Released 1997
Stars Aleksandr Lazarev, Yelena Korikova, Tatiana Krivitskaya, Angelica Nevolina
Directed by Vyacheslav Krishtofovich

Today in the Ukraine, it's possible to buy and sell almost anything - drugs, sex, booze, and murder. The Black Market is booming, and Kiev's sidestreets are teeming with drug dealers, prostitutes, and contract killers. In this new environment, someone like Anatoli (Alexandre Lazarev), a reserved intellectual who was trained to be a translator in English and French, finds himself without work or self-respect. His wife, a successful advertising executive, is about to leave him for another man, and there's nothing he can do about it. One day, he casually mentions his problems to a friend, Dima (Eugen Pachin), who suggests putting out a hit on his wife's lover. With surprising rapidity, Dima puts Anatoli in contact with Kostia (Constantin Kostychin), who accepts the job over the phone, without meeting his client face-to-face. But, instead of providing Kostia with his wife's lover's description, Anatoli gives the killer a picture of himself, figuring that arranging his own murder offers a quick and painless way out of a dreary life. But, when a tryst with a prostitute (Tatiana Krivitska) re-invigorates Anatoli and causes him to change his mind, it's too late to call off the hit.

A Friend of the Deceased's primary asset is that it offers an insider's perspective of the labyrinthine workings of contemporary Kiev, and how the transition from the old ways to the new ones have overturned the values and shifted the balance of a society. (At one point, a character remarks, "Before we had friendships. Now we have business relationships.") It's a plus that the movie is well-acted, gripping, and populated with enough bizarre twists to keep even a casual viewer involved. Although not a masterpiece, A Friend of the Deceased is a strong and worthwhile effort from an acclaimed Ukrainian director.

Summary by James Berardinelli