Heart of a Dog

Original title: Sobachye serdtse

TV Movie
1988
PG
2h 16m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Farce Period Drama Satire Comedy Drama Sci-Fi

In the wake of the Russian revolution, Professor Preobrazhensky rescues a starving dog from the gutter, and attempts to transform him into a man. Based on Mikhail Bulgakov's novel of the sam... Read allIn the wake of the Russian revolution, Professor Preobrazhensky rescues a starving dog from the gutter, and attempts to transform him into a man. Based on Mikhail Bulgakov's novel of the same name.In the wake of the Russian revolution, Professor Preobrazhensky rescues a starving dog from the gutter, and attempts to transform him into a man. Based on Mikhail Bulgakov's novel of the same name.

Director
- Vladimir Bortko
Writers
- Nataliya Bortko
- Mikhail A. Bulgakov
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.5/10

9.4K

YOUR RATING

Director
- Vladimir Bortko
Writers
- Nataliya Bortko
- Mikhail A. Bulgakov
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win

Trivia
A dog named Karai was filmed in the role of Sharik. The owner and trainer of the dog is Yelena Nikiforova. The dog was in the service of the police and by the beginning of filming, the heroic mongrel had 38 arrests on its account. After "Heart of a Dog" Karay starred in four more films.

Quotes
Poligraf Poligrafovich Sharikov: You are wrong here. I didn't ask you to perform the operation, did I? A fine business! You go and grab hold of an animal, slice his head open... and now you're sick of him! I didn't give permission to operate on me, did I? Neither did my relatives. I guess I have the right to sue you.
Professor Filipp Filippovich Preobrazhensky: So you object to having been turned into a human being, do you? Maybe you'd prefer to be sniffing around garbage cans again? Or freezing under gateways?
Poligraf Poligrafovich Sharikov: Why do you keep on at me? Garbage cans, garbage cans! Perhaps I was making my living there. And what if I'd died under your knife? What d'you say to that, comrade?
Professor Filipp Filippovich Preobrazhensky: My name is Philip Philipovich. I'm no comrade of yours!
Poligraf Poligrafovich Sharikov: Oh sure, I know. Of course, how else, we're not your comrades! How could we? We understand, sir! We didn't go to universities. We never had a flat of fifteen rooms and a bathroom. Only now it is time to forget about all that.

Connections
Featured in Legends of World Cinema: Evgeny Evstigneyev

User reviews19

Review

Featured review

10/10

When your fantasy come true

After having read this incredible book by Mikhail Bulgakov I thought how Sharikov and Professor Preobrazhensky would look like in real life. Borthko found them! Sharikov and Professor are in the flesh! The satire and allegory of this superb piece of art is 'the cherry top'. I must confess, it's so rare when you see a film on the same pace of the book. The film is a brilliant screen where your fantasy heroes come true. Evstigneev's and Tolokonnikov's talent is irreplaceable! Did the director change anything from the book? God forbid, NO! Borthko has put every detail in this incredible masterpiece! It's that Bulgakov we see and would love to see! 10 out of 10!