East of the West - Competition 2008 / Jar / Russia 2007
This film is based on Yesenin’s early fiction in which the poet interweaves his own problems with the dramas experienced by the intellectual Karev who, in a futile attempt to adapt to his native environment, unwittingly destroys the lives of those closest to him. The story is set in the superbly evocative atmosphere of a primitive remote village at the dawn of the 20th century.
A remote village in the depths of Russia. Only photographs on the cottage walls indicate that this is the beginning of the 20th century. The women here devote themselves to almost pagan rituals and believe that their lives are magically linked to the nearby hollow. He who breaks this bond will perish. The only person to have broken free from the age-old order is the young educated Karev. He still wants to be part of his home environment but he has already been infected with urban civilisation. The fact that he is different attracts the local women, but to get close to him would bring about their destructi… The film is based on the early prose of poet Sergey Yesenin, which also echoes with his own inner conflict: the nostalgia of the renegade, offset by the affectation of a dissolute socialite. The director’s experience with documentary filmmaking is apparent from the way she reanimates times gone by, authenticated in the credible props, costumes and the acting. The attitudes, psychology, expressions and gestures of the protagonists are all shaded by the patina of a faded era. They also bear witness to the appealing and unappealing traits of the Russian mentality which often provide insight for meditations on the “mysteries of the Russian soul”.
103 min / Color, 35 mm
International premiere
Director Marina Razbezhkina
/ Screenplay Marina Razbežkina / Marina Razbezhkina, Pavel Finn, Lidija Bobrovovová / Lidiya Bobrova na motivy stejnojmenné povídky Sergeje Jesenina / based on the story of the same name by Sergey Yesenin
/ Dir. of Photography Irina Uralskaja / Irina Uralskaya
/ Music Anton Silajev / Anton Silayev
/ Editor Jurij Gedert / Yury Gedert
/ Producer Olga Agrafenina
/ Production Lenfilm Studios
/ Cast Michail Jevljanov / Mikhail Evlanov, Polina Filoněnko / Polina Filonenko, Světlana Obidina / Svetlana Obidina
/ Contact Lenfilm Studios
Marina Razbezhkina (b. 1948, Kazan, Russia) studied philology in Kazan (1971) and then established herself as a screenwriter and director of documentary films. She worked in Kazan and subsequently in Moscow. She is currently working for the Kultura TV channel and heads film direction courses at the Internews Independent School of Film and Television. She has made over 30 documentaries, the majority of which were awarded at domestic and international festivals. She made the feature film Harvest Time (Vremya zhatvy) in 2004, which was a success at the KVIFF and elsewhere. For her new film The Hollow, based on the early and little known prose of Sergey Yesenin, she worked on the script with Pavel Finn and director Lidiya Bobrova.
Lenfilm Studios
10 Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt, 197 101, St. Petersburg
Russia
Phone: +7 812 326 8224
Fax: +7 812 232 8881
E-mail: [email protected]
Olga Agrafenina
Film Institution Rep.
Marina Razbezhkina
Film Director, Film Director
Tatiana Nikolaenkova
Producer
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