Fatalist

Yaroslav Dobronravov is a representative of a new generation of Russian film auteurs, who make their own creative work independent of government money and mainstream taste. Fatalist is his second film, after Intermezzo (2003). The films were made in the same way: written, produced, filmed (on DV) and edited by one person, for a tiny budget and without extra lighting, sound-recording equipment, sets or costumes. A comparison with the Danish Dogma movement springs to mind, but the major difference is that this Russian film maker is forced to use the Dogma principles owing to financial limitations, and not as an artistic choice. In Fatalist, a man tries in vain to escape from his fate, while a woman wrestles with the discovery of hers: she is looking for her double and realises that her fate is inextricably linked with that of her other self. In the end, both worlds come together and stare their fate in the eye. The director did not really want to give his film a title, but rather allow the viewer to choose the title in order to have some contribution to the evolution of the film. A nice idea, but unworkable within the film world. The choice for Fatalist is not a reference to the substance of the film, but to the maker’s attempt to comply with the norm. (LC)