White Swan, Black Swan Blogathon

Sati of Cinematic Corner is hosting a blogathon, where she asks us to write about our favorite characters that display dual personalities. I had a difficult time deciding which character to write about because apparently I surround myself with too much comedies that I barely watch anything with complicated characters.  But here is a character I think fits the bill on having dual personalities. Note: this post has spoilers.

When I was thinking of characters for the blogathon, it dawned on me that Captain Zhurov might be a candidate. His segment in the film Cargo 200 was quite crazy, making it the most distinguishable story in the whole movie. Citing Captain Zhurov as a character of dual personalities might be pushing the meaning in a literal sense, but his character is all kinds of crazy and yet he still functions in a world where he holds some kind of power and people still respect him - he is a scary man. He might appear weak: his posture, his manner of speaking and even the way he is suggests that this is a man who can be pushed around. However, he is quite the sinister fellow, as seen with how some people that are clearly tougher than he is can easily succumb to his wishes. Even those who work under him just follows his orders without another word. 

When we first meet Zhurov, he is a man who seems to work as a guard for a home-run alcohol house. He just seemed to be the observant type, and this was how we got to see a different character. He observed a young girl (Angelika) whom Antonina was hiding from her husband (he had a tendency to have his way with young women when he was drunk) and took advantage of her the moment the woman turned away. He killed a worker who tried to protect this young girl, had his way with her through a bottle (he was impotent, which I think is the cause of his being repressed) and took her home as a captive, having his deranged mother look after her as he goes to work. Did I mention that he forced his "boss" (the drunk man) to take blame for the murder and had him killed in prison? And when Angelika would go on about her fiance (who was in the army) going to rescue her and he found out that he had passed away in battle, he agreed for his district to be the one to bury him, only to have his corpse brought to his house and thrown to the girl in the most indifferent manner possible? Those are just some of the deeds he did. 

He doesn't realize that he might be battling with his own inner demons, as evidenced by his conversations with his mother. You would think he would be feeding her lies, and yet the tone of his voice suggests otherwise, that he is a failure and has this need to be pitied. His repressed, cruel self manifests when he holds the power. As a person of rank (who can easily shoot people without batting an eye), he displays his true person knowing that none under him can do anything about it, especially when people owe him favors. He is able to catch people off guard with his quiet, meek exterior, but his thinking works differently. He knows which situations to take advantage of and how to play his part without raising suspicion. You wouldn't think with one look at this man that he is capable of the things he does.