The Compassionate One
- Directed by
- Alexander Naumov
- Starring
- Natalya Kurdyubova | Kamila Vlasenkova | Pak Hyok Su | Valery Garkalin | Timur Bokancha
An ordinary cop finds out he may not be quiet so ordinary after all in this comedy from Russian filmmaker Alexander Naumov. Starley (Anexander Seridenko) is a Moscow police officer who spends most of his time looking after the hard-drinking louts who are regular visitors to the local drunk tank. One day, Starley's rounds leads him to cross paths with Rikhartha (Hek Su Pak), a Buddhist monk who is convinced the spirit of the Buddha lives inside the policeman's body. Soon Rikhartha and his fellow monks are chanting outside the police station each day, and the local media picks up on the story of the cop who may also be the reincarnation of a spiritual icon. Starley grows tired of this unwanted attention, and he asks Paramonov (Aleksey Maklakov), a frequent detainee at the drunk tank, to help him find a place to get away for a few days. Paramonov takes Starley home to Kutuzofsk, a small and run-down village where he lives with his daughter. The news about Starley hasn't spread to Kutuzofsk, but it isn't long before the cop begins to feel as if there may be a spiritual force lurking within him after all. Miloserdny (aka The Compassionate One) received its United States premiere at the 2009 Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose, California.