«OPERS»: CHRONICLES OF A HOMICIDE DEPARTMENT

Russia, 2004

ASDS studios

Adventure TV-series

9 parts: «Search for the Money» (2 parts), «Autocop» (2 parts), «The Peak Hour» (2 parts), «The Murderer’s Hand» (2 parts), «The Queen’s Last Novel»

A sequel to the adventures of a homicide squad: Larin, Abdulova, Dukalis, and, of course, their all-time boss, lieutenant colonel Yuri Alexandrovich Petrenko, aka «Mukhomor».

It’s the 21st century – the times and the life are changing, and our heroes are changing as well. World terrorism threat, juicy political scandals, and turncoat cops are the talk of the town. The militia often have to solve problems which are more important than a routine crime, thus, the new ««Opers»: Chronicles of a Homicide Department» is focused on that. The scene is set in one of the district Home Office divisions of St. Petersburg. The homicide detectives («operatives» or simply «opers») have to puzzle out complex and resounding cases. They are struggling with drug dealers, investigate into assassinations, try to bring into the open the guy blackmailing a well-known politician, and hunt a serial maniac killing militia men in St. Petersburg. Producer Olga Maneyeva says that in this project the Phoenix-film company has brought together creative forces capable of turning any series into a success. Starring are the actors of nation-wide popularity: Alexey Nilov, Sergei Selin, Yuri Kuznetsov, Anastassiya Melnikova, Ivar Kalnyns; vivid characters were created by no less gifted performers, such as Vladimir Shevelkov and young talents Yuri Tarasov and Natalya Scherbakova. Writer Tatyana Ustinova, a famous author of detective stories, makes an appearance in the episode «The Queen’s Last Novel».

First of all «Opers»: Chronicles of a Homicide Department’ is a film about people who are honest, conscientious, and genuinely devoted to their profession. They can work for modest salaries, risking their lives and seeing no days-off. One of the series’s stronger points is truthfulness of the characters and their actions; they are very life-like and realistic. Says Olga Maneyeva: «With the help of the splendid directors, such as Dmitry Svetozarov, Alexey Kozlov, Villen Novak, Vladimir Krainev, and Vsevolod Shilovsky, we are trying to reach maximum authenticity, which has always attracted and fascinated the viewers of the popular old films about the militia.» The cases dealt with by the homicide «opers» are large-scale and difficult. Each particular criminal story will be told in a two-part film, one of the squad members being the principal investigator. And even though it is round-the-clock work, the series will contain sequences disclosing the characters» inner world, their dreams and private lives.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• CREW
• CAST