The Peculiarities of the National Hunt under Winter Conditions

Colour, 35mm
Russia, 2000, 78 min
Section: East of the West

Synopsis

Kuzmich’s hunting ground no. 13. One winter evening Kuzmich reads militiaman Semyon his philosophical tract about a Chinese hunter who searched for six years before discovering the meaning of his efforts. He is stirred from his contemplations not only by his old friends, General Ivolghin and Detective Lyova Soloveychik, who have dropped by to relax, but also by some uninvited guests: ministerial examiners and ecological inspectors – a lady of valiant appearance and behaviour and her sickly assistant. This circumstance unpropitiously influences the men’s merry rituals and even their carefully planned boar hunt. There is nothing left for the general to do but implement a tried-and-true tactic: his energetic toasts ease the tension and dull the examiners’ vigilance. The snow, biting frost and Kuzmich’s bear contribute substantially to the curious incidents that take place in the idyllic hunting grounds. The film was first conceived as a television series and was shot in only 16 days near St. Petersburg.

About the director

Alexander Rogozhkin (b. 1949) studied history and art at Leningrad State University and then went on to work at Lenfilm as a scriptwriter. In 1977-82 he studied direction at Moscow’s Film School (VGIK). Then, back at Lenfilm, he shot For a Couple of Lines (Radi nieskolkih strochek, 1988), followed by Vigilance (Karaul, 1989), Security Officer (Chekist, 1991), Idiot (Zhizn s idiotom, 1993), The Act (Akt, 1994). The ironic comedy The Peculiarities of the National Hunt (1995) garnered much attention, and other films followed made in the same spirit: Operation ‘Happy New Year’ (1996, Operacia s Novym godom), The Peculiarities of National Fishing (1998, Osobennosti natsionalnoi rybalki) and his latest The Peculiarities of the National Hunt under Winter Conditions (Osobennosti natsionalnoi okhoty v zimni period, 2000). In 1998, Checkpoint (Blokpost), a film dealing with the Chechen War, won Best Director at the Karlovy Vary IFF.