Mister Designer

Mister Designer

Year: 1987

Runtime: 103 mins

Language: Russian

Director: Oleg Teptsov

HorrorDramaFantasyMystery

A famous artist strives to find the secret of eternal life through the beautiful mannequins he creates.

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline & Setting – Mister Designer (1987)

Explore the full timeline and setting of Mister Designer (1987). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

1908

Set in 1908, the film sits in Imperial Russia just before the upheavals to come, a period of stylistic experimentation and social stratification. The era frames Platon's pursuit of immortality through art within a society that prizes appearance and status. The movable tension between opulence and decline drives the plot through urban interiors and somber outdoors.

Location

St. Petersburg, Grilliot's mansion, graveyard, Platon's workshop

The story is anchored in St. Petersburg at the dawn of the 20th century, a city of grand salons and artistic ambition. Grilliot's mansion provides a backdrop of wealth and social prestige, contrasting with the artist's dwindling funds. Key locations like the graveyard and Platon's workshop create intimate spaces where life, death, and art fuse into the narrative.

🏛️ Russia 🕰️ Early 20th century 🎨 Art & design

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 13:27

Main Characters – Mister Designer (1987)

Meet the key characters of Mister Designer (1987), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Platon Andreyevich

An ambitious artist-designer in 1908 St. Petersburg who pursues a godlike contest with mortality. He pours his soul into wax mannequins, seeking a perfect, eternal image of man. As his career falters, his addiction to morphine deepens, and reality starts to fracture around him.

🎨 Obsessive Artist 🪆 Wax Sculptor 💊 Addiction

Grilyo

A wealthy businessman who hires Platon to decorate his mansion, offering wealth and status as incentives. The relationship exposes class tensions and the lure of refinement. His absence after death becomes a pivot around which the story shifts to his widow and the artist.

💼 Wealth & Power 🏛️ Mansion 🎭 Intrigue

Anna Beletskaya (Mariya)

A young woman dying of consumption who becomes the model for Platon's mannequin. She flees the studio after being approached, and her fate—entangled with the Maria identity—drives the central mystery about living sculpture and memory.

💀 Illness & Mortality 🪆 Living sculpture 💔 Love & Rejection

Servant

The driver of Grilyo's gray car, a quiet presence who moves between spaces of wealth and danger. He serves as a catalyst that carries Platon through key locations and moments of tension.

🚗 Servitude 🕵️‍♂️ Ominous ⚖️ Class dynamics

JewelER

The jeweler who commissions Platon to decorate his shop, providing the practical context for Platon’s craft and a gateway to the broader world of commerce and luxury.

💎 Jewelry & Commerce 🎨 Craft & Ambition

Death

The figure of mortality that haunts the narrative, looming through Anna's fate, the grave, and the possibility that the living sculpture could outlast tangible life.

⚰️ Death 🕯️ Mortality

Cemetery Caretaker

A minor figure in the graveyard sequences who marks the boundary between life, death, and memory. His presence underscores the film's meditation on tombs, tokens of memory, and the fragility of existence.

🪦 Graveyard 🕯️ Memory 🔍 Mystery

Old Woman

A supporting character who embodies the aged, observing world outside Platon's feverish creative bubble. Her presence adds texture to the social tapestry surrounding art, wealth, and mortality.

👵 Age & Wisdom 🕰️ Time-bound 🗺️ Local Color

Card Player

One of the participants in the pivotal poker game where Platon wins a fortune, an event that sharpens the conflict over Maria/Anna and Platon's growing delusions of control.

🃏 Gambling 💸 Fortune 🕰️ Turning Point

Croupier

A dealer at the game who facilitates the high-stakes moment that shifts Platon's financial fortunes and amplifies the tension surrounding Maria's true identity.

🎰 Casino Life 🗝️ Chance 💥 Tension

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 13:27

Major Themes – Mister Designer (1987)

Explore the central themes of Mister Designer (1987), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

🕰️ Obsession

Platon's fixation on conquering time and death through wax figures dominates his life and work. This obsession distorts reality, warping his relationships and driving risky creative choices. The audience witnesses how a single fixation can erode moral boundaries and personal stability.

🎭 Art vs Reality

The line between sculpture and living being blurs as Platon treats Anna's likeness as a potential second life. The mannequin becomes a mirror for his desires, casting doubt on what is real and what is illusion. The tension between creative ambition and ethical consequence fuels the drama.

⚰️ Death & Decay

Death is both a concept and a looming force, evidenced by Anna's fate, the mummy, and the ultimate physical danger in the mansion. The plot continually tests how beauty and art withstand the ravages of time, illness, and violence. The story resolves around the fragility of life and the price of denying mortality.

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 13:27

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Mister Designer Summary

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Mister Designer Summary

Mister Designer Timeline

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Mister Designer Timeline

More About Mister Designer

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