Post-Soviet cinema was presented in Rotterdam: a Russian artist with Kazakh roots and a Gypsy past, an old maid from Georgia
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The program of the 53rd Rotterdam Film Festival includes films shot in the post-Soviet space: “Blackbird, Blackberry, Blackberry” by Elena Naverini (Georgia-Switzerland-Germany) and “Steppenwolf” by Adilkhan Yerzhanov (Kazakhstan). Both are based on literary works and interpret them in non-trivial ways. The Kazakh film starred the Russian artist Azamat Nigmanov, who was unexpectedly assigned to the gypsies.
“Steppenwolf” by Kazakh director Adilkhan Yerzhanov, winner of the Asian Oscar and many international awards, is a genre film, the creation of which was prompted by the novel of the same name by Hermann Hesse, although it is not a film adaptation in the classical form. The director himself cites Hollywood westerns of the 1950s and samurai cinema as sources of inspiration, which set the trajectory of the hero’s life, inevitably heading towards death. But this is also a story about the fate of a woman in a burning world, played by Kazakh actress Anna Starchenko, who graduated from the acting department in Alma-Ata and GITIS, known for the films “A.L.Z.I.R.” and “Russians on Marienplatz”. In Erzhanov, she plays a woman in the steppe, Tamara, who is looking for her little son Timka, who disappeared during natural events in the city, and who has lost her mind from grief. But stating madness is not enough, it must be played organically, and this does not always work out. Tamara constantly mutters something and repeats the child’s name. “There is no good in the world,” she will say, “but there should be some.”
The brutal Brayuk, played by Berik Aitzhanov, who once came to the set from the bar where he worked, helps her find her son. Filmmakers paid attention to the young man with a bright appearance. Berik graduated from a theater university, works in the theater, played Laertes in Hamlet and a number of enviable roles. His hero in Steppenwolf is a dangerous, cruel, unpredictable man who is naturally moving towards death. He undertakes to find the child for the sake of money, which the unfortunate mother does not have, but he does not suspect it. Everything will be as destined by fate.
Timka’s unlucky and extravagant father was played by Russian actor Azamat Nigmanov, a native of Omsk, a graduate of the Theater Institute. Shchukin, winner of the Oleg Tabakov Prize for his role in the play “Cursed and Killed” at the Moscow Art Theater. Chekhov, very popular in cinema. He starred in “A.L.Z.I.R.”, “Convoy” (received an award for best actor at Kinotavr), “Life and Fate”, “Dyatlov Pass”, “Fisher”, as well as “ Storm” by Adilkhan Erzhanov. It is curious that Azamat was accepted into the acting department with reservations, not seeing any prospects for the guy with his pronounced Asian appearance in the Russian theater, and was advised to take a gypsy course with Nikolai Slichenko. And the main gypsy of the country took him. Already in his fourth year, Azamat began to appear on the stage of the Romen Theater.
“Thrush, Thrush, Blackberry” is the third film by Georgian director Elena Naverini. It is based on a novel by the popular Georgian writer Tamta Melashvili, who has received literary awards in her homeland and in Germany. She is called a feminist both in Georgia and in Rotterdam. Melashvili’s books have been translated into different languages, including Albanian, and are of increased interest today because they address the problem of women’s trauma and violence in society.
It is curious that in bookstores in the Netherlands they sell novels translated into Dutch by Nino Kharatishvili, a graduate of the Tbilisi Institute of Theater and Film, who later received her education in Germany, winner of the German Prize. Bertolt Brecht. They plan to film a series based on her “The Eighth Life” in the USA. Nino’s books are in the top 10 and are in demand among Dutch readers. The film “Blackbird, Blackberry, Blackberry” also aroused great interest among the public; tickets for it were not available. It took ninth place in the audience rating, which is a very good result considering the number of films presented at the festival.
Director Elene Naverini is a graduate of the Tbilisi Academy of Arts, who continued her education in Switzerland, where she has lived for many years. She has participated in the Rotterdam Film Festival more than once. The main role was played by the brave and very original actress of the Batumi Drama Theater Eka Chavleishvili, who largely ensured the success of the film and has already received several awards around the world, becoming a nominee for the European Film Academy. She played several explicit scenes that not every actress would dare to do.
Her heroine Etero is 48 years old. She is an old maid and lives alone. All she has is a small village store and a few friends with whom she plays cards and eats cakes. Their portions are huge, and when the ladies eat Napoleon, it causes laughter in the audience. However, Etero copes with it perfectly, eating for three. She collects blackberries on the river bank, makes jam from them, but one day she almost dies by sliding down the mountain. She will immediately be presented with a picture of her own death and will come to understand that at any moment everything can end. This means you need to live to the fullest. It would seem that at her age there is nothing to expect, except perhaps a pension, but for the first time she will have a feeling for the married Murmani, who delivers goods to the store. The lovers meet secretly in the forest and in a hotel until Murmani is offered a job in Turkey, where there is a chance to earn more in a day than at home in a month.
The heroine’s lover was touchingly played by the actor of the Tbilisi Theater. Shota Rustaveli, who worked with Robert Sturua, Temiko Chichinadze. Their duet is great. They are like two poles that unexpectedly found a point of contact. It is strange to attribute this film to the feminist movement. He breaks any clichés.
Rotterdam.
Newspaper headline:
Russian “gypsy” and the old maid
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