A young woman gets into big trouble and embarks on an adventure while trying to get rid of the dead body of her husband. She is assisted by a strange guy who has just escaped from the local mental hospital. Both of these heroes are walking disasters and manage to make things even worse than they really are.
Probably the most bizarre and eclectic of Muratova's films, it switches from one mood of the characters (and the viewer) to another, takes us from drama to absurd comedy, moves from satire to burlesque and even Grand Guignol. Mourning is followed by celebration, howls of despair transform into songs of joy. Doctors accidentally kill their patients, the insane happen to be the only normal and humane people, life suddenly turns into death and vice versa. And all this happens in leaps and bounds. A hilarious topsy-turvy experience that makes you feel happy, mad and melancholy at once.
- Director
- Kira Muratova
- Country of production
- Ukraine
- Year
- 2001
- Festival Edition
- IFFR 2013
- Length
- 105'
- Medium
- 35mm
- Original title
- Vtorostepennye lyudi
- Language
- Russian
- Producers
- Aleksandr Bokovikov, Anna Chmil, Sergey Grinevsky
- Production Companies
- Odessa Film Studio, Ministry of Culture and Arts of Ukraine
- Sales
- Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Centre
- Screenplay
- Kira Muratova, Sergei Chetvertkov
- Cinematography
- Gennady Karyuk
- Editor
- Leonid Pavlovsky
- Production Design
- Evgeny Golubenko
- Sound Design
- Yefim Turetsky
- Cast
- Natalya Buzko, Sergei Chetvertkov