The Suit

Colour, 35 mm
Russia, Germany, France, Italy, 2002, 92 min
Section: East of the West
Oficiální stránky: www.fortissimofilms.com

Synopsis

Three boys live on the Crimean seashore waiting out the time between graduation and obligatory army service: Clumsy Mut lives with his religious grandmother, Gena with his photographer father and partner (a waitress named Asya), and Kostya with his divorced mother, a harpist, who earns a living by selling pirogi at a market. One day the boys spot a Gucci suit in a shop window and dream of somehow obtaining it. To them it represents guaranteed success in life. When they realize that they’ll never earn enough money to buy it, they set out on an adventure which pushes legal limits, but ends up getting them the suit. They then take turns wearing it, but it brings nothing but bad luck. After Kostya’s mother´s concert is cancelled and her stand is demolished by the mafia, the smartly-dressed boy goes in search of his father. Dad acts the bon vivant but doesn’t give Kostya any money anyway; he just takes off. Gena, in love with Asya, wants to test the extent of his father’s jealousy. He picks a fight over her in a luxurious restaurant and ends up in jail. Mut falls in love with Dina, a fish seller. And because she’s Jewish and he loves her, he decides to get circumcised. After many complications he gains her favour, but her jilted boyfriend stabs him on a pier. The friends realize it’s time for a change of locale and end up giving the suit to the local fool.

About the director

Bachtiyar Khudoinazarov (b. 1965, Dushanbe) worked as an assistant director for Tajikfilm and as a radio journalist. In 1989 he graduated in directing from Moscow’s VGIK film school. He shot the short films Jokers (Shutniki, 1986), Hunting with Dogs (Sobachya okhota, 1987) and Believe It or Not (Verish-nye verish, 1989). His feature debut, Brother (Bratan, 1991), received awards at Mannheim, Nantes, Freiburg, Belfort and Turin. His coproduction film Kosh ba kosh (1993), involving the absurdities of civil war in the Tajik capital, attracted enormous festival interest, receiving a Silver Lion at the Venice IFF and a nomination for a 1994 European Film Prize. Luna Papa (Lunniy papa, 1999), also successful at festivals, was made in Russian, German and Austrian coproduction. The Suit was also produced internationally.