PU-239 {THE HALF LIFE OF TIMOFEY BEREZIN} (TV)
Summary
This drama film, based on the short story collection "Pu-239 and Other Russian Fantasies" by Ken Kalfus, is about a Russian scientist's desperate attempts to make things right for his family after he suffers radiation poisoning. The story begins in a Moscow market as a lowly criminal, Shiv, swindles various merchants out of their money, and then spots a man, Timofey Berezin, holding a sign reading "Pu-239." Two days earlier, at a nuclear plant in the closed city of Skotoprigonyevsk-16, Timofey is dosed with extreme levels of radiation when a pipe malfunctions. He is quickly decontaminated and sent home, and he hides his condition from his young son as his wife Marina tends to him. Back at the plant, Timofey's bosses insist that he received only 100 rems of radiation, a survivable amount, and attempt to force him into signing a document saying that the "alleged accident" was his own fault, despite his many demands over the years for a backup safety system. He refuses, and is placed on indefinite leave without pay. In Moscow, Shiv and his two dimwitted sidekicks Vlad and Yegor play "car tag" and then receive an important address from their boss. Shiv talks to Oxsana, his prostitute girlfriend and mother of his son Andrei, and then heads off to a hardware store with Vlad and Yegor, where they bully the owner into paying his "protection" fee and then burn down his shop.
Timofey recovers his watch and badge that he was wearing at the time of the accident, and when he tests them in a machine, he discovers that he actually received a very large and fatal dose of radiation. At home, he avoids tells Marina the full truth, though begs her never to return to the plant for a job, and then hunt for butterflies with his son. Shiv then learns from Vlad and Yegor that they burnt down the wrong store, one in the territory of Starkov, Tusk's rival, for whom Tusk now demands $6,000 compensation from them. In his panic, Shiv injures a dog with his car, and Vlad and Yegor take advantage of the incident to extort money from the dog's owner. Tusk finds them and uses an abstract political metaphor as he orders them to recover the money, while elsewhere Timofey constructs a strange-looking harness and then tells Marina that he must travel to Moscow to look into a potential new job, recommended by his friend Prusokov. He bids her farewell, privately knowing that he is unlikely to ever see her again, and then spends time with his son, burying his watch and badge in a lead box and telling his son to dig it up if necessary. He reflects on the watch, which belonged to his grandfather and caused mouth cancer in its painters, as he sneaks back into the plant and steals a canister of plutonium.
Vlad and Yegor tell Shiv that they are well on their way to making their "half" of the money, reminding him to work on his own $3,000. Timofey heads for Moscow and purchases a monarch butterfly in a case for his son. Shiv spends time with Andrei and they chat about American folk heroes, but Oxsana then tells him that she has met someone new. Vlad and Yegor kidnap another dog for ransom, and Shiv heads to the market to make some fast cash and spots Timofey and his sign. He does not know what "Pu-239" means, but Timofey tells him that he can make far more than his $3,000 if they team up and explains that it is a powerful manmade isotope used in making nuclear bombs and that it could sell for vast amounts, of which he himself only needs $30,000 for Marina and the boy. He adds that there is only one correct, non-dangerous way to open the canister, which he is wearing in a harness. Elsewhere, Marina arrives home and finds men searching and testing her apartment, and Prusokov tells her that 100 grams of plutonium is missing and that there is no Moscow job. Shiv takes Timofey to see a casino to meet Tusk, though when he convinces his boss to come meet his new friend, Timofey is gone from the car. Tusk beats Shiv up and orders him to bring him the money by midnight. Panicking, Shiv calls Oxsana for cash, but she is with her new suitor and ignores him. Timofey reappears, growing increasingly ill, and Shiv hurriedly tells them that they might have another buyer: Starkov. At the same time, Vlad and Yegor realize that they have given the dog too much chocolate, and that it belongs to none other than Starkov himself. Shiv sweet-talks his way into a meeting with Starkov and attempts to bargain with him, and when Vlad and Yegor hear that Shiv is talking to the crime boss, they assume that he has betrayed them. Timofey calls Marina to tell her the truth as his health deteriorates, but when she mentions his trip to St. Petersburg, he realizes that the plant officials are listening in.
Shiv is upset to realize that Starkov himself is Oxsana's new lover, and Starkov, annoyed, calls off the deal. Timofey mails a letter and then asks Shiv for a ride to the train station, having given up hope of the sale, and the two men bond as they discuss their young sons. Vlad and Yegor assure Starkov that Shiv was lying, blaming him for both the store fire and the dog's death, which angers him greatly. In desperation, Shiv threatens Timofey with a knife, though Timofey states that he is "already dead" and cannot risk exposing his family. Shiv decides that he will do anything to ensure Andrei's future and heads for Tusk's lavish home. He tries to tell his boss about the valuable plutonium again, but, exasperated that he still does not have the money, Tusk shoots him dead. Vlad and Yegor soon arrive as well, and when Timofey removes a package, the butterfly, from Tusk's car, they misunderstand and kill him. They find the canister and open it, spilling its contents, and they snort some of what they assume is cocaine. Later, Timofey's son receives his letter and digs up the watch and badge, which Marina uses to blackmail the plant bosses into giving her money and plane tickets to Costa Rica, saying that the radiation on them and on Timofey's still-missing body can be traced back to them and prove their criminal neglect. Oxsana and Andrei are seen together, and Marina and her son board a plane to a better life.
Details
- NETWORK: HBO
- DATE: November 17, 2007 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 01:37:25
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 103727
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama; Crime and criminals; Russia
- SERIES RUN: HBO - TV, 2007
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Steven Soderbergh … Executive Producer
- George Clooney … Executive Producer
- Ben Cosgrove … Executive Producer
- Jennifer Fox … Executive Producer
- Armyan Bernstein … Executive Producer
- Zanne Devine … Executive Producer
- Peter Berg … Executive Producer
- Charlie Lyons … Producer
- Guy J. Louthan … Producer
- Miranda de Pencier … Producer
- Elena Jacobson … Associate Producer
- Rachel Eggebeen … Associate Producer
- Dmitry Shutko … Line Producer
- David Donaldson … Digital Intermediate Executive Producer
- Eva Prelle … Digital Intermediate Producer
- Scott Z. Burns … Director, Writer
- Ken Kalfus … Based on the story by
- Abel Korzeniowski … Music by
- Paddy Considine … Cast, Timofey Berezin
- Radha Mitchell … Cast, Marina Berezin
- Oscar Isaac … Cast, Shiv
- Jason Flemyng … Cast, Vladimir
- Nikolaj Lie Kaas … Cast, Tusk
- Steven Berkoff … Cast, Starkov
- Jordan Long … Cast, Yegor
- Melanie Thierry … Cast, Oxsana
- Valeriu Pavel Dan … Cast, Red Army Hero
- Kenneth Bryans … Cast, Prusokov
- Danya Baryshnikov … Cast, Tolya
- Connor McIntyre … Cast, Facility Director
- Derek Hutchinson … Cast, Facility Deputy
- Xenia Alina Grigore … Cast, Lap Girl
- Constantin Barbulescu … Cast, Hardware Store Owner
- Oana Cojocaru … Cast, Girl on Ladder
- Stefan Iancu … Cast, Andrei
- Florina Cercel … Cast, Shiv's Mother
- Lucia Maier … Cast, Shiv's Aunt
- Ioana Abur … Cast, Injured Dog Owner
- Denisa Bosca … Cast, Crying Kid
- Rudy Rosenfeld … Cast, Butterfly Man
- Irene Bagach … Cast, Victorya Secretsky
- Dan Chiriac … Cast, CD Seller
- Bogdan Farkas … Cast, Starkov's Bouncer
- Georgiana Andronic … Cast, Way Too Young
- Anatoli Ciumac … Cast, Flathead
- Florin Roata … Cast, Flathead