent and the script and the film's pacing keeps the viewer glued to the screen and on the edge of your seat. I never expected the film to be this nail-biting. And then that ending, which leaves the viewer speculating as to what might happen next...

I've been on a streak of Russian movies recently, and the only reason I don't rate The Fool as much is the fact that I watched Zvyagintsev's Leviathan, Loveless and Elena beforehand.

The story is good, believable, and I have no doubt that Russian society, as much as any Balkan country's, is deeply corrupt and rotten to the core.

However, I can't help but notice with how much more style Zvyagintsev pulled off his stories on corruption compared to Bykov.

There is too much exposition, almost all the characters tell each other everything explicitly; the officials accuse each other of corruption, the mother points out each and every detail of their lives, etc. This movie would be so much better if some things were left unsaid and just left up to interpretation of the viewer.

This movie hits different if you are part of a similar corrupt society. Most reviews (at least the most liked ones) here are by Westerners who can never really comprehend the magnitude of corruption in our societies.

As a Bangladeshi this movie got me on personal levels. Here it is a open secret that every officials from the administrative body is corrupt. It is almost an impossible task to be completely honest. Even if someone tries to avoid corruption he/she will be deserted by the rest of the corrupt officials. Corruption is so widespread that bribing is a regulatory act in government offices. We see development on the surface just like that 9-storied building but underneath it the ground is rotten and unstable. We all know it will ultimately be us who will suffer the dire consequences but are we doing anything to change it? The answer is NO. Neither the government nor the public are doing anything to challenge the status quo. Even if we have someone like Dima raising their voices but they eventually got shut and the journey continues to abyss.

This movie also reminds me of Crime and Punishment if you exclude the 'Crime'.

In a world of hopelessness be the beacon of hope that Dima represents.

Yuri Bykov is one of the best modern directors. The plot is not as simple as it seems at first glance: these are right, these are to blame, this is what needs to be done, But with each frame, what is happening twists and turns out.

The director simply plays with the feelings of the viewer, dispassionately revealing each side of the conflict.

The movie is really good!