East of the West - Competition 2008 / Kremen / Russia 2007
Moscow – a city of hope and also excessive ruthlessness and brutal force. Anton experiences both when he arrives in the metropolis to be with the girl of his dreams. The simple young man seeks retaliation for the injustice against him by joining the ranks of the strong, powerful and inviolable – those protected by a police uniform.
After his demobilisation, Anton heads for Moscow to see a girl from his hometown. He naively thinks that the photo Zina sent him while he was in the army was the start of something special. But the attractive university student sets the record straight. Anton discovers that the capital is just as unwelcoming, but he is determined to face the future that lies ahead – he refuses to give up on the city, even after a nasty run-in with the police. Its corruption and influence incite in him a desire for retaliation. The young man from the provinces, well drilled by the army, is convinced that unscrupulousness and injustice should be similarly punished. With this in mind, he decides to deal with his problems by joining the police force. For him, the police represent not only power and strength, but also an inviolable authority. Here, he will be able to live out his favourite maxim, “I’m tough, not dumb.” The young man with his simple way of thinking doesn’t realise that he is, in fact, subscribing to the philosophy of conformism as an unerring indicator of authoritarian attitudes. Yet the emotional indifference with which Anton comes to terms with the conflicting and amoral nature of his living environment makes him a symptomatic hero of his time.
82 min / Color, 35 mm
Director Alexey Mizgirev
/ Screenplay Alexej Mizgirev / Alexey Mizgirev
/ Dir. of Photography Vadim Dejev / Vadim Deyev
/ Editor Natalija Kučerenko / Natalia Kucherenko
/ Producer Sergej Seljanov / Sergey Selyanov
/ Production CTB Film Company
/ Cast Jevgenij Antropov / Evgeny Antropov, Dmitrij Kuličkov / Dmitry Kulichkov, Anastasija Bezborodova / Anastasiya Bezborodova, Sergej Šechovcov / Sergey Shekhovtsov, Karen Badalov
/ Contact Intercinema XXI Century
Alexey Mizgirev (b. 1974, Mysk, Russia) graduated from the philosophical faculty at Tomsk University in Siberia (1997). He then studied film direction under Vadim Abdrashitov at Moscow’s VGIK (2004). During his studies he was acknowledged for a series of short films and was successful as an assistant during the filming of Abdrashitov’s film Magnetic Storms (Magnitniye buri, 2003). Before his debut The Hard-Hearted (2007 – Best Debut, Russian Film Festival, Sochi) he was involved in the TV series Kulagin and Partners (Kulagin i partnyory, Rossiya channel).
Intercinema XXI Century
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Russia
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E-mail: [email protected]
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