This is one of my favorite Russian films of the God-awful 90s. There is neither the usual hopelessness for that time, nor cheap philosophizing. The plot revolves around the quiet coup of 1964, when Nikita Khrushchev was replaced by Leonid Brezhnev.
The narrative is divided into two lines that intersect only a couple of times. In one, the higher ranks stipulate the upcoming removal, and Khrushchev is completely unaware of this, and in the second, a KGB officer working in a department beyond the control of the conspirators is trying to prevent a conspiracy.
The actors of the Soviet period coped well with the roles of their former leaders. The conspirators behave like mafia bosses. Their plan is developing gradually but steadily. They are the Gray Wolves indicated in the name. Khrushchev is shown to be a rude, self-confident but idealistic man. Younger actors also played honest Soviet citizens worried about the future of their homeland just as well.
Not all the props and cars correspond exactly to the era, but if you take into account the general state of cinema in Russia at that time, then you don't have to find fault.
Music should be noted separately. The main theme is full of juicy Soviet pathos with subtle folklore inclusions.
