

Russia has a surfeit of overqualified graduates. Nastya Sokolova is one of them. Her career, if you can call it that, gave her a plethora of unexpected work experiences: from desk slave in banking to head bookkeeper of an illegal brothel. The film’s eight tableaus detail the various workplaces, colleagues and situations. To finish it off: deadpan commentary.
Status
Released
Original Language
RU

A loose remake of “12 Angry Men”, “12” is set in contemporary Moscow where 12 very different men must unanimously decide the fate of a young Chechen accused of murdering his step-father, a Russian army officer. Consigned to a makeshift jury room in a school gymnasium, one by one each man takes center stage to confront, connect, and confess while the accused awaits a verdict and revisits his heartbreaking journey through war in flashbacks.

The main characters of the film are members of the group "Nastya" Nastya Poleva and Yegor Belkin. The half-hour half-documentary tape included footage taken by Balabanov in 1985-1990. In addition to the main characters, the documentary footage captured many prominent figures of Sverdlovsk rock club, in particular Vyacheslav Butusov, Leonid Porokhnyu, and local actors.