'Closeness' trivia and fun facts

Blame it on Sokurov

At the beginning and the end of the film, there is some text that contextualize the story in time and space for the viewer. This was an idea of Alexander Sokurov, who was a teacher of the film's director, because various critics told him that context was needed to understand the movie.

Not Nalschik, but Saint Petersburg

In spite of the film being located in Nalschik, most of the filming was developed in Saint Petersburg for budgetary reasons. Just some exterior sets are really Nalschik.

The snuff film

'Closeness' includes a polemic sequence where the director includes a snuff video he found when he was young. In it, a real person appears dying. Since the film does not warn in advance that it will show these images, it has caused some controversy.