Help me find the name of this 1980/90s Soviet film

August 5, 2009 5:54 PM

Back when I was growing up in the Soviet Union (1986-1993), I remember seeing a Russian film that I haven't been able to identify. I think it was called "Spiralka" (meaning "spiral" in the native Russian). It was about a criminal who has a motorcycle accident that permanently damages his brain. He receives a brain transplant from some sort of an intellectual (a writer, a professor, not sure which). Unsurprisingly, the transplant leads to various complications, not the least of which is a profound personality change on the part of the criminal. He begins to read more, immerses himself in philosophy, and begins to feel genuine remorse for the crimes he's committed. In the end (and this is a scene I clearly remember) the criminal dies but not before seeing the brain donor standing before him immersed in a white light. Did I imagine this movie or does it really exist?
posted by leybman to Media & Arts (2 answers total)

Спиралька doesn't seem to exist, but there looks to be a Georgian movie from 1990 called Спираль. Is that it? I don't know if you read Russian, but it's about brain transplantation and "a new form of energy that can not only change the face of the planet but also cause unforeseen destruction." Here the purpose of the transplant seems to be to give a physicist a longer lifespan so he can keep working on a project, and the reformed-criminal angle isn't even mentioned. (Although there is a young man who dies in a car accident.)
posted by nasreddin at 6:43 PM on August 5, 2009

Something about the story is vaguely familiar, and I don't think it's because I've read other stories involving brain transplants. But I'm American, and the only Russian film I ever saw was Solaris. Is there any chance you read it, but recall it as a film? I've had that happen plenty of times.
posted by Goofyy at 5:57 AM on August 6, 2009