Mirror for a Hero

{{Infobox film

| name = Mirror for a Hero

| image = Mirror_for_a_Hero.jpg

| caption =

| director = Vladimir Khotinenko

| writer = Nadezhda Kozhushanaya

| starring = Sergey Koltakov
Ivan Bortnik

| music = Boris Petrov

| cinematography = Evgeniy Grebnev

| editing =

| producer =

| story =

| studio = Sverdlovsk Film Studio

| released = {{film date|1987|3|14|Documentary Film Center|ref1={{cite encyclopedia|editor-last=Arkus|editor-first=Lyubov|url=http://russiancinema.ru/template.php?dept_id=3&e_dept_id=&e_movie_id=2368 |title=Зеркало для героя|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Domestic Cinema|publisher=Seans|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111129142837/http://russiancinema.ru/template.php?dept_id=3&e_dept_id=&e_movie_id=2368 |archive-date= 2011-11-29|language=ru}}|1988|4|16|Soviet Union}}

| runtime = 130 minutes

| country = Soviet Union

| language = Russian

}}

Mirror for a Hero ({{langx|ru|Зеркало для героя|Zerkalo dlya geroya}}) is a 1987 Soviet two-part science fiction drama film directed by Vladimir Khotinenko based on the short story of the same name by Stanislav Rybas.{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://art.niv.ru/doc/encyclopedia/kino/articles/3873/zerkalo-dlya-geroya.htm|title=Зеркало для героя|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Cinema|date=2010|via=art.niv.ru|access-date=2019-05-29|language=ru}}

Plot

Metropolitan psychologist-linguist Sergei Pshenichny (Sergey Koltakov), soon after quarreling with his father (Felix Stepun) on ideological grounds, meets with former mining engineer Andrei Nemchinov (Ivan Bortnik), who recently returned from prison, at a concert by the rock band Nautilus Pompilius.

After the concert, Sergei and Andrei, passing through the city park, see that a film shooting is taking place, about the post-war time. To get a better look at what is happening on the set, they decide to climb over the park fence, but hit some cable lying on the ground and get transferred into the past — in the late 1940s.

But this test for Sergei and his random acquaintance does not end. Every time the night passes and morning begins, the day is always May 8, 1949. They relive the same day over and over again, trying to break the loop. Meanwhile, Sergei gets acquainted with the younger version of his parents (his mother currently being pregnant with him), and Andrei with his 10-year-old self. Eventually the loop breaks and the characters return to the present.

Cast

Sergey Koltakov as Sergei Pshenichny
Ivan Bortnik as Andrei Nemchinov
Felix Stepun as Kirill Pshenichny, the father of Sergei
{{ill|Boris Galkin|ru|Галкин, Борис Сергеевич}} as young Kirill Pshenichny
{{ill|Natalia Akimova|ru|Акимова, Наталья Валентиновна}} as young Lida, the mother of Sergei
Elena Golyanova as Roza
{{ill|Yakov Stepanov|ru|Степанов, Яков}} as Sashka the tanker (voiced by Avangard Leontiev)
Viktor Smirnov as director of the mine Tyukin
{{ill|Nikolai Stotsky|ru|Стоцкий, Николай Викторович}} as miner Fyodor Petrenko
{{ill|Sergey Parshin|ru|Паршин, Сергей Иванович}} as Stakhanovite miner Pukharev
{{ill|Alexander Vasilyevich Peskov|ru|Песков, Александр Васильевич|lt=Alexander Peskov}} as policeman Ryabenko
Elena Kozlitina as Sergei's wife

Production

Filming took place in the city of Donetsk, and in Donetsk (villages of Abakumov, Karl Marx, Makeyevka, Kurahivka) and Voroshilovgrad (village of Bokovo-Platovo) oblasts.{{cite web|url=https://www.vokrug.tv/product/show/zerkalo_dlya_geroya/|website=Vokrug TV|title=Зеркало для героя|access-date=2019-05-29|language=ru}}

Music

At the beginning of the movie, there is the Russian version of Smith's Sérénade from La jolie fille de Perth, an opera by Georges Bizet (singing Gennady Pishchayev).{{cite web

|url=https://yeltsin.ru/news/zerkalo-dlya-geroya-roditelyam-posvyashaetsya/

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|title="Зеркало для героя": родителям посвящается

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|title=Кинофильм "Зеркало для героя", режиссер Владимир Хотиненко. Серенада из оперы Бизе "Пертская красавица"

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|quote=}}{{cite web

|url=https://www.radioblago.ru/vremyakultury/gennadiy-pishaev-2

|title=Говорит Геннадий Пищаев

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Awards and nominations

The film's screenwriter Nadezhda Kozhushanaya was nominated for the Nika Award for Best Screenplay in 1988,{{cite web|url=http://kino-nika.com/page90242.html|title=Номинанты Национальной кинематографической премии "Ника" за 1988 год.|website=kino-nika.com|publisher=Nika Award|access-date=2019-05-29|language=ru}} while director Vladimir Khotinenko received the Special Jury Prize for the film at the All-Union Film Festival in Baku in 1988{{cite encyclopedia|editor-last=Arkus|editor-first=Lyubov|url=http://russiancinema.ru/template.php?dept_id=3&e_dept_id=4&e_prize_id=21 |title=ВКФ (Всесоюзный кинофестиваль)|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Domestic Cinema|publisher=Seans|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110107221019/http://russiancinema.ru/template.php?dept_id=3&e_dept_id=4&e_prize_id=21 |archive-date= 7 January 2011 |language=ru}} and the {{ill|Vittorio De Sica Prize|it|Premio Vittorio De Sica}} in Italy in 1989.{{cite news|last=D'Agostini|first=Paolo|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1989/09/22/sorrento-incontra-italia.html|title=Sorrento incontra l'Italia|work=la Repubblica|date=22 September 1989|access-date=2019-05-29|language=it}}{{cite web|url=http://www.premivittoriodesica.it/ricerca.php?anno=1989|title=Premiati 1989|website=premivittoriodesica.it|publisher=Vittorio De Sica Prize|access-date=2019-05-29|language=it}}