The Half Life of Timofey Berezin (2006)

Director:

Scott Z. Burns

Writers (WGA):

Scott Z. Burns (screenplay)
Ken Kalfus (short story "PU-239")

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

His family's future depends on one unstable element.

Plot:

A worker at a Russian nuclear facility gets exposed to a lethal dose of radiation. In order to provide for his family, he steals some plutonium and sets out to sell it on Moscow's black market with the help of an incompetent criminal. |

Plot Keywords:

Black Market | Plutonium | Terminal Illness | Russia | Radiation Poisoning

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Paddy Considine	...	Timofey
Oscar Isaac	...	Shiv
Valeriu Pavel Dan	...	Red Army Hero
Kenneth Bryans	...	Prusokov
Radha Mitchell	...	Marina
Danya Baryshnikov	...	Tolya
Connor McIntyre	...	Facility Director
Derek Hutchinson	...	Facility Deputy
Jason Flemyng	...	Vlad
Jordan Long	...	Yegor
Xenia Alina Grigore	...	Lap Girl
Mélanie Thierry	...	Oxsana
Constantin Barbulescu	...	Dmitri
Oana Cojocaru	...	Svetlana
Stefan Iancu	...	Andrei
Florina Cercel	...	Valentina
Lucia Maier	...	Olga
Ioana Abur	...	Injured Dog Owner
Denisa Rosca	...	Crying Kid
Nikolaj Lie Kaas	...	Tusk
Rudy Rosenfeld	...	Butterfly Man
Irene Bagach	...	Victorya Secretsky
Dan Chiriac	...	CD Seller
Steven Berkoff	...	Starkov
Bogdan Farkas	...	Starkov's Bouncer
Georgiana Andronic	...	Way Too Young
Anatoli Ciumac	...	Flathead
Florin Roata	...	Flathead
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mihai Bendeac	...	Random Worker (uncredited)
Ioan Brancu	...	TV Vendor (uncredited)
Matyelok Gibbs	...	Ana (uncredited)
Sophia Lansky	...	Additional Voices (uncredited) (voice)
Derren Nesbitt	...	Pepsi (uncredited)
Bogdan Uritescu	...	Foreman (uncredited)
Yoshinori Yamamoto	...	Japanese Business Man (uncredited)

Directed by
Scott Z. Burns

Writing credits (WGA)
Scott Z. Burns		(screenplay)
Ken Kalfus		(short story "PU-239")

Produced by
Peter Berg	....	executive producer
Armyan Bernstein	....	executive producer
George Clooney	....	executive producer
Ben Cosgrove	....	executive producer
Miranda de Pencier	....	producer
Zanne Devine	....	executive producer
Rachel Eggebeen	....	associate producer
Jennifer Fox	....	executive producer
Elena Jacobson	....	associate producer
Guy J. Louthan	....	producer
Charlie Lyons	....	producer
Vlad Paunescu	....	producer
Dmitry Shutko	....	line producer: Moscow
Steven Soderbergh	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Abel Korzeniowski

Cinematography by
Eigil Bryld

Film Editing by
Tatiana S. Riegel
Leo Trombetta

Casting by
Nancy Bishop
Susan Bluestein
Kate Dowd
Camille St. Cyr

Production Design by
Tom Meyer

Art Direction by
Adrian Curelea
Sorin Popescu

Set Decoration by
Oana Marinescu
Alexandra Botoi Tudorache

Costume Design by
Oana Paunescu

Makeup Department
Daniela Busoiu	....	makeup artist
Catalin Ciutu	....	key hair stylist
Letitia Ghenea	....	assistant makeup artist
Marese Langan	....	hair designer
Marese Langan	....	makeup designer
Cristina Temelie	....	assistant hair stylist
Andreea Tudose	....	assistant makeup artist

Production Management
Eugen Dinca	....	unit production manager: Romania
Jasmine Kosovic	....	post-production supervisor
Mark L. Mitchell	....	post production executive
Bogdan Moncea	....	executive in charge of production
Ovidiu Stoia	....	location unit manager
Nancy Rae Stone	....	executive in charge of production
Jennifer Wynne	....	unit production manager: UK

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ovidiu Paunescu	....	third assistant director
Kieron Phipps	....	first assistant director
Alexandra Puia	....	second assistant director
Ksenia Shchedrina	....	second assistant director: Moscow

Art Department
Alexandru Dinca	....	props
Viorel Ghenea	....	property master
Andreea Gherghel	....	on-set dresser
Puscariu Grigore	....	assistant art director
Adi Handac	....	props
Christian Niculescu	....	production designer: Romania
Andi Rosu	....	props buyer
Rosca Stefan	....	painter
Monica Timofte	....	assistant art director
Adrian Ungureanu	....	lead painter

Sound Department
Rick Ash	....	sound
Keith Bilderbeck	....	sound effects editor
Kelly Cabral	....	supervising sound editor
Melissa A. Corns	....	sound effects editor
Robert Edwards	....	adr recordist
Peter Gleaves	....	adr mixer
Jon Johnson	....	sound
Val Kuklowsky	....	adr editor
Michael Miller	....	adr mixer
Chris Navarro	....	adr recordist
Simon Price	....	adr supervisor
Miguel Rivera	....	dialogue & adr editor
Gabriel J. Serrano	....	sound recordist
Edward M. Steidele	....	foley artist
Lauren Stephens	....	sound effects editor
Andy Thompson	....	adr mixer
Eric Thompson	....	adr mixer
Chris Trent	....	foley mixer
Jerry Trent	....	foley artist

Special Effects by
Laurence Harvey	....	senior special effects technician
Lucian Iordache	....	special effects supervisor
Jason Troughton	....	special effects supervisor
Ovidiu Veliscu	....	special effects technician

Camera and Electrical Department
Toni Cartu	....	director of photography: second unit
Calin Catalin	....	gaffer
Sean Connor	....	first assistant camera
Gabriel Kosuth	....	additional photographer
Peter Robertson	....	Steadicam operator
Oliver Upton	....	still photographer

Casting Department
Nancy Bishop	....	casting
Susan Bluestein	....	casting: USA
Floriela Grapini	....	casting: Romania
Justin Haulbrook	....	casting intern: USA
Jason Kennedy	....	casting associate: USA
Kirsty Kinnear	....	casting associate
Camille St. Cyr	....	casting: USA
Noelle Trkulja	....	casting assistant: Prague

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Laurentiu Alexe	....	costume assistant
Ana Maria Cucu	....	assistant costume designer
Carmen Ilie	....	set costumer
Oana Paunescu	....	costumes
Doina Raducut	....	set costumer

Editorial Department
Natasha Blasick	....	post-production
Jason Bretz	....	assistant editor
George Chavez	....	color timer
Matthew W. Johnson	....	IQ artist
Ella Leya	....	assistant editor
Peter McEvoy	....	digital intermediate executive producer
Marilyn McMahon Adams	....	assistant editor
Joey Mendez	....	post-production assistant
Kasia Skorynkiewicz	....	post-production coordinator

Music Department
Daniel Birczynski	....	music designer
Tom Calderaro	....	orchestrator
Julie Eidsvoog	....	music preparation
Rick Giovinazzo	....	orchestrator
Greg Hayes	....	score recordist
Joel Iwataki	....	music score mixer
Steve Kempster	....	score mixer
Bryan Lawson	....	music editor
Sam Zeines	....	assistant music editor
Gina Zimmitti	....	music contractor

Transportation Department
Sorin Dinu	....	transport coordinator
Octav Tudor	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Alina Apostu	....	script supervisor
Razvan Badea	....	production assistant
Larisa Busuioc	....	assistant to director
Jennifer M. Byrne	....	post-production accountant
Liviu Gherghe	....	production assistant
Florin Gon	....	key location manager
Hieu Ho	....	assistant: Zanne Devine
Cristian Ivan	....	office secretary
Cristina Ivan	....	office secretary
Cristina Jaleru	....	assistant production coordinator
Svetlana Migounova	....	production coordinator: Moscow
Andreea Mititiuc	....	office secretary
Adrian Moroca	....	production assistant
Ruxandra Popescu	....	production accountant
Emily Rice	....	post-production accountant
Katerina Shashorina	....	chief location manager & production coordinator: Moscow
Claudia Stanciu	....	production assistant
Luminita Costinela Stanciu	....	production secretary
Bogdan Stefanescu	....	location manager
Rebecca Thornell	....	clearance
Oana Topliceanu	....	production coordinator
Roy Vongtama	....	medical technical advisor
Dale Wyatt	....	dialogue coach

Production Companies

• Beacon Pictures
• HBO Films
• Plutonium Production Limited
• Section Eight

Distributors

• Picturehouse Entertainment (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (2009) (Argentina) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Castel Film Romania  production facilities
• Sound Satisfaction  foley recording facilities
• Wilshire Stages, The  ADR recording facility

Also Known As:

Pu-239 (International: English title) (new title) (USA) (new title)
PU-239 (USA) (working title (TV title))

MPAA:

Rated R for language, violence, sexual content and brief drug use.

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Australia:MA | Argentina:18 | Singapore:NC-16

Filming Locations:

Bucharest, Romania

Company:

Beacon Pictures

Goofs:

Plot holes: Tim states many times that his hometown is not on the map, which makes it impossible to send his letter home.

Quotes:

Timofey: [voiceover] In the end, everything decays to lead, number eighty-two on the periodic table. All of the brilliant things born in the center of stars will have turned cold and gray. Everything is moving in that direction. Toward lead. Impossible to stop.

Soundtrack:

Soul in the Bottle

Recurring themes and great films

I don't know what it is this weekend, but I have tasted films from France (La Haine), Korea (Boksuneun naui geot), Canada (Eve and the Fire Horse), and now, Romania, albeit a US film. Three have revenge themes, two have multicultural themes, two deal with needed kidney transplants, and they all deal with family. There are many things in these films that make you want to think and think hard. Sure, there is also a lot of humor, but it never gets in the way of the themes.

Paddy Considine (The Bourne Ultimatum, Hot Fuzz) gets screwed big-time at work. He is exposed to 1000 rems of plutonium. He knows he only has days to live and his bosses are not interested in doing anything but covering their butts. Sound familiar? Anyway, he steals 100 grams of PU-236 to help his family.

At the same time, there are three low-level thugs who are also dying. They have 72 hours to pay off the big boss for their mistake. One of them, Shiv (Oscar Isaac) comes in contact with Timofey, and stumbles through a plan to solve both their problems.

A comedy of errors ensues with Shiv's partners, Jason Flemyng (The Red Violin, Transporter 2) and Jordan Long. These two are just about the dumbest thieves in the business and they get a fantastic high at the end that will have you rolling on the floor.

Comedy and tragedy mix well in Scott Z. Burns's (The Bourne Ultimatum, An Inconvenient Truth) film. It is a shame that it probably won't get a theatrical release.

And, it's a real treat to see Radha Mitchell (Silent Hill, Man on Fire).