Heart of a Dog

A Soviet feature film from 1988, directed by Vladimir Bortko and based on Mikhail Bulgakov’s novella of the same name. The story is set in 1920s Moscow, where Professor Preobrazhensky (Yevgeny Yevstigneev), a renowned surgeon, conducts an experiment by transplanting a human’s pituitary gland and testes into a stray dog named Sharik. As a result, the dog transforms into a crude and ignorant man—Polygraph Polygraphovich Sharikov (Vladimir Tolokonnikov). However, the consequences of this experiment turn out to be far from what the professor expected. Sharikov, possessing animal instincts but human capabilities, becomes a threat to those around him. The film is a satire on the social changes in Soviet Russia, exploring themes of morality, science, and human nature.