Based on a script written in the 90s by the cult Russian duo Lutzik and Samoriadov, this drama offers a remarkable insight into the evasive concept of the ‘Russian psyche’. Kalatozishvili employs the vast wilderness of the Steppe as a stage: in a place where time stands still, against the backdrop of a stunning landscape, humble characters lead a life which seems bizarre, grotesque and yet tragic. Raw emotions and animal instincts run wild here, resisting laws and defying ethics.
Mitya (film debut for stage actor Oleg Dolin), a young charismatic doctor, practices medicine in a dilapidated hut in the middle of nowhere. His patients flock to his outpost from far afield, each bringing an offering and a story to tell. Mitya’s drama unfolds in a series of superbly acted sketches, as tension mounts with each new patient – a hopeless alcoholic, a love-stricken girl or an accident-prone simpleton. Mitya’s reclusive solitude is interrupted by a brief and long-awaited visit from the city, but the love of a beautiful woman cannot deliver the young doctor from his fate…
Kalatozishvili resorted to understated, conventional directing matched with brilliant cinematography and an outstanding cast of actors to create this oeuvre which has been duly acknowledged as one of the most significant Russian films of the year. (MB)
Film details
- Country of production
- Russia
- Year
- 2008
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2009
- Length
- 104'
- Medium/Format
- 35mm
