Reflection in the Mirror

Victor Proskurin plays a theatrical actor (Victor) approaching the end of an extremely successful career. Unsure about his future and frightened by the prospect of leaving the stage, he falls victim of a bizarre syndrome of lost identity. He is deafened by the silence of the stage and blinded by the ‘masks’ he has been wearing all his life. He seems to be losing his personality entirely while transforming into the characters he plays on stage, to such a degree that he is no longer able to recognise his own reflection in the mirror. The process of recovering the man behind the mask and reinventing himself is a painful one – as it requires Victor to give up some of his habits, address the misconceptions and part with deeply-rooted illusions.
Svetlana Proskurina’s third feature film was selected for the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes and travelled the world’s festival circuit. Proskurina collaborated with her long-standing partner in life and on screen, Victor Proskurin, to create this subtle and fascinating portrait of a performer consumed by his own creative powers. Built on meticulous cinematography and creative sound directing, the film attempts to capture the illusive nature of the actor’s craft and reflects upon the Shakespearean notion of the world being a theatrical stage, and life an eternal carnival of fabricated identities. (MB)