-2006- Ok.ru: The Stone Merchant

The “stone merchant” of the title is a complex metaphor. Orian must broker a deal not for marble or granite, but for something far more dangerous: a black-market nuclear device. The film’s protagonist, however, is not Keitel but a young Italian antiques dealer named who becomes entangled in the conspiracy. The narrative weaves together Islamic eschatology (the group believes the attack will trigger the appearance of the Mahdi), CIA black ops, and the fragile peace of the Italian countryside.

The film follows (played with weary intensity by veteran actor Harvey Keitel), a weary Italian art dealer who travels to a remote, war-torn region of the Balkans. His mission: to broker the sale of a mysterious black stone—a massive, obsidian-like monolith said to possess hypnotic, even destructive, properties. The stone’s merchant is a shadowy figure named Elias (an unsettling performance by F. Murray Abraham), who claims the stone is not merely a mineral but a "contractor of souls." the stone merchant -2006- ok.ru

the stone merchant -2006- ok.ru, Harvey Keitel, Italian thriller, post-9/11 cinema, lost films, Russian social media, OK.ru movies, political thriller 2006, Продавец камней. The “stone merchant” of the title is a complex metaphor